keep up the intensity

this is what is spinning right now. it's 2 ounces of a mixed fiber~ cashgora / lambs wool. i'm surprised at how thin this is spinning. it will be plyed today.

the naughty gator is done! how cute is this????? i'm going to give it a light steam and block today, then into the gift bag.....

grrrrrrrrrr!

stage 21

i made it to paris

wearing the maillot jaune

stage 20

this is it.... the final bobbin. 4 ounces of natural indigo dyed cottswold roving.

what an adventure. this roving was an add in when i completed my challenge this week. there were many times i could have left this on the roadside... i'd already done what i set out to do, why do more?

i'm glad i pushed on to finish 'just one more'. consistency in spinning needs consistent spinning. i found that this last batch was started and done in a few days.....and it shows.

i think i'll stay on the bike.....

stage 19

again temptation came knocking on my door. it's the internet and something called "sale" that provoked me.

you see, i've been coveting the alligator scarf kit since seeing it in person at rhinebeck. it was not in my budget, so it stayed there.....haunting me. it is the perfect gift for someone who needs that perfect gift from my hands. yes, i've made things for them...... yes, the items are used.... but they were never 'the one'

this year..... that was the item that was coming home with me. and then those sneaky folks at morehouse farms put the kits on sale...... sent it so quickly that i could work with the yarn..... love the yarn.... need more yarn. and everyone that lives here in my home, now needs a gator. so what was i to do but place another order. today, river crock and nocturnal crock arrived.

i waited until i finished the second bobbin of indigo to open them.

stage 18

with my challenge achieved, i find that i have to be slightly distracted during these final days.

i have one bobbin of the indigo, and plan to finish the second tomorrow. i have a birthday looming and the gift is impatient to be off the needles.

a naughty gator!

stage 17

indigo.... spinning along quite nicely by the water. the color is much more interesting than it looks in the raw. as i draft and spin it, all the subtle striations are coming out.

still have lots to go, so no resting on my laurels!

lets hope the kiddies all stay afloat.

stage 16

natural dyed, indigo Cotswold. i only have 6 ounces from the stash, procured at the shepard's market in may. yes, i have other roving's calling my name, but i needed this.

Cotswold was the first wool i spun. i have an affinity for this wool and it is not just nostalgic. i love the loftiness of the fiber, the long staple length and the sheer pleasure i get from spinning it.

the tour has let me see that once i start a project, i need to see it through in a timely fashion. while running the last of my green on the niddy noddy, i noticed how great it looked. i seemed to have stayed even with my singles and the plying looked quite nice. it was quite different from the first batch i did. i'm also finding that my control over the fiber is improving, and i like that i can have a bit of say in the outcome.

spin on!

rest day

it occurred to me today, that we have lots of tools within our reach. the only barrier is how we look at them. i have been a felter for almost as long as i have been knitting. sometimes, my felting is very planned and precise, other times..... i'm surprised. for example the second sweater that i made for my daughter. it was knit for me, but way to large. i thought that a gentle felting would solve this problem.....and it became my daughters sweater. she loved it, i could hardly wait to send it to salvationarmy.

i started felting right after i got my new front loading washer. it is not a great felting instrument. it is great at removing all the excess water that is left in the garment when felting is completed. so i've been felting everything in my mom's top loader, spinning it out in my front loader, and woolaa, a beautiful result.

which brings me to my light bulb moment. the grey skies lightened up and i washed all the skeins that were created yesterday. then it started raining. i knew that they would never dry in this damp, sticky weather. i placed the two hanks in my washer, set it to gentle spin only, and pushed start. it was magic! they look great, all the excess water is gone and they are hanging in my dining room.

now i'm sure this has worked for others, and today it worked for me!

spinning? why yes i did. i've got some natural dyed cottswold roving working it's way onto the wheel. rest day indeed!

stage 15

process or product??

i am finding that they are often one in the same. this challenge has made me focus on completing a task i love in a finite amount of time. feeling the fiber in my hands, seeing how much twist is needed, working two singles together.

nothing fancy, no special technique, just me.
learning something new with each treadle.

i have a week left. i'm going to maintain my pace and let the day make my choice. . . each one done to completion.

yeah, it's a little bit of both.

stage 14

what a better way to spend the day than with my peeps, spinning peeps that is! my peeps? well here they are....

guild meetings are always interesting, so many diverse folks united in their passion for fiber.




my accomplishments? it is all on bobbins! yessirreebob, here is the final bobbin of alpaca, the last spinning project on a bobbin at the start of the tour.



plying is now the focus of my ride. i have to ply the green and this alpaca.





and i may just start that now!!

stage 13

temptation arrived early this morning with the moorehouse merino package. the gator scarf ( in creek crock ) was on my porch. this needs to be knitted and gifted by august 4th, so i was feeling very confident with my tour progress.

i was able to get 2 ounces of alpaca on the bobbin, and start the remaining 2 ounces as well while poolside with the kiddies today.

then i arrived home to find this......











which is this in disguise.....












that would be 5 pounds of fiber from my first fleece purchased at msw 2008!


temptation!!!

stage 12

ah... the comfort of a flat stage. easy going, warm breezes, not tooo many decisions. until you find that pebble in the road, the fly in the ointment, the noil in your roving. behold a lovely blend of white wool and brown alpaca gifted to me by liberty's and belle's human. it is now taunting me as i move toward the completion of my goal. yes, all the green is on bobbins ready to be plied. yes, i started the brown pure alpaca that has been a partial bobbin for too long. but look at those colors...... softer than you can imagine.....but i am stronger than that!!

