Tag: <span>Spinning</span>

Tour de Fleece 2013

(The photo that was here was lost to a flickr deletion – I thought I had backed up everything, but this file was missed)

Tour de Fleece is over for another year.  What is Tour de Fleece?  Well, it’s held during the Tour de France, that big bicycling race, except replace bikes with spinning wheels and fiber, and you have a nerdy, wool filled 21 days (plus two days rest) of spinning your feet off.  I posted my progress shots on Instagram, but I figured I’d post the final shot of my finished work here.  My final tally is 3081 yards of finished yarn, but times three for the three plies, and I have 9,243 yards spun in total.  Not too shabby!  I could’ve probably spun more, but I was pretty busy and seemed to have stressed the heck out of my hands like I never have before.  My favorite is the Chasing Rainbows top mostly for the way it spun so easily and evenly.  REALLY love the colors on the Taylored Fibers yarn.  So, now that I have all this handspun, I need to actually start using it for projects!

All have been chain plied, links to go my Ravelry stash page.

Top row, L to R:
1. Chasing Rainbows Merino/Bombyx top – 332 yards, 2 oz
2. Taylored Fibers 80/20 Merino/Silk – 542 yards, 4 oz
3. Dunn Spunn Alpaca/Wool/Bamboo – 628 yards, 9.3 oz

Bottom row, L to R:
1. Twisted Fiber Art Cloudy 60/40 Merino/Bamboo – 547 yards, 4 oz
2. Mountain Colors 100% Targhee – 506 yards, 4 oz
3. Wild Hare Fiber Studio Superwash Wool – 526 yards, 4oz

Knitting update

I know it’s been a while since I’ve had a knitting/spinning update, in the midst of the One Local Summer fiesta I’ve been having. I’ve still been knitting and spinning, honest! Now that it’s been half the year, I suppose we should go back and look at the knitting resolutions for this year and see how things are progressing.

1. The American Aran Afghan. This is the beast that I will tackle and finish this year.
Yeahhh.. I have four squares done. I’m finding the charting and the way the book is set up to be VERY frustrating and it’s putting me off from knitting the squares. Each square goes rather quickly if I sit down and work at it, but it’s an absolute pain to copy, cut, and arrange the charts so that it makes sense to knit row-by-row.  Plus, there was this random odd injury that made knitting painful for a few months.  So, I was spinning A LOT but barely knitting a stitch.  Then there was the Tour de Fleece which took up almost a whole month of just spinning.. Not sure if I’m going to finish this afghan this year.

2. Knit /spin any club yarn/fiber in the month it is received.
Doing REALLY well with this one. I’ve had three club shipments for yarn this year that resulted in three pairs of socks so far. There was also a fiber club with three braids of roving that ended up as three skeins of yarn.

3. Knit two sweaters.
One down, one to go. I knitted the Leaf Pattern Gilet which knitted up rather quickly and will be a fall favorite when weather comes back around to actually knit. Here are the details!

DSC_0922 Leafy Cardigan
Pattern: Leaf Pattern Gilet
Needles: US 6 (4mm)
Yarn:  Balmoral by Sirdar
Ravelry Project Link
So incredibly pleased with this project from the color to the yarn to the pattern. It’s a really lovely and simple knit and I’m so glad I was able to grab the magazine that contained this pattern while it was available.

4. Knit one double-knitted item.
Uhhhh… Maybe this winter? I’m still feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea and it probably sounds more complicated than it really is.

2009 Knitting Resolutions – Wrap up

2009 is over and gone, and I’m going to check through my list and see how I’ve done.

1. Clear the WIP queue from last year by the end of the month.
There’s still one outstanding WIP from 2008 in my queue, but otherwise, I did pretty well on the clean-up!  We’ll consider this one not complete, but close, right?

2. Knit two sweaters this year.
I got one!  I blogged about that one here, and got a good start on the second one, but haven’t yet finished it.  Hopefully soon.

3.  Knit one pair of socks per month.
Oh boy did I EVER do this one.  And I think I deserve a HUGE GOLD STAR.  Because I’m awesome.

sockmosaic2009

I knitted a few socks this year. Here are my official 12 per the year, but the total count is 19 pairs *finished* this year (some were started in 2008).  The links below are to flickr and the original post on my blog.

1. January
flickrblog
2. February
flickrblog
3. March
flickrblog
4. April
flickrblog
5. May
flickrblog
6. June
flickrblog
7. July
flickrblog
8. August
flickrblog
9. September
flickrblog
10. October
flickrblog
11. November
flickrblog
12. December
flickrblog

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
I might not have gotten them all in on the right month, but here we have it! Some of those are 8 ounces, so I don’t have 12 photos, but there are more than enough ounces to count at least four for every month of the year.  Yes, I realize October is missing, but there are two entries for March, so the math works out in the end, yes?  Yes.
Fibermosaic2009

1. Jan/Feb
blog
2. Jan/Feb
blog
3. March
Flickr
4. June/July
blog
5. June/July
blog
6. August
blog
7. September
blog
8. May
blog
9. March
blog
10. November
blog
11. December
blog

5. Dye more yarn and roving.
Oh yeah. Did that. Hosted a dye-day at my house with the local Stitch n’ Bitch and it was super fun.

