Tis The Season...

...for frantic finishing of knitting and spinning WIPs.

OFF MY NEEDLES:

The blue socks I started on Aug 9th out of Schachenmayr Regia Racing Color were finished on Dec 2nd.  They are a men's size 9 with nine inch legs, and are my eighth pair of socks this year.

ON MY NEEDLES:

On my needles are the usual assortment of socks in progress and holiday gifts.   Also, have a few gauge swatches going for the three or four sweaters I have planned to knit for Project Sweater Chest.   I'll be casting on for the BFL Delight and Pagoda sweaters when I get back home in a few weeks.   

ON MY WHEELS/SPINDLES:

Back in August I revisited my Promise spinning which I first started in summer of 2012.  I'm spinning this from the fold and will chain ply.  Promise is a 50/50 blend of SoySilk and Wool from Tempted.  My August/September spinning on this was done on my Barebones spindle.  However, the bulk of spinning was done the end of November on my wheel, but it hasn't been plied yet. 

OFF MY WHEELS/SPINDLES:

I spun approximately half of a four ounce braid of superwash BFL in the Maple colorway for the Howarts at Ravelry Deputy Headmistress Interhouse Unity challenge back in August.   The fiber is from Sweet Georgia and I used my Barebones spindle.   

 I spun and plied the second half on my Sidekick wheel Oct 28-Nov 4th.  I finished with about 306 yards of 2ply yarn that looks like this:

The BFL Delight yarn I started spinning during Spinzilla in October I finished in November.  Total yardage of 2ply yarn is 2,537, which I'm hoping will be enough for a sweater.  All the fiber for this yarn is  Bluefaced Leister from either Crown Mountain Farms (white plus the Novalis and Bacchus colorways) or Miss Babs (Dark Secrets colorway). 

 

On Your Mark...Get Set

This year's Tour de Fleece starts this Saturday, July 5th and runs through July 27th.  If you are not familiar with it, the Tour de Fleece (TdF) is a global Spin-Along (SAL) held in tandem with the Tour de France cycling competition.  While the cyclists race through France, we spin along with them in an effort to meet our individual goals. Our goals can range from just learning to spin, or spinning a new fiber, spinning down a certain amount of stash or learning a new technique, to spinning a whole fleece - whatever is challenging to us.

I considered joining several teams this year, Wildcard and Official, as I usually do, but eventually decided to keep it to just one team: the Diagon Alley Marauders from the Hogwarts at Ravelry group (and not just because I'm the team captain this year).

My TdF goal is simply to spin down as much stash as I can.  That includes finishing up old SWIPs and starting new ones. For the new, I'm still in the process of prepping fleece, and also deciding which commercially prepped fiber bumps to spin. I love spinning my natural color fleeces, but I need some color to break up the monotony. They're all so pretty though, it's hard to choose.  So I'm thinking maybe I'll go deep stash diving and pull out some of my really early purchases.  Age before beauty I guess. LOL

What I have decided on so far:

(1) five ounces of hand combed Finn/Lincoln cross (adult) to be spun into 3ply sock yarn, one singles spun 's' & two singles spun 'z', plied 's'.

(2) finish plying up (2x2 cable yarn) the remaining Rambouillet/Montedale cross singles (yes, just when I thought I was done with this I found more hiding in a corner).

(3) if I haven't already, finish flicking & combing the Shetland Moorit fleece, then finish spinning.

(4) if I can find it, finish spinning that soysilk/wool blend in Promise colorway that I started in 2012.

Add in three or four more and I'll make a decent little dent in my stash. I would like to spin a minimum of 24 ounces (680 grams) but I don't intend to race through my spinning and sacrifice quality of spinning for quantity spun. That's why my goal is just to spin as much as I can. If I make or surpass 24 doesn't really matter. I'll be happy with whatever yardage I can get to add to my StashDash2014 total.