stage 11

i am adding the green to the bobbin...that would be the last bobbin of green! since there have been many pictures of the green ( it hasn't changed one iota ) i thought it would be fun to see where i spent the day. visiting these lovely young ladies {and their human}. belle and libbie are leicester longwool and will be sharing their lovely wool with us needy spinners.

can't wait to add that to the tour challenge!

rest day

the moorit, plied and ready to go. i've washed it and now it is drying in the breeze. i may start the green (final 4 ounces) later today. we'll see, after all..... it's a rest day :)

stage 10

wow, half way there.....and i've finished plying the morrit corriedale. it was hard to tell by the evening light how it turned out, so i'll wash and measure it tomorrow and share the details. i did fit the entire 8 ounces on the wonder-plyer and i made great effort to ply tighter (added more twist). it will be interesting to assess how these effect the yarn.

ps...just got the sale email from moorhouse yarns, the gator is on sale! next project moving into the que!

stage 9

after spending the morning exploring the corn hill arts festival in the pouring rain.... i was able to start plying the moorit corriedale. i'm trying to get more twist into my ply to make a more substantial yarn. i've a ways to go.

stage 8

woo hoo...... 4 ounces of green... on the bobbin!!!!

it is a good day.

stage7

i'm fascinated by the response that i get when people are exposed to this adventure. since i've been 'on the road' spinning almost anywhere (see previous posts) i get lots of exposure! some are fascinated with the entire idea of making yarn (can't you buy that?), many find the humor in the name (tour defleece ) and then there are those that stand mesmerized by the rhythm of the wheel. they will watch my hands....drafting, pinching in the twist, letting it draw onto the bobbin...repeat. i've had children stand fascinated by the entire process and return over and over to see my progress.

progress you ask?? yes i'm gaining on the green... even though i truly believe it reproduces at night!!

stage 6

i didn't quite recover from my dismal showing yesterday. i packed my wheel and junk, headed off to today's spinning venue, only to realize that my fiber was left at home! coincidence? i think not!

i was somewhat redeemed with a good showing tonight with jessica. alittle wine, some great company ( lots of whining on my part) and i seemed to put a fair amount of green onto the bobbin.

stage 5

stage 5 is kicking my butt. after so much progress yesterday with my completed yarn and full bobbins, i was poleaxed to return to the green. those who have been witness to my challenge were stunned to see how much was left to spin..... this did not help!

so i treadled away and made some progress..... here's hoping tomorrow is better.

stage 4

this is what 530 yards of plyed green yarn looks like on the bobbin...

washed and dried...

todays plan? finish spinning the morrit corriedale. hot and steamy lakeside spinning! i had to jump in to cool off my feet several times, but i was able to get it all done.

tomorrow i'll return to the green..... i leave you with pictures of my helper :)

{ those are puppy kisses }

stage 3

stage 3 ~ is underway and i'm feeling very energetic! my hands were a wee bit stiff this morning from the work yesterday in stage 2, but a bit of wriggling and i was good to go. todays task.....plying the green. behold my mothers day gift. it is a plying bobbin and flyer, gifted by my loving family to make my life ( and ultimately theirs) easier. we had some initial 'getting to know you' jitters, but soon we were off.

isn't it great? i was able to put both 4 oz bobbins on it. the scenery is beautiful canandaigua lake which was today's spinning backdrop. i was able to watch the water play and still accomplish my work.

it is on the niddy noddy waiting for the next step. i was able to get 503 yds of yarn! woo hoo.

jessica braved the raindrops to join me this evening with her first trip with the new wheel. she traveled well. :)

stage 2

stage 2 ~ after perusing other participants plans, i've re-examined my goals for this tour and decided to make some slight modifications. i had one bobbin of the green and was looking at the remaining fiber as my project and that is still a major component of my tour. i realized that i had two other bobbins that contained a spinning project that had been abandoned when a shiney new fiber came along. so in addition to my original tour plans (spinning, plying, skeining the green) i'm going to also finish each of these other two projects.

the first is 8 ounces of morrit corriedale. 4 ounces are already spun. i'm spinning this alittle thicker than the green, so that will be a great change of pace.

the second is 4 ounces of brown alpace. 2 ounces are on the bobbin.

with both of these, i'll finish spinning, ply and skein thus completing each project all before we reach paris!!

so, how did i do in stage 2? well i think. i was able to devote 3 hours to the tour. i have another 4 ounces of green spun (for a total of two-4oz bobbins) and started the corriedale. in fact it was while i was rummaging for another bobbin that i discovered the unfinished projects, so how is that for spinning karma? i'm looking forward to stage 3 :)

stage 1

la tour began today and with it my quest for spinning completion. the green fiber beckoned me, actually it became more of a taunt. the plan was to start with jacknits tonight. all day i heard the roving (it is really more of a batt) calling me.
it is on the bobbin and the pile of fiber just seems to grow the more i spin.

independence day

july fourth, the date our country was founded, the date i beginning my adventure into blogosphere. i have often contemplated the notion of starting a blog.....putting myself out into cyberland, but hesitated. is there really a need to go there? do that? so today, i decided to mark my independence day by going forth....creating this spot.

i was nudged into this by my passion for all things wooly! i've entered this years 'tour defleece' and thought this would be an excellent venue to share my adventure.

i'll share my fiber adventures, knitting and spinning trials, wooly travels, and friends and family.

so here i go....