6. Knit at least one pair of stranded socks.
Nope. Not even a little. I really over-extended myself this past year.

7. Finish holiday gift knitting throughout the year instead of all at once in December!
I guess I got this one? Sorta cheated since I only did one item for one person. It’s so hard knitting gifts when there are five sisters-in-law to knit for. I’ve opened up next year for requests, so we’ll see what happens.

8. Participate in another test knit.
Yep. A few of them. I think three total?

9. Work on an original pattern.
*buzzer*  Not even a little bit.  It was a nice idea though?

The tally comes to five out of nine.  I think the list for 2010 is going to be more conservative.  More on that later, while I think up some goals to set.

December Knitting Wrap-up

December (and all of 2009) is gone and it’s time to update on the knitting resolutions.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month

DSC_8477 Hanging Vines of Envy
Pattern: Hanging Vines
Designer: Kelly Porpiglia
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn:  Sheepy Time Yarns Sheepy Feet in, “Green Eyed Monster,” from the Sheepy Time Knits December 2009 Club
Ravelry Project Link
There was just no excuse for this one to be anything than what it is.  It’s the December colorway since I’m a speshul snowflake, and thus, these socks had to be knitted.  They’d been in my queue for a while and when this yarn popped out of the mailbox, I KNEW, just knew what the yarn was destined to be.  Not a super-easy knit, challenging enough that I wasn’t bored, but I definitely needed the chart the whole way through.  The results are very much worth it and I’m totally jazzed about how they came out.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
I made up for last month and covered this month too.

DSC_7866 This is 8 ounces of Handspun alpaca.  The roving comes from Black Diamond Alpacas, a local gal who sends the fiber from her animals to be processed together.  The names of the alpacas used in this blend were even on the label which is just too cute.  Unfortunately, the fiber was REALLY dirty and I think it’s probably from an oil or grease used during the process that draws out the roving to keep the fuzz from flying.  It washed out (after four rinses), and I’m rather happy with the results.  I ended up with about a worsted weight, approximately 350 yards.  This wasn’t so much a spin for a specific project, but I’m thinking a pair of thrummed mittens may be in order.

And that’s all I’ve got.  I have to get a few posts together this month for a resolutions wrap up as well as a 2010 resolutions (*gasp* 2010?!  DID I JUST SAY THAT?!).

November Knitting Wrap-up

November is gone and it’s time to update on the  knitting resolutions.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month

Socks Plain Old Socks
Pattern: None – plain Stockinette socks
Designer: Me?
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn: My Handspun from dkKnits Superfluff roving in, “Shooting Star”
Ravelry Project Link
I had so much fun spinning up the yarn and then knitting the socks.   The yarn is a basic fingering weight yarn that was spun on my SpinOlution Mach I and then navajo plied.   I broke the yarn at the heel and started from the other end of the ball so that the color progressions on the leg and instep would be continuous.   Yeah, it’s a few more ends to weave in, but.   Look at that!   Becky always does such a fabulous job with colors.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
See above – the yarn was finished spinning about mid month.   Then it jumped in front of everything and decided to become socks.

 2. Knit two sweaters this year.
Still working on this. I really hope to be done with the second by the end of the month, but I’m just not sure that will happen.

I’m really looking forward to January so that I can post a big follow-up to this year’s resolutions and set another batch for next year. There are going to be some good ones, I can just feel it. Also looking forward to lining up all 12 photos of socks from this year and patting myself on the back a whole bunch of times. Speaking of which, I should probably start the pair for this month, huh?

August Knitting Wrap-up

I’m actually on time!  Back again to the Knitting Resolutions..

3. Knit one pair of socks per month

DSC_3981 >Handspun Wanida
Pattern: Wanida
Designer: Cookie A.
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn: My own Handspun
Ravelry Project Link

I’m fiercely proud of these.  The handspun is a superwash BFL by Twisted Fiber Art that I spun as part of Tour de Fleece.  It knitted up and wears absolutely beautifully.  Even though there’s a jog in the color change for the heel, I still like how they came out and worked with the pattern.  Knitted up quick and those colors are just spectacular!

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
We gots your spunroving right here. This is 632 yards of fingering weight yarn that was started during Tour de Fleece and finished up in August. When I realized I had 632 yards, I figured it was way more than 4 ounces to begin with, so I’m saying it’ll count for August. It’s navajo plied and is a merino roving that was found at Maryland Sheep & Wool festival this year. We had a dye day not too long ago and I dyed this at the event. Love the way it came out and now I have to find something that will use the whole batch of yarn.
DSC_5174

Still making progress on that sweater, but as the year is already half-over, I’m not sure if I’ll actually complete all my resolutions and goals.  Well, there’s always next year, right?