Ponderings

The Tour de Fleece this year starts on July 5th, and I've been contemplating what to spin. The Knitmore Girls are doing another sweater SPAKAL (spin-along knit-along) so spinning a sweater's worth of yarn is one possibility. Another is to see just how much I can spin in three weeks, and if I go that route, will it include plying what I've spun or just spinning the singles? I also have to consider the weather. July in NYC is hot and sticky and I don't have A/C. On the really bad days I just can't spin.



ON MY NEEDLES:

A hat in leisure colors for the Socks For Soldiers group. I'm using Claudia Handpainted Yarn in the Desert Dusk color way.





I also have a couple pair of socks on the needles in various stages from just started to almost finished.



ON MY SPINDLES:

I'm about halfway through the four ounce bump of Annunaki at Tieman. The first ounce and a half has been plied (chain ply) and is sitting on Sadie, my wheel, at home. If I finish spinning my singles before I get back, I'll start plying them on my spindle, otherwise I'll just add them to what's on the wheel.

Balancing Act

Until this past week, I hadn't touched my spinning in ages - at least since early January. Mostly, I'm just knitting. A lot. But last weekend my hands finally said enough, no more knitting straight for hours at a time. So I'm back to alternating - knit for a bit, spin for a while, knit for a while, comb/card fleece for a bit, etc.

ON MY NEEDLES:
The first of the Fleeglized Panda socks is done and the second sock started.


The Charlotte Bronte Shawl has seen some more progress, finally. I finished the first lace border with the beads. The second lace border is about three quarters done. I'm knitting it separately (so I don't have to lug the whole shawl around) and will sew it on the shawl. I chose not to put beads on the second lace border.

I'm up to the heel gusset on the second of Bob's socks. The toe shaping's a bit tricky, but otherwise they're coming along nicely.

The OD (Olive Drab) socks are also progressing nicely, as is the tan regulation cap. Both are for the a socks For Soldiers group.

And if that's not enough WIPs to work on, I cast on stranded colorwork socks and a sweater.


ON MY SPINDLES/WHEEL:

There are a number of open spinning projects on my Spindles and Wheel, but the three main projects are:

(1) During the Fall and into early December I worked on the Rambouillet/Montedale cross pre-washed fleece I purchased several years ago.  I hand combed the fleece then wheel spun it in a smoothed, attenuated long draw. This will be a 4ply cabled yarn (spun z, 2ply s, cabled z).

The spinning is finished. And I am more than halfway through plying the 2ply yarn.  In fact in early December I took the first bobbin of 2ply yarn and plied it back on itself for my first skein of cabled yarn. 

Unfortunately, I was distracted and in a hurry and made a total hash of it. To say it is overplied is a major understatement.  I gave it a nice hot bath and thwacked the ever-loving shit out of it but it's still a mess.  See:



This is a really nice yarn, very soft, so there's no way I'm chucking it.  I will have to untangle it (I messed up the skein ties too) and run it through again to take out some of the excess twist. I haven't done this before, so I think I will use my Navajo Spindle instead of my wheel - better control.

(2) I recently started spindle spinning (longdraw) some Oxford/Border Leicester crossbreed fleece that I prepped in November.  This fleece was hand combed then run through my drum carder. It turned into rather nice batts and spins easily.

(3) Also started spinning the second Annunaki at Tieman colorway bump I bought last year from Crown Mountain Farms in their going out of business sales. It is four ounces of BFL top which I am spindle spinning (worsted) and will chain ply.  

Fleece prep-wise, I'm sampling (combing, carding 2&3plying) a multicolored Perendale fleece, some black & white Jacob fleece, and some llama fleece.


Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:
  Audiobooks: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon;                      
  DVDs etc:   Rizzoli & Isles; Murder She Wrote; Veronica Mars;              
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist;  The Knitmore Girls; Two Tangled Skeins;                        
 

On the Road....WV, I Am In You

 
 
  On My Needles/Hooks:
 
 

Hexipuffed like crazy on the train ride down to West Virginia or at least it seemed that way. A two hour delay in D.C. while they put my train together (don't ask) helped the illusion. Apparently though, I really only make one (or less) an hour. These are the seven I made on the road. There are a few more I made that night.

 

I started the Cauchy socks back in June but ran into a snag when I couldn't decide which heel I wanted to use: the pattern heel, afterthought, sweet tomato, or something else. I brought them with me on vacation and I'm pleased to say progress has been made. I went with a square heel. This is first sock progress.

On My Spindles/Wheel:
  
  

The first half (about two ounces worth) of the BFL from Crown Mountain Farms in the Rise of the Phoenix colorway is done. Spindle spun and plied, I got about 150 yds of 3ply (chain) yarn with a wpi in the 22-27 range. I'm hoping to get enough to make a Rivendell cowl, and I think I should have just enough. Pic taken before twist set.

Fiber Prep

The second half of "Mo", a Finn-Dorset-Targhee cross fleece, is washed and I've begun prepping the fleece to spin. I'm hand combing then drum carding. The plan is to spin woolen and 3ply as the first half was done. The only difference will be I'm probably going to wheel spin instead of spindle spin. Probably. Then again... By the time I get back from vacation and can work on it again I might change my mind.

Off My Spindles/Wheel:
  

The little Corriedale/Polypay sample is done. I started with 8.5 ounces raw fleece and after it was washed had 5.5 ounces. I hand carded the fleece and instead of dizzying off the combs, I pulled it off in tufts and spun it semi-worsted from that. It's my version of "cloud" prep. Worked surprisingly well. Picture taken before twist set. Ended up with approximately 350 yds of laceweight/light fingering 2ply yarn.

What's Goin' On....

On My Needles/Hooks:

I've been hexipuffing like mad lately. I have a whole bag of them finished but it just didn't seem like I was getting anywhere. So I started sewing them together and now I'm feeling much better about it. I am getting somewhere and I can't wait to finish.    

  
  
 

I had a little difficulty when I first started sewing them together - trying to find a way to join them that looked okay, but I eventually settled on something and now it's going smoothly. I know in the actual pattern (The Beekeepers Quilt) the puffs are just tied together not sewn. However, this is a baby blanket for charity, and I didn't think holes that little hands and feet might get stuck in was a good idea. Besides, the yarn and stuffing are all washable.        

At some time in the near future I will have to decide if I'm going to leave this blanket with uneven edges or square the sides off with half hexis. Right now I'm leaning towards evening out the sides, maybe even putting a little crochet border around. I don't know. We'll see.

 
 
On My Spindles/Wheel:

I just love the yarn prep and dyed colors that Klaus at Crown Mountain Farms did, and I was sorry to hear he had to close up shop. So I put in an order in June to pick up some of his colorways that I hadn't gotten to yet. One of them is "Rise of the Phoenix" in his BFL base. I'm spindle spinning (worsted) and chain plying. First ounce spun and pre-chained and resting on the bobbin, and I'm about two-thirds through spinning the second ounce.     

    

Unbelievable how hard it is to decide what knitting to take with me on vacation next week. I'll be gone for two weeks, and I have limited packing space. I can't decide between hexipuffs, socks and hats, or socks and a shawl, or hexipuffs and colorwork mittens. Decisions, decisions!    

   
    

And They're Off....

 
 
The 2013 Tour de Fleece (TdF) started today, June 29th, and runs through July 21st. For the unfamiliar, the Tour de Fleece runs concurrent with the Tour de France. While the cyclists race through France, we spin through our stashes in an effort to meet our individual goals. Those goals are personal and can range from just learning to spin, spinning a new fiber, to learning the ins and out of a new wheel or spindle, spinning down a certain amount of stash, or to spinning a whole fleece. This year I'm on three Wildcard teams: the Diagon Alley Marauders (the Hogwarts at Ravelry group),  Footloose (the Hansen mini-spinner group), and the Spin Your Stash group, as well as the Lantern Rouge group, one of the main TdF groups. My goal is to spin as much as I can.
   
 
This is what I hope to get through. It's mainly finishing up SWIPs and a couple of new projects.
Clockwise from right: (1) Ramboulliet-Dorset-Corridale cross fleece what's left to prep, spin, ply (2) Abstract Fiber Chocolate Rainbow bump #2, 4oz (3) Six bobbins of Corriedale ewe singles to ply (4) 4oz hand painted Finn, and (5) Two Sisters' Stringworks Polwarth/Silk blend.    
  
There are a few others I wanted to include, but we will see how far I get with this first.

First up is plying the Corriedale in a traditional 3ply.  The twist isn't set yet (it hasn't finished drying yet), but I'm estimating there's between 200-220 yds of sport weight yarn here.  I was in such a hurry I forgot to check the wpi before I soaked it, but it was spun semi-worsted so I'm hoping it won't poof up too much. Time shall tell.  
  
 
Next up is the alpaca/silk blend from Abstract Fiber in the Chocolate Rainbow colorway.  If it looks or sounds familiar, well it should.  I spun the first bump during last year's TdF.  I'm spinning this worsted and will chain ply as I did the first bump.  I just love the colors in this. I spun until the fiber started sticking to my hands too much, then switched to prepping the RDC cross fleece on my drum carder. I ended up with ten small batts totaling about 3.50 ounces.
Here's a group photo of Day One's progress, top to bottom: batts, Chocolate Rainbow, plied Corriedale skein

This and That

 

The 2013 Tour de Fleece starts on June 29th and runs through July 21st.  So far I've joined three teams: the Diagon Alley Marauders (the Hogwarts at Ravelry group),  Footloose (the Hansen mini-spinner group), and the Spin Your Stash group. I haven't decided yet what exactly I'm spinning, but as my general theme this year is stash busting, it really doesn't matter.  And I still have a couple of weeks yet to decide and finish prepping fleece.

    

I am once again participating in The Knit Girllls' Stash Dash 2013 challenge which started on May 24th and will run through Aug 5th.  This year we are knitting, crocheting, spinning and/or weaving our way through 4k of yarn (that's 4,375 yards).  Fingers crossed that I'll actually reach the goal this time.

  
  On My Needles/Hooks:

I'm actively working on the Wendy Johnson 2013 Summer Mystery Shawl and the Cauchy socks by Cookie A, but they're not the only projects on my needles right now.  There's also the Owlie socks in Hufflepuff colors, as well as the resurrected Charlotte Bronte shawl,  the Hexipuff Baby Blanket and some preemie hats.      

    

I've had the urge to make stranded color mittens for quite some time now.   I have two books of mitten patterns in my library that I'd love to work my way through, as well as a sampler pack of Knit Picks Pallette yarns to knit with.  Right now I'm going through the books and my Ravelry favorites and queue and selecting patterns and matching yarns for them.  Sometimes planning is as much fun as knitting!        

  
 
  On My Spindles/Wheel:

  I have worked on some odd fiber samples for the  Itty Bitty Bits and I've been sporadically spindle spinning a bump of BFL/silk from Two Sisters Stringworks, but mostly I've been doing fiber prep - combing and carding fleece.    

There's a Ramboulliet/Montadale cross fleece that I'm using to practice carding on my new drum carder.  Honestly, I think I prefer hand carding, but that could be because I'm new at it (the drum carding).

I'm also working on an absolutely lovely Ramboulliet/Dorset/Corriedale cross fleece (a/k/a the RDC fleece) that's just a joy to comb and hand card. It's only drawback is it has a lot of yellow in it, but a nice dip in a dye bath should take care of that.  I've started woolen spinning the hand carded rolags and it spins like butter.  My singles are the thinnest I've done so far so I'm hoping my final 3ply yarn will end up as fingering or sport weight yarn.      

There's also the Expand Your Horizons spinning for March (Jacob) and May (Coopworth) that I have the fiber for but haven't touched.  I may not get to spinning this particular batch of Coopworth because I'm blending it with some other fiber for Q to use for her sister's wedding shawl.  Guess that means I just might have to buy more fiber.  Heehee :-)      

      
  
 
Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks:                
  DVDs etc:  Midsomer Murders; Why Didn't They Ask Evans; The Borgias; Murdoch Mysteries; Hemlock Grove; Doctor Who; Moonlight; Twin Peaks; Angel; NCIS;                      
  Pod/VideoCasts:  The Knit Girllls; Round the Twist; Yarnspinner's Tales; The Knitmore Girls; The Nerdist; Knitting Pipeline; SpinDoctor;                        
 

Old and New

  
 
On My Needles/Hooks:

The Blue Yoke Sweater has been languishing on my needles for eight years, maybe more.  If I remember correctly, I started it when Mom was in rehab for compression fractures of the spine as something for me to work on while I sat with her.  I got as far as about two inches into the yoke and then stopped, reason unknown.  

  
  
 

I'd kept some very spare notes on a little slip of paper which were just enough for me to continue without having to do any major recounting or head scratching.  I am truly surprised that little bit of paper survived.  If it hadn't, I might've been tempted to frog it instead of finishing it, but finish it I shall.  I'm currently up to the collar ribbing, so almost done.  

  
 

I found a ball of unlabeled yarn with very nice colors and decided to use it for Mom's mitts.  I think it's dk or light worsted weight acrylic or an acrylic blend, and not the softest (although it is squishy), but it's the colors that caught my eye.  See:

    
  

I cast on the other day using measurements from memory: an eight inch wrist and nine inch circumference hand, but stopped at the wrist.  It just didn't jive with what my head sees for her hand now.  So I remeasured Tuesday night and, wow, good thing I did.  Wrist is now six inches, hand eight and a half.   Frogged and immediately recast on with new numbers.   It's a plain, simple, afterthought thumb mitt and is working up quickly. 

    
On My Spindles/Wheel:

The Knit Girllls "Expand Your Horizons" January fiber is Southdown, and I just happen to have a wee bit of Babydoll Southdown in stash.  In fact I have all of this year's EYH fiber in stash, so yay!

Babydoll Southdown was something I tried a few years ago for the Wool Breeds Challenge and wasn't too thrilled with. I believe I found it surprisingly difficult to spin, but I can't find my notes (if I even made any) so don't remember what the specific problem was.  It might've been that this fiber begs for longdraw and I wasn't that experienced with it yet, or it might've been something else.

Either way, I finally got around to trying it again on Tuesday.  The part of the roving that was still intact in the 'skein' was fairly easy to spin (longdraw of course).  The pieces I'd pulled off to try previously were much fussier and difficult.  But I persevered and have this bobbin of singles (40gr) to ply, when I decide how many plies I want.  

      
  
 

Tuesday was the first day I'd spun in what seems like ages, and it felt really good.  So after spinning the Babydoll I immediately switched out the bobbins and started on the Fiber Optic merino/silk fiber for the The Knit Girllls other SAL.  It's lovely colors and spinning quite smoothly. I'm spinning smoothed semi-worsted from end to end and will chain ply to maintain the color gradient.

      

      

There are some other small items I have going on various spindles for Spinning Itty Bitty Bits project, but they're so small I'm saving details and pictures for the January FO post.

Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks:            
  DVDs etc:   Castle S4; The Backup Plan; The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant;          
  Pod/VideoCasts: The Knitmore Girls; Round The Twist; The Knit Girllls; Knitting Pipeline;            
 

December WIPs/SWIPs

  
  There's no mad holiday knitting rush for me this year. Only person I'm knitting for is Mom (socks and mitts), but, sadly, as she won't really remember if she gets them on or after Christmas, I don't have to kill my hands rushing to finish them. The socks will be done by Christmas; I doubt if the mitts will even be started by Christmas.
  
  
  I would like to finish as many knitting and spinning WIPs as I can by the end of the year, especially these projects:
  
On My Needles
  
  Hitchhiker Shawl - I started this a week or so ago and am about halfway through and liking muchly (both pattern and yarn). I'm using my brown and white Shetland handspun from last month called DA3, and size 5 (3.75mm) needles. As of this (Thursday) evening, I'd reached 24 points. I think I have enough yarn to reach or come close to the 42 points called for in the pattern.
  
Apologies for the picture quality. This is from last weekend when I was out and about. 
 
  
   Mom's Socks - the socks I messed up last week are progressing nicely. The first sock is done and I'm motoring up the foot of the second sock. I'm using size 1 (2.25mm) dpns on Berroco Sox yarn.
  
I need to put the afterthought heel on the first "Woolgathering" sock (the second sock is finished), but it seems it's fallen into a black hole or is hiding somewhere.
  
  
  On My Spindles
  
Spinning Seafoam - The Loop Bullseye batt in the Seafoam colorway is going slowly. After what seems like forever spinning I'm just really hitting the first color change. So I'm hoping changing from spindles to the e-spinner will speed things up a little. I love the Bullseye batts, the prep is wonderful, as is the blending. I just wish it wasn't Merino. Note to self: stop buying Merino fiber! You know you don't like spinning it!
  
There are a number of other WIPs/SWIPs I'd like to finish by yearend, but I'll be happy if what I've listed above is all I get done.
  
  Off My Spindles:

Spinning Itty Bitty Bits - this is a catchall project/name I'm using for the little fiber samples I've been spindle spinning. Some are from Phat Fiber boxes and some are leftover samples from the Wool Breeds Challenge. (This is an ongoing project that won't be finished for a few years at least and doesn't count in the year-end completions.) Here are a few little skeins:
  
  
 
  
  
  Brought To Me By: Crafting accomplished with the following audio/video accompaniment:    
  Audiobooks:  These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer; Blood Lance by Jeri Westerson;            
  DVDs etc:   Castle S4;    
  Pod/VideoCasts:   The Knit Girllls; Round The Twist; Knitting Pipeline, The Knitmore Girls, Subway Knits  
 

WIPs and SWIPs

 
 
On My Needles: I keep poking through my knitting WIPs basket, but my only reaction is  Eh!   Not good.  I should be swatching for my SPAKAL sweaters (yes, plural), but its just not happening.  Also Not Good.  So the only knitting I've been working on lately are my striped socks in the Woolgathering colorway.  I'm about four inches down the foot on the second sock. I need to finish it, put the afterthought heel in the first one, and then they'll be finished.  At least something will be finished.
 
 
 
  On My Spindles:  
 
  Once again I'm working on multiple projects at the same time, or perhaps it's more accurate to say serially rather than at the same time.  
 
  There's the Manx Loughton.  This is the first spindle worth:
 
 
 

Then there's the Shetland in black and white I'm spinning for my Dumbledore's Army project on Hogwarts at Ravelry group (sshhhh it's a secret).  My singles are spun, I just need to ply




 I finished spinning the Columbia and moved on to the Columbia/Merino cross or CxM.  The staple length for most of this is less than 2 inches so I'm not combing first, just hand picking and hand carding.  I'm almost finished carding and already spun 10 bobbins worth.  Pic shows rolags left to spin, fleece left to card and spun singles.

 

Of  course, there's also the East Friesian cross that I haven't touched in over a month.  I'm not even sure where I left off on that.  Think I needed to wash more fleece and just wasn't in the mood. 
 And the "Promise" fiber that's buried in the bottom of the SWIPs basket.  Haven't touched that since August or thereabouts.

And then there's this:



This  bit of loveliness is what I really want to spin right now.  It's 8 ounces of BFL from Crown Mountain Farms, dyed in the Annunaki on Tiamat colorway.  I keep picking it up and petting it.   But No. There's this voice that keeps telling me to Step Away From The Fiber. You can't spin it until you finish two SWIPs. Three would be better but two is good.   Damn annoying voice! insert fingers in ears La la la la, I can't hear you!



Brought To Me By:  
  Audiobooks:  These Old Shades & Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer;    
  DVDs etc:   True Blood S3; Cadfael;
  Pod/VideoCasts:   The Knit Girllls; Round The Twist;