Tour de Fleece 2015: Days 6-8

D and I took a little mini-vacation to ABQ this weekend, so my spinning time was a bit odd.  We headed down to ABQ on Friday, so I took that as my rest day instead of Monday, the 13th.  (I'll spin on Monday instead.)  Thursday p.m., which was day 6, I had finished up the first half of the 5 oz of my Dragons fiber.

I took my wheel and the remaining 2.5 oz of fiber with me, and after my photo shoot Saturday a.m., headed back to the hotel while D was taking a class.  I had a wonderfully relaxed afternoon, where I read a great book on Iceland and spun.

I managed to get all 2.5 oz spun up, so my singles are finished and ready to ply!

Hoping to get at least started on the plying for this tonight, although it may take me 2 days of plying to get this completed.

I did decide to go on to the shetland wool/silk roving from FatCatKnits next, so I'm also going to get that fiber prepped to spin for when I've finished this one up.

Tour de Fleece 2015: Day 5

It'll be a fairly boring group of photos for the next wee while, I'm afraid.  Since I've decided to spin up the Dragons roving fairly thinly, having just an hour to devote towards it nightly doesn't equal a lot of progress.

But here's where I am at the end of day 5's spinning for me.

In looking ahead - and yes, I'm using that as a carrot to keep myself focused on these skinny singles - I've got 3 other batches of fiber earmarked for the next several weeks.  Of those three, I had planned to spin 2 of them fairly finely as well.  One is a batt, and I'd like to also use that for a light fingering to laceweight yarn, and the other is a blend of baby camel and silk, and I suspect is going to require a short forward draft to be spun nicely, which is a slow technique for me.  My final choice is a shetland/silk 75/25 roving blend from FatCatKnits, colorway Grotto.

I think that may be the next up and likely a fractal spin to help keep some of the colors cleaner and less barberpole-y, so I may do some prep on that as well to get it ready to hit the wheel.

Tour de Fleece 2015: Day 4

While I had some extra time to spin over the weekend, I'm not being quite as productive during the work week.  I am meeting my goal of an hour of spinning a day, and today, Day 4 of the Tour, I worked on spinning singles from the Wooly Wonka Fibers "Dragons" blended roving.  This is a mix of BFL, silk and a bit of glitter in deep reds and a bit of black.

I took the ends of the two runs I had done for this custom blend to keep for myself, so I've actually got a full 5 oz to work with.  I'm shooting for a light fingering weight yarn to use for something lacey with this.  Probably a shawl, but we'll see how the yardage shakes out.

Slow going with the fine singles and reduced spinning time, but I'm feeling pretty good about getting started on my third fiber I've got earmarked for the Tour already with two 4-oz braids already spun up!

Tour de Fleece 2015: Day 3

For Day 3, I sat down and plied up the Two If By Hand Polwarth I had finished up the singles of.

Technical Specs:
Roving:  4 oz of  Two If By Hand Polwarth wool roving, in the "Cello Shots" colorway.
Ply:  2-ply.
Weight:  Aran/worsted.
Yardage:  175 yards.

This did turn out lovely and squishy!  The plies are a bit inconsistent, however, so I definitely need to work on that at this grist.  All in all, I'm not unhappy with the yarn - it's soft and cheerful colors, and will knit up into something warm.  Mittens?  A hat?  Nothing specific chosen for it yet.

My next spin will take me a bit longer, I suspect, since I want to spin it up as a 2-ply laceweight.

The next one up is another blended roving from the Wooly Wonka Fibers Mythical Creatures Club, Dragons.

I did start the singles after I finished plying the Polwarth so this one is underway!

Tour de Fleece 2015: Day 2

I managed to get the Mermaids singles plied up today and off the bobbins.

I'm so pleased with this yarn!  It came out lovely, bouncy but drapey all at the same time.  The white soy gives it a bit of a shimmery quality and it is SOFT.

Technical Specs:
Roving:  4 oz of Wooly Wonka Fibers blended roving, 60/40 merino/soy, in the Mermaids colorway.
Ply: 2-ply.
Weight:  Fingering.
Yardage: 416 yards

I then pulled out the next spin I've got queued up.  This one is from Two if By Hand.  The fiber is Polwarth, and the colorway is Cello Shots.

This is one of the fibers I prepped last weekend.  I'm planning to do this as a fractal spin and looking for a nice bouncy DK to worsted weight for this one.

Tour De Fleece 2015: Day 1

I'm going to try to keep up with posting daily during the Tour de Fleece, but I'll likely be a day behind, so here's day 1

I decided to start with my Wooly Wonka Fibers Mermaids roving, which was the May Mythical Creatures Club offering. It's a blend of blue and sea-green merino and a white soy (about a 60/40 mix).

I divided the braid in half and then spun up each half separately for a 2-ply yarn.

At the end of day 1, I had finished all 4 oz of singles and they are ready to be plied.  Super easy spin - lovely and soft fiber and I had no prep work to do on it - I just split the braid and started spinning.

Today's task is plying these up and I may try to get started on the next braid in my basket as well.

Spinning Friday: July 3, 2015 - The Pre-Tour Edition

Countdown:  One more day before the Tour de Fleece 2015 starts!  Can you tell I'm excited about it?

