Getting Back Into It

Thanks to Nicole I'm going to try to get back into blogging.  My husband would probably benefit the most from this because if I'm blogging about knitting & spinning then I'm not rambling on and on to him about it.

First off, my Tour de Fleece was successful!  In fact I got through my 42 ounces of fiber about 1 week early so I was very pleased.  

That's 9 skeins of DK weight yarn.  I was going for quantity and consistency.  Some of these might even make it to the NYS Fair as my handspun entries for this year.

Lesson's learned:

1. I really like to spin so I should really start knitting with my handspun.

2. I don't like spinning every day because it's tedious and rough on my body

3. Spinning every day really improves the quality of my handspun

4. Someday when I retire, I should spin for an hour or so each morning then knit in the evenings

5. Next year I'd like to focus on a specific technique for TdF like spin lace weight or worsted weight instead of quantity.

Next up, Nicole gave me this:

Part of accepting this award is to tell everyone 7 as-yet-unknown things about oneself:

1. If money and housing weren't a factor I'd have more kids than the Duggars

2. I spent 2 weeks traveling through Vietnam and can't wait to take my family there

3. I was voted Most Athletic in high school

4. I was injured in college playing rugby and had TMJ surgery on my jaw

5. I am a huge sci-fi/fantasy fan including books, tv shows & movies

6. My husband & I plan to see the NY Giants play in every stadium

7. My yarn & fiber stash is so big that I could probably knit for at least 10 years without buying more

Also, part of this deal is to pass on this award to 7 other bloggers.  Unfortunately I'm not sure who still reads this blog since I post so infrequently.  So, if you're reading this and have a blog, drop me a comment, I'll make sure your blog is in my reading list then feel free to participate!

Tour de Fleece Prep - Part 2

It took me a little while to come to a decision but finally I have my goal set for this year's Tour de Fleece: spin over 2 pounds of fiber.  I think I can do it as long as I spin each day.  This afternoon I set aside the fiber that I'd like to spin:

I've started a monthly spin-along challenge in the CNY Ravelry group and for July my plan is to pick Corriedale/Colonial fiber.  That picture is 42.1 ounces of fiber all within those specifics.  From left to right:

Red - 18.1 ounces of Spinner's Hill Corriedale, Finn, Rambouillet Cross Sheep fiber
Light and dark blue balls - 4 and 8 ounces of Ashland Bay Colonial fiber
3 braids in green, blue & purple - 4 ounces each of Stone Edge Fibers Colonial Wool Top

It is a challenge for me and I might not be able to get it all done.  I'm leaving the braids for last because they were most recently purchased.  I thought this would be a great chance for me to spin up some of my older fiber that's been in my stash for a while now.  I may be taking a day or two off from work just to make some progress on my spinning . . . I'm due for a day off anyway so it's perfect timing!

Doh!

"If you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans."

I have no idea where I heard that from but it's so true.  While I was getting ready to split up the 2 pounds of fiber for TdF I happened to see the original tags & sales slips.  One ball is "Corriedale, Finn, Rambouillet Cross roving" and the other is "Merino Top".

There goes my grand plans of using it all for a sweater . . .

I may still spin these up but I'm seriously rethinking my TdF plans.  Spin 2 pounds of 2 different fibers as a big challenge or spin up 8 four ounce braids as a stash buster?

Tour de Fleece Preparation

Within the past year I've gotten more serious about my spinning.  I really enjoy the process and someday hope to actually knit with all of this handspun I've created.  I decided to give myself a good challenge for this year's Tour de Fleece (June 30th to July 22nd): to spin up the 2 pounds of Spinner's Hill roving that I purchased in my favorite color red.  I have 2 of these:

I finally weighed them today and one ball is 15.65 ounces and the other is 18.10 ounces for a total of 33.75 ounces or 2.1 pounds. 

I had no idea of this was an unrealistic goal because I've never really kept track as to how much fiber I can spin in a night.  In my planning I decided to do a little preparation/training and spin up this:

It's 12.3 ounces of Twisted Wool BFL roving.  I divided it in half and spun up the first half in 2 nights of about 2 hours each of spinning.  So my math came out to:

2 nights = 1 skein of 6 ounces
33.75 ounces (5 skeins) = 10 nights plus
5 additional nights of plying (1 night per skein)
15 total nights of spinning & plying for this fiber

The tour is 23 days long with 8 of them being weekends days for bonus spinning.  One problem I do see is that I have a wedding to go to in Pittsburgh on July 20-22 so realistically I have only 20 days to spin but that gives me some room since I only really needed 15.

Doing this preparation actually makes me feel better because it is an attainable goal.  I am hoping to use the resulting yarn for a garment for myself if I have enough yardage and if not, who cares?  I'll find something great for the yarn on Ravelry eventually!

Woolee Winder Love

One of my birthday presents this year was a Woolee Winder from my husband. I have seen all the cool kids online posting pictures of theirs for years now and I thought it was cool but I was still intimidated. I wasn't able to try one out in person so I relied heavily on the guarantee that if I didn't like it I could send it back.

First I tried a basic 2 ply yarn. It was difficult to get used to initially. I had to really oil it up and play with the tension but by the time I finished up plying it started to feel good. It is a little louder but it's a constant whooshing noise so it's not distracting. I wasn't sold though at this point.