June and July Knitting Wrap-up

I guess this is becoming a bi-monthly thing instead of a monthly update.   We’ll re-visit the Knitting Resolutions.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month
Did it again. Seven pairs so far (well Eight if you  count the ones I’ve already finished for August), and I can’t wait to get to December and post all twelve of them in one big post.

DSC_3970 DSC_3964
Rare Monkey Gems Jupiter Lava Socks
Pattern: Monkey Pattern: Hey Jupiter
Designer: Cookie A. Designer: Liz Abinante
Needles:   US 1 1/2 (2.5mm) Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight – Rare Gems Yarn: dkKnits Technicolor Smoosh Toes
-Ravelry Project Link- -Ravelry Project Link-
These knitted up in FOUR DAYS.   Four days.   I had the pattern memorized after one repeat and it was so simple yet beautiful, I’m positive these won’t be my last monkey socks.   The rare gems came from Rhinebeck last year and I just LOVE how the colors  pooled up. This was the sock of the month from Yarn4Socks.   After a false start (too tight to fit over my heel), I added four stitches in and they worked out perfectly.   I did an extra repeat on the leg since there was plenty of yarn.   The color is FANTASTIC and the pattern was super fun to knit.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
Well I got eight ounces in one month? Does that count? I decided to go ahead and put away the knitting for a month and spin along with Tour de Fleece, a yearly spinning event that takes place during the Tour de France. Well I spun my little feet off and ended up with two finished skeins and one half-spun chunk of roving.

DSC_3403 This merino/tussah roving was from dkKnits and is spun up to laceweight, 789 yards.   I think maybe this is why I only completed two skeins during Tour de Fleece!   It spun up delightfully soft and squishy and I just love how the colors came out.
DSC_3401 This is a roving from Twisted Fiber Art and is the Brilliant Roving (superwash BFL) in the colorway, Blaze.   It spun up to fingering weight and came out to 420 yards.   I’ve already knitted up a pair of socks with this and they are AWESOME if I do say so myself.   An absolute delight to spin and knit, definitely a roving I’ll be working with again.

And I think that’s about it.   I haven’t really made any more progress on the other goals, and should probably get started on that considering the year is well over half done.     🙂

April and May wrap-up

Hah, I knew at one point during the year, I’d miss a month or get lazy or even give up completely on the resolutions.   So far, though, doing okay, and still chugging along.

Going back in time to January again for the knitting resolutions..

2. Knit two sweaters this year
Started one. It’s tough knitting a sweater in the summer. I had a big rush of excitement when I started, gushing over the gorgeous color, dyed by Becky of dkKnits and then set it aside about 30% of the way down the body to do socks and lace and other fun summer type projects.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month
Got both of those!

IMG_3881 DSC_1344_edit
April – Blue Angee Socks May – Twisted Devon Socks
Pattern: Angee Pattern: Devon
Designer: Cookie A. Designer: Cookie A.
Needles: US 1 ½ / 2.5 mm Needles: US 1 ½ / 2.5 mm
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock, colorway, “Impressionist Sky” Yarn: Twisted Fiber Art Kabam! in colorway, “Terrain”
-Ravelry Project Link- -Ravelry Project Link-
These were finished just in time to go to Stitch n’ Pitch with the Phillies.   Sadly, we were soundly beaten by the Nationals, but the socks told me that they didn’t mind.   The pattern is from Cookie A’s new book, Sock Innovation, and I’m absolutely in love with all of the patterns.   This one was pretty simple, but with a great effect.   And the yarn!   There’s a reason why we call it MMMmmmmmmalabrigo.   Squishy, Yum. Another entry from Cookie A’s Book.   Both the yarn and the pattern came together to produce an absolute delight to knit and wear, even if one sock somehow tricked me into knitting an extra repeat on the leg.   I’d go back and rip the longer top down to match the shorter one, but there’s a cuff-to-leg transition set of stitches that I wouldn’t be able to do if I knitted back up the cuff.   So, we’re going to call them unique and leave them as they are,  unmatched and beautiful.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
My poor wheel has been feeling woefully neglected. I did get my 4oz for May though.

DSC_1417 Corriedale from Maisy Day Handspun  in colorway, “Water Lily.”   I never really liked corriedale,  until now.   I got my hands on the raw roving in the past and did a little nose wrinkle – scratchy.   It’s not merino.   But, after it’s spun up and plied?   Not so bad.   I probably still wouldn’t make a scarf out of it, but it’s pretty and  squishy and I rather enjoyed spinning it.   It clocks in at 285 yards and is about sport weight.

 

And that’s the wrap-up for the last two months of acheiving resolutions.   There has been more knitting, of course, that I haven’t detailed here, but with the garden growing, the lawn needing mowed, and a whole host of fun outdoors stuff to do in the lovely weather we’ve been having, knitting has mostly taken a back seat to a lot of seasonal things to do.