Le Tour de Fleece: Day 6

This is the first ball of two-ply that I’ve finished in the TDF. I bought the roving from a woman at the Apple and Peach Festival in Acushnet last September. If I could remember the name of her business, I’d post that, but alas, I lost the receipt ages ago. I have a hank of handspun that I bought from her, too… if I can find that in my stash and if the tag is still attached, I may update with her info. Because really, her color sense is really great.

This yarn has way more yellow in it than you can tell here. because I wound into a ball instead of a hank. I need a niddy-noddy at some point, and soon. The next batch of yarn I’m spinning has way more lanolin in it than I expected, and I’d like to try to wash some of that out before I knit with it. It’s still coming out pretty good, though, despite my inexperience with sticky wool. It, too, is a two-ply. Behold:

The grey wool came from Rhinebeck last October, and again, I can’t remember the name of the seller. They’re the ones who sold their roving in cute nesty-like balls. I’m sure I have their name somewhere. You know, it probably wouldn’t take too much time to look all this stuff up, but if I put it off, I’m never going to update on the progress of this project.

I’ve decided that “spinning every day” means spinning for at least fifteen minutes. It’s a short enough time to commit to, and long enough to get a nice amount spun. Granted the two balls shown here were spun and plied on Sunday, when I spun all day, but still. The bit I have going on the bobbin right now gets added to each day, and I’ll have longer time on the weekends to get more done. Thus far I’m happy with my progress.

None of the channels we get show any coverage of the cyclists, but I check in each day to look at the standings of each stage of the race and what not. It’s the first year that I’ve actually paid attention and sought out information on the race as it progresses, so that’s a novelty. I’m not much of a cycling enthusiast, but it’s actually quite entertaining.

Le Tour de Fleece: day 1

I fixed my bobbin problems and began spinning today to kick off le Tour de Fleece challenge.

I bought my wheel in October at Rhinebeck, and I spun one bobbin full of yarn, and then abandoned the wheel for months. The main problem was that I couldn’t remove the bobbin. I know. Lame. But in my defense, I didn’t know upon which bit to apply the brute force necessary to remove the bobbin from the flyer assembly, and I didn’t want to break the thing. I could take the flyer/bobbin thing off, but couldn’t figure out how to free the full bobbin and replace it with an empty one.

A few posts back and forth on the Ravelry spinning forum and I had the necessary information to get the bobbin off. It took me months to ask for help, while the wheel lay dormant, and then another few months before I actually put their advice into practice. I just have had so much going on this year that I never got around to it. Well the Tour challenge lit a fire under my bum and I had to fix the bobbin situation in order to participate.

A few tugs here and there and the thing came apart and I was able to change the bobbin. But then the yarn wouldn’t wind onto the bobbin, argh. Another round of Q and A on the forum, and I was good to go. It was a lubrication problem this time.

So, after my newbie setbacks, I’m ready to spin. I did a little bit this morning and was reminded of how much I love spinning. I can tell this is going to be a big thing for me. And with an outlet for to sell all of the delicious yarn I’m going to make, I won’t even have a stash problem (theoretically).

Happy Spinning!

You spin me right ’round

I have taken up the Tour de Fleece spinning challenge! The idea is that you set a goal for yourself, start on the 5th and finish on the 27th, spinning along as the cyclists do their thing. My goal is a two-parter:

1. Spin a little each day, using up my meagre stash and buying locally for the duration of the tour. There are some wool producing farms in Middleboro, I think, and will get my wooly fix from them.
2. At the end of the tour I want to have a few nice hanks to send to a shop for sale. I have an opportunity to sell some of my wares in a brick and mortar shop, and I don’t want that chance to pass me by.

Merry Decemberween!

Merry Decemberween!

I know it’s almost over, but I hope everyone’s December festivities have been super wonderful. We’re down at my folk’s house in MD for the week and having a great time. Christmas was super fun. I love watching the kids open presents. Since there are only two kids in the family at the moment, everyone was putting the pressure on for JeT and I to contribute to the younger population so that there’ll be more kids to watch on Christmas morning. Yeah, probably not anytime soon. Though woo hoo for all the friends who have announced their expected little ones! (You’ve all been busy: there were two baby announcements and one engagement! Hooray!)

I’ve finally uploaded photos from the last couple of months. Geez, we were wicked busy, weren’t we? There are photos from Thanksgiving with friends, the Fancy Schmancy Dancy Birthiversary Party, the Hooray for Repeal Day Party with librarians, the Ugly Sweater Party, snow, birthday, and Christmas. It’s been crazy-fun. There are also pictures of recent crafty projects: felted bags, and a doll of The Dude (from The Big Lebowski). And cupcakes. Yum!

See you all in the New Year!

Everything is miscellaneous

(No, I haven’t read that book, yet. It’s on my “to read” list, though.) Here’s a list of what’s up:

• Four weeks until the end of the semester. Word. Things are a bit crazy. By things, I mean, of course, yours truly. I’ve got myself set up to finish just fine, though. I’ve been having a bit of trouble with migraines of late, however. (I was forced to come home early on Tuesday, spent the whole day yesterday in a state of migraine hangover, and today I couldn’t do anything until about 1 pm, when I should have been at class.) They’re really throwing me off my pace. It’s maddening, really.
• Please help me with the following: I have created a few sample banner/header/graphic thingies for our class digital Library. The woman whose scrapbook we’re digitizing was Olive Ruby Henty, and the images used in the banners are from her scrapbook. If any of you have any helpful comments regarding its overall design or whatever, please feel free to comment here. I’d really appreciate any feedback from outside the class. (I have, of course, solicited comments from my classmates, but it’s good to have outside perspective, too.) Here’s the link to the sample page: Olive Ruby Henty digital library.
• The Revs take on the Huston Dynamo this weekend for the MLS Cup title. Woo! The game’s on Sunday, so I’ll be blah-blah-blahgging it, of course.
• The spinning wheel looks great in her new home. (I haven’t come up with a name for her yet, but she’s definitely a she.) I’ve been spinning some lovely green/yellow/blue yarn from roving I picked up at the Apple Peach Festival this September. I think I’m getting the hang of it, and my yarn is way more consistent than I would have expected for my first time at the wheel. Photos forthcoming. Eventually.
• Birthiversary party is coming up this Saturday. That should be wicked fun. Bookmark this link for more information and updates as they arise. I still don’t have a dress. I’ll pop over to the (shudder) mall on Friday night and Saturday morning to see what I can find. I’m not really stressed about it. I can always throw something together if I can’t find anything at the mall. “Fancy Schmancy” is a state of mind, yes? I’ll figure something out.

Rhinebeck

rainbow roving

(Or is that Yarnbeck? Eh, Abby?)

Well, I survived my first Rhinebeck (aka, the New York Sheep and Wool Festival). I caught the Yarn Safaris bus at Riverside T stop in Newton at 7:30 am (well, I got there around 7 because I was afraid of being late). The rest of the knitters (and spinners, and crocheters) piled on the bus and we were off – a bit late, but not too bad. Abby got there a few minutes after I did. I’d been looking forward to this day not just for the wool, but to catch up, too. We chatted the whole ride there, the whole day, and the whole ride back. (My cough came back with a vengeance, but it was so much fun.) The ride to New York was beautiful. The skies were blue, the trees were gold, red, and orange. We peeped our fair share of leaves all the way there. I also started a scarf on the trip out: grey wool (Patons Classic Merino), skinny-ish, with a single cable. On the way home, I think I may have decided that it would make an awesome sleeve for a floppy sweater.

We were all anxious to get inside and start our day at the festival. (Trying our best to avoid the woman who complained the whole ride there, and while we were waiting to get in.) They ran out of maps at the front gate, but we soon found an information booth (that was cleverly not anywhere near the entrance) where we picked up a couple of programs that had a map of the grounds. I was really overwhelmed at first. But we just jumped right in.

We spent a fairly long time in “Building A,” where I bought all of my goods in this order: glass buttons, wool covered soap, lace yarn, Shetland roving, and Socks that Rock yarn. You’ll notice that I didn’t actually buy all that much yarn. I didn’t want to buy too much that I didn’t have a plan for. And I was too overwhelmed to plan on the fly. If they’d had any kits that sprung out at me, I might have bought more yarn. (Click through above to see photos of my swag.)

We walked and walked, and everywhere we were surrounded by fiber. It was amazing. My camera crapped out on me after only a few pictures, and I didn’t have any rechargables. I’d brought some alkalines, but didn’t feel like using them, because I knew I’d only get a few more photos out of those. So I just depended on Abby‘s camera all day. (She’ll be guest blogging at Spinstah‘s blog soon; I’ll update when the post is up.) We were surrounded by gorgeous yarn, fluffy roving, and fun animals. We walked through several barns, pet some sheep, llamas, and alpacas. After a few hours we were so overstimulated, we could barely take any more in. The colors! The fluff! The sheepies! The wine tasting! (Yes, wine. I think Abby bought more in wine and food than yarn. Girl’s got her priorities, you know.) We just had so much fun. I should also mention that we chatted a little bit with a very nice Rockies fan, who noticed us by my Green Monstah shirt. That was wicked cool.

I was doing pretty good by this point. I hadn’t spent too much money, and was really quite satisfied with my first Rhinebeck. But something told me I should go back to the first building we were in and go play with the spinning wheels. I had taken a flier from The Merlin Tree earlier in the day so I’d be able to do more research when I got home. But I just had to try out a wheel before I left. When I got there, there was a woman spinning. Not one of the owners, mind you, but another fiber fan: Elisa (gosh, I hope that’s her name- I couldn’t find her online, but she was wearing a Ravelry button) was spinning away. I asked her a few questions about the wheel she was spinning on (The Hitchhiker): Was it a good first wheel, how do you like it, etc. She recommended that I try out the Ashford Kiwi that was sitting next to her. She set me up, and then one of the owners came over to give me a hand. Before long, I was spinning away. I’d never spun on a wheel before, and it was pure magic. Abby woke me from my reverie (goodness knows how long I’d been spinning), and could tell that I was totally smitten. I asked several questions about the wheel, but a short while later I’d placed a deposit on my very own Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel.

I was giddy for the rest of the day. We’d be walking through some other barn, looking at the cute sheepies, and I’d be like, “Hey Abby. I bought a spinning wheel.” I did not, however, spend the most money that day, even though I’d bought a wheel. (That honor would go to the abovementioned complaining lady. Oh, well.) There was even one person who bought only food that day, and wasn’t influenced by the wool fumes at all. That shows some pretty fierce resistance. I mean, if you’re a fiber fan, and you’re surrounded by thousands of enablers, it’s a complete miracle that you’d leave that place with no wool at all. The ride home was fun, too, though my cough was getting pretty bad (I hope I didn’t annoy everyone on the bus).

We couldn’t listen to the game on the bus (out of range of any good station) and so depended on text messages from friends to get us through. (This post was written during game 7 – Go SOX!!! See you Wednesday, Rockies!) JeT and I stayed up to watch the game, and then I promptly passed right out. In my wool-drunk haze, I only vaguely realized that my Knit Picks order had come in.

It was a wild and wooly day, indeed.