Next up was a skein to Navajo ply and this is the one that sold me. At this point the bobbin was well oiled and I had found the sweet spot for my tension. I initially tried my largest drive but that didn't feel right so I went back to my normal one. Once I got started and found my groove it was amazing. When you're plying with both hands like that it's a pain to have to stop and switch hooks all the time. This was so smooth and easy. Absolutely the best way to go. I do need some more practice though at getting my plied yarn balanced. I tended to really, really under ply but when I tried to fix it I would over ply. That may be because I'm still getting the hand out of Navajo plying in general. By far the Woolee Winder made it so much more enjoyable to spin.

Last for the test was spinning singles. I've read on blogs and Ravelry threads that the Woolee Winder can tend to have a lot more take up than your regular wheel. I adjusted for that with barely having my spring engaged for tension and just dove in. I also wanted to see how much fiber I can pack on one of these bobbins because the Navajo plied fiber was well over 5 ounces and I had lots more room. I decided on Jill Draper's blue/orange (SU colors) fiber since I got about 6.75 ounces on my home scale. This is the original fiber:



After 2 nights of spinning this is what my bobbin looks like:


Isn't it the coolest thing ever? The singles do seem to build up a little on the ends of the bobbin but overall I am just so happy with this. I have to stop myself occasionally to stretch out my hands because it's so easy to just keep spinning and spinning. I plan to Navajo ply this when I'm done and knit up a hat or two for my son since he picked out the fiber at the Yarn Cupboard and demanded that I buy it for him. Just last night we had this conversation:

Me: After you go to bed, do you think I should spin or knit tonight?
Son: I think you should knit my hat.
Me: But I haven't finished spinning up the yarn yet.
Son: Then you need to do that now!

Keep in mind that we bought this fiber back in January and haven't talked about it much since then.

My goal is to have this fiber spun up and drying before I leave for my work trip on Monday. It's not too much pressure but it is more fiber than I normally spin at one time so I'm just going to keep at it.

But I am still Spinning too

I have found a somewhat happy balance between my knitting and spinning time during the week. It's been tough when I want to do both all the time. It's been so long since I've shared spinning pictures that I had to go back to my KnitMeter account to figure out what I've finished!

My first big spinning project on my Strickland spindle was Holiday Yarns Silver:



Horrible picture (it's really much lighter) but I got about 356 yards of DK weight yarn. Amazingly to spin with almost no vm in it.


Then I challenged myself to spin from a batt (Spinner's Hill) for the first time and got two beautiful skeins of sport weight yarn (again, bad picture):



Then I challenged myself again and learned how to Navajo ply on a spindle. It's really not that difficult. I used Jill Draper's goth chick fiber and got 2 small skeins of worsted weight yarn:



I got this Pagewood Farms roving from my husband for Christmas:



Then Navajo plied it on my wheel for the first time to get 266 yards of worsted weight yarn:



Having a "To Learn" list has really helped me with picking projects. I have been having so much fun trying new things.

I thought I'd try spinning the singles on my Strickland spindle and then Navajo plying on my wheel (using my new Woolee Winder). I used Corgi Hill Farms polwarth/tussah silk fiber to get 200 yards of worsted weight yarn:



Also on my list was spinning some merino/yak fiber. I got this beautiful blend from Wooly Wonka Fibers in the color way River's Edge:



As part of the Woolee Winder trial process I did a basic 2 ply and got 238 yards of DK yarn that has very subtle color variations:



This is by far the softest yarn I have ever gotten from hand spinning. It took a bit to get used to spinning but it's well worth it.

I have projects on the wheel and spindle now but I'll save that for a future post. Someday I do need to figure out what I'm going to do with all of this hand spun yarn. For now, it just sits in my yarn cabinet and I pet it every now and then. It's going to be hard deciding on patterns - it's all so precious to me!

Knitting Mojo is Back!

It took me some time to work everything out but my knitting mojo has finally returned. I've settled into a nice balance of one large project for the evenings and many small social knitting projects during the day (one at a time).

First up, I finished my Bernhardt Cardigan in time for the retreat:


It was tough but I let Sandi Wiseheart give me all the critiques on fitting it better and I'm now armed with the knowledge to fix this and knit my next one better. I learned that sweater knitting isn't something that you can just jump into. You need to measure and swatch like crazy if you want it to eventually fit correctly. Oh and one tiny detail I like to forget: WASH THE DAMN SWATCH! I really, really, really need to start doing that.

My current large project for the evenings is a secret. Well, not really a secret because my friends know that I'm knitting them a massive baby blanket that is absolutely gorgeous. They just don't know what the yarn or pattern looks like. If you're curious, hop on over to my Ravelry projects and it's my current WIP. There's no rush to finish this since they haven't even started trying to conceive yet and I love not having a deadline looming over me. Plus, it's very enjoyable to knit.

For my small, social knitting projects first up is a new pair of socks for my son in the next size up:


Yes, he picked out the yarn and he still loves it. I think I have enough left to make him one more pair next year.

For our week of vacation in Florida I knit up 2 projects from my KnitSpot Fall in Full Color subscription club:

Echo of Bells scarf in mink/cashmere yarn


Woodstacking cowl


Then came a series of epic social knitting to knit up 4 hats in the same pattern for my husband's friends:






Bored yet? Yeah, me too.

So while I have a great evening project that will take a long time to finish my social knitting projects have stalled. It's the perfect opportunity to start working on mittens for the NNCS Mitten Campaign this fall. I'm going to use my leftovers from these hats to make my first pair. Not really sure how all these colors will work together but I'm going to experiment and have a little fun with it.