Its Tour de Fleece Time!

Its that time of year again. July is the perfect time to spin. With so many others spinning for the tour de fleece, the ravelry boards are a constant source of inspiration. For example, the other day, I saw someone had a spindle that had as its whorl, the Wheel of Fortune!! I pm'd this person to tell her how cute I thought it was and she immediately put me onto the esty seller. So, I have a new spindle on the way!!!! Not a wheel of fortune, but one with candy butterflies, set in resin. I cannot wait to see it...and spin it too, I guess...lol.

These two pictures show my favorite skein to date. Its BFL/silk from an esty seller from Torbay, Newfoundland. The colourway is Jelly Bean Row. How cute is that? I'm very happy with how the colours lined up and I only had to do a couple of resectioning in places to make it work. I'm so tempted to immediately cast on for a pair of mittens using this yarn. Thats a good sign that I'm getting over my inability to knit with handspun, right?

This yarn is my first time spinning polwarth! Its from etsy seller Kelpiefibers and I spin this completely on my new Kundart spindle - which is a dream to spin on, by the way. I don't know why, but ever since the spinning retreat, I've been obsessed with spindle spinning - and we didn't even do a whole lot of spindle spinning there.

And finally a picture of what summer is all about! Homemade popsicles with fruit! I made these for 'the boys' but so far, I've eaten them all myself. Can you blame me?

The Time of My Life

I'm just back from a weekend of spinning and dyeing at Full Tilt Creative Center in McIvers, Newfoundland! I always promised myself that if I ever got the opportunity to attend such a workshop, then I would take advantage of it. I'm so glad that I did. I was very vilifying to see other spinners (especially the instructor, Robyn Love) and realize that I'm doing things right! Most - well, all of my spinning knowledge has been gleaned from books and youtube videos. I have always felt somewhat isolated as a spinner. I learned a lot of things from this workshop, including a better way to wash fleece. My Big Project will definitely improve with the knowledge gained from this weekend.

This is Blanchard House. This is where I stayed the entire weekend. It has a beautiful view of the 'Bay of Islands". There is a small island with a tern colony just off the beach. The terns didn't stop screeching all night long. Surprisingly this was quite soothing.

Here Robyn demonstrates how to properly scour fleece. I hadn't been adding enough soap to my washings. I'm hoping this will help with my very greasy Saskatchewan fleece.

This is Jen sorting through some fiber that came from our indigo dye pot. Aren't the colours amazing?

Martina (my roommate) looks at all the dyed fleece drying in the sun. Again, the colours are spectacular!

These are my two yarns from this weekend. I used all the colours from the natural dye pots to make both of these yarns. I carded up the fibers (both on hand cards and the drum carder) for a little blending and I threw in bits of novelty yarns to attempt art yarn. I was going for a thick and thin single, which I think I succeeded.

This young lady was one of Colette's workers. (Colette is the owner of Full Tilt) She was interested in spindle spinning, so I gave her one of the spindles that Kev and I made. She is spinning with some fibre that took a quick dip in the indigo dye bath. I love that light blue!

Pink Cardi gone to waste?

Here is the cute little pink cardigan that I just finished. I think it is perfect in so many ways. The shade of dusty pink, the nice contrasting chocolate brown, the sweet little peter pan collar (why is it called that?) and I even managed to find the perfect little buttons in my huge button stash, and its knit in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK which is also superwash. The pattern was also designed by Debbie Bliss, queen of the baby knits.

But......sadly, this cardigan will not be worn. Nat had another boy! Now don't get me wrong, I'm super happy about that, as he was born healthy and Nat had a quick, relatively stress free delivery. But alas, he is a boy and his dad will not permit him to wear this cardigan.

The good news is, Nat said, I'm not giving you back that cardigan (like I would take it back?) I'm still planning another pregnancy. Joy of joys!!! Hopefully the cardigan won't be out of style by then. But I don't think so. Its a classic design. The pattern was originally published in Vogue Knitting 2007, four years ago. I wanted to knit it ever since I first saw it. There is a boy version too, but I still think that even knit in a masculine colour, this little cardigan is totally feminine.

This post is for you, Cathy!

Last night my friend Cathy reminded my that its been May 22nd since I did my last blog post. She's been wondering if I've given up blogging - or worse...knitting. Not so, I assured her. I've just been doing a lot of baby knitting and not really finishing off things. I like to show finished items here on my blog, though I'm sure I could show some 'in progress' shots every now and again.

So, without further adieu, here is what I've been up to since May 22.

Baby item #1. A little boy vest. Nat is due any day now. Not sure of the sex of the baby. This is quite masculine. I've knit a pink cardi too (more on that in a later post Cathy, sorry)

Here is some yarn that I just finished plying. Its been spun since...forever. They were two very mismatched singles just sitting on the bobbins. In preparation for next months 'Tour de Fleece' I wanted my bobbins clear. Also, I'm going on a SPINNING RETREAT'!!!!! I'm so excited about that. I cannot wait. Its the first weekend in July. Its taking place in a small community on the west coast of Newfoundland. The spots available for the retreat filled up really quickly. The instructor will also be teaching some yoga and natural dying in addition to the spinning. I'm very stoked to be going. I was going to drive, but have opted to fly instead. I'm not sure how I'm going to get my wheel out there.

And here the beginning of a new shawl I'm working on. Can you guess who the designer is? Yup...its Stephen West. Its called Transatlantic and I love it. I'm knitting this from yarn from a recent etsy purchase. I love it. The colours are so vibrant and saturated and bright...retina searing even. Lol.

And lastly, here is a picture of some yarn that I recently spun and plied. Again, an etsy purchase. I love the combination of yellow and grey together.

Knitting with Handspun

Knitting with handspun has always been a challenge for me. I've lamented this fact before. I'm not sure what it is. Either the project isn't worthy, or the intended recipient isn't worthy. Shameful, really. I've got to get over this. I'm starting to really build up a stash of handspun. I love spinning and the 'Tour de Fleece' is coming up. So that means I'll be producing more handspun.

I've trolled around on Ravelry. Other people seem to have no issues with knitting up their handspun. I've come across some really great finished objects there that have inspired me to cast on and knit already.

I've mentioned that I've been bitten by the Stephen West bug. His patterns are totally worthy of using handspun. And I have good friends moving to the Northwest Territories in July who are totally worthy of some handspun.

So, that being said, I knit up this little cowl called Drawbridge. Such a simple pattern. It can also double as a hat in a pinch. The colours of the yarn are nice and masculine. I'm sure my friend will like it.

Daybreak

So, I finished the Daybreak and I absolutely love it. As predicted, I immediately cast on for another Stephen West pattern. This time, I'll be knitting Daybreak - in handspun no less!! I'm super proud of myself for doing that. I've written before about my hesitancy to use handspun. I think I even listed that as a goal for 2011. I'm really trying to see the potential of this beautiful yarn - not to see it as a final project in itself.


Here is the blocked daybreak on my floor. So happy with the yarn and the pattern. I highly recommend both

The daybreak on my back porch.

Here is a photo of some locks from the 'big project'. The rest of the fleece is currently undergoing a 'cold soak' in a large rubbermaid container. I decided to hand wash a few locks just to see how they look. I handcombed the locks, and will likely spin these up to see how they turn out. Pretty aren't they?

The Big Project (Take 2)

Since my original post about the big project, I've done nothing to process the fleece. The lady from whom I purchased the fleece recommended that I keep the fleece in a freezer for a few days, just in case there were bugs and what not hiding in the fiber only to come alive once in my warm home.

Well, this was back in March, in Labrador. Things are still pretty cold at that time in Labrador. So rather than store it in my freezer, I decided to keep in on my back porch for a couple of days.

Bad idea.

Kevin assumed it was garbage. I know!! I can hear the gasps from here. I contacted the seller to see if she had a similar fleece for sale, but sadly she sold the little lamb (a Merino, Corriedale cross named Rosie). She also decided to change her shipping. She no longer ships in black garbage bags owing to Kev's faux pas. She contacted me sometime later to tell me that she just had her flock sheared. While she had sold Rosie, she still had her sister Daisy, and I could buy some of her fleece. I was a happy camper, as was Kev. He finally got out of the dog house.

Here is what it looks like all spread out.

I'm very happy with this fleece. I've already scoured and carded a small amount of it, just to see what it spins up like. I have to spin some existing fiber however, just to get a few free bobbins. I'm very, very happy with the result so far. This is a far superior fleece to the Jacob fleece of two summers ago.

I haven't settled on a big project goal yet. Like a sweater or an afghan. I may just spin single skeins of various weights and colours and just enhance my stash. I'm still debating what to do. I am toying with the idea of an icelandic yoked sweater. I think I will have enough yarn when all is said and done. We shall see. Exciting times.