You've seen my selection of fibers that I've picked to focus on to try to spin during the Tour.  One thing I've struggled with is that I tend to like to knit with thinner yarns (fingering mostly), but these take a lot longer to spin than worsted-weight ones, so I've decided I'm okay with getting less spun up poundage-wise, but spinning yarns that I know I'll use.

I'm going to start with the 4-oz braid of Mermaids from the Wooly Wonka Mythical Creatures Fiber Club, which is a blend of dyed merino wool and soy.

My plan is to spin this into a 2-ply yarn and use it for a shawl, as I think the soy will make a very pretty, soft and drapey yarn.  While I don't have a specific pattern picked out, I'd like to shoot for a minimum of 450 yards and see how I go - even a bit more yardage would be stellar to give me some pattern choice options.  I've got Kirsten Kapur's Thalia pattern on the possible to-do list that I think would suit this yarn really well if I can get enough yardage from the braid.

The Book!

I've got great news to share!  My upcoming Interweave Press book, Free Spirit Knits, is now available for preorder via Amazon.

It's been a while in the making, but I am so pleased with everything about this book - the styling, photography, layout could NOT be better.  My editors have done a brilliant job pulling all my visions together into a beautiful book.

So if you would like to grab yourself a copy, as a thank you, I've also got available a standalone pattern I just released today - Jewelflower Cowl.

This is a single-skein, fingering-weight cowl - the sample was knit with one skein of Wooly Wonka Fibers Nimue Sock, which is 50/50 silk/merino, and has a lovely drape.  If you preorder a copy of the book, and then shoot me a copy of your receipt either via email (anne(dot)podlesak(at)gmail.com) or via P.M. on Ravelry (where I am bunnyspinner), I'll gift you a copy of this pretty lace cowl.

I'll have more details to come over the next couple of months before the book hits bookstore shelves about specific projects, but I think with 20 projects and a combination of garments and acccessories, there'll be something in this book for everyone!

WIP Wednesday: July 1, 2015

Here's what I'm up to this week:

Sekret Knitting:

• Working away diligently on the cotton sweater.  I ripped out my original concept, and changed it up a bit, and I'm much happier with this iteration.  I've started this version from the top down, and I've knit about 6" of the yoke.  My plan for this week is to get the yoke section finished, put the sleeves on holders to work on at the end, and start motoring on the body section.  I'd like to have this sample finished up mid-month so I can get the pattern draft done and off to my TE, and start on sweater #2 on the list.
• I'm half-finished the Mythical Creatures club design.  This will be my more portable/backup project for this week.  I'd like to get these done by the end of the week and again, get a draft off to my TE for review. 

Personal Knitting:  This week I spent a little bit of time knitting on my Through the Loops mystery shawl.  I knew I'd not keep up with the group (who just received clue #5 and I'm halfway through clue #3), but that's okay.  My updated project page with pictures is here if you are interested in my progress. 

Reading Challenge 2015: Week 25

This week, I started and finished India Black, which is a summery ready - a fun romp set in the late 19th century, featuring a brothel keeper turned spy for Disraeli.  Toss in a British military officer with a past, some stolen documents and a couple of Russian spies, and this was an entertaining read.  Great literature?  No.... not hardly, but perfect for a warm summer weekend afternoon to be sure.

I then started All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (and ditched Andersonville, which was NOT something I was enjoying).  I am thoroughly enjoying this book.  It's not a light read, but I am loving the intertwining stories of Wener and Marie-Laure set against the backdrop of the end of the Third Reich.  Definitely a story about the power of human survival during bad times.  I'm in the final 20% or so of it, and expect I'll have it finished up by next week.

My reading buddy, Laura, sent me her copy of Before I Go To Sleep, which I may or may not start this week as it's an actual print book, and with the Tour de Fleece coming up, I'm planning on reading while I spin, which is easier to do on my Kindle, so I may hold off on that book and pick it up in August.

You may also note I've added in books for a few of the topics I was missing, and I've changed up a couple that I thought it likely I would rather enjoy reading versus what I had picked already.  (And I still have a couple I haven't decided on yet too.....)

WEEKS & TOPICS

1. a book with more than 500 pages: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth. FINISHED.

2. a romance: Katherine by Anya Seton. FINISHED

3. a book that became a movie: The Hours by Michael Cunningham. FINISHED.

4. a book published this year: The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck.  FINISHED.

5. a book with a number in the title:  The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. FINISHED.

6. a book written by someone under 30: Eragon by Christopher Paolini. FINISHED.

7. a book with nonhuman characters:  The Greyfriar by Susan Griffith.  FINISHED.

8. a funny book: Bossypants by Tina Fey.  FINISHED.

9. a book by a female author: Fever 1793 by Laurie Anderson.  FINISHED.

10. a mystery or thriller:  Séance in Sepia by Michelle Black. FINISHED.

11. a book with a one-word title: East by Edith Pattou.  FINISHED.

12. a book of short stories:  Tapping the Dream Tree by Charles deLint.  FINISHED.

13. a book set in a different country: The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak. FINISHED.

14. a nonfiction book:  The Fossil Hunter by Shelley Emling.  FINISHED.

15. a popular author's first book: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.  FINISHED.

16. a book from your favorite author that you haven't read yet: Forests of the Heart by Charles deLint.  FINISHED.

17. a book a friend recommended: Botelo by Alyson Hagