stage 20 ~ finish line

the ride into paris was delightful! after the heat and humidity of yesterday, today's cooler temp and frisky breeze was a treat. here is my ride. 38 ounces of yarn.

yikes! it does seem like a lot of yarn. i'll need to estimate my yardage at some point.

the wool /alpaca will someday be knit into a garment for honey. i'm not in any rush :)

the purple wool/ mohair blend remained a challenge to the very end. i'm glad the i navajo plied it, keeping the colors intact. the yarn is thicker that i anticipated, but i'll let it live in the stash for a bit until it finds out what it wants to be.

but for now.... congratulations to me for a job well spun!

stage 19

i made it! i can see paris as i cruise to the finish line. tomorrow will be all about pleasure, basking in the glow of my success and wearing the yellow jersey with pride.
today was spent at an artisans fair in the lovely finger lakes. it was HOT. really, beyond hot. i was there with amythefibergoddess as she sold her wares. i was able to sit back and finish plying that blasted wool/mohair blend. i did navajo ply it and i was very please with the end product. the yarn is thicker than i would have liked, but the colors flow together beautifully. here are my singles.....













and here is amy spinning her BFL and banana...... what a day!

stage 17 & 18

i finally got back on track. i needed to have these five bobbins spun so that i could ply this weekend. the decision now is how to ply. the intriguing part of this fiber was the way that is was dyed. long bands of color, all shade of purple (i'll get better pic in the sunlight). so, do i two ply this merging the colors together in random ways, or navajo ply into a thicker yarn that keeps the color bands intact.
hmmm, may need more wine.

stage 14, 15, 16

i've spun and plied all the wool alpaca blend from longmeadow farm. as i was plying away at this, i asked my dear partner if he still wanted a garment. from this yarn. as he was staring at the yarn and my hands are still numb from the plying i could feel my temper rising. time ticked on and just as i was ready to explode, he turns to me and states." i love it.... couldn't like it more" good answer.









i knew that i loved sandy's fiber, but having moved onto the next blend, my love is certain. i had 10 ounces of wool/mohair blend that i had kicking around in the stash for about a year. i loved the colors, so wanted to make sure i loved the fiber before festival season. that's one good thing about this challenge, it's forced me to start and finish fibers that i might not have stayed with. the purple roving is a pain. it's sticky and full of straw and slubs and it's not really a pleasure to spin. so..... onward i go!

stages 12 &13

i know i said fiber pics today, but this is much better. i'm still spinning along, got alot of plying done and seem to be back on track to finish in time.
yesterday was the monthly guild meeting and we took a field trip to a member's farm.

i'm still wondering what the passers-by thought of a yard full of women and wheels! the gardens were lush and breathtaking....
best every spinning meeting!!

stage 9,10,11

more of the same.... filling bobbins, trying to keep up the pace. the whole bobbin filling issue is a bummer. i find that i'm just into the roll of spinning a consistent single and bam....not an empty bobbin to be found. and i've looked.
this has been a big drain on my time... kayak camp! it is the coolest thing. held at a canal lock, they've turned the spillway into a whitewater rapids course. the five day program gets kayaker's in the water, familiar with the sport, and doing rapids.
sadly, i am not the participant.... eldest is. it's not really conducive to spinning

so i've been catching up on my knitting. fiber pics tomorrow.

stages 6, 7 & 8

i've fallen slightly behind. my plan was to spin a 2 1/2 ounce ball a day. did the math, checked the schedule ..... all seemed fine.

i forgot about plying. seems that i ran out of bobbins on friday and had to start plying. thought i could catch up saturday, but went to a local arts festival for the day (had a fabulous time) then today, well even the pup knew where i was spending the day! i've almost made up the difference, but it looks like i'll need to ply again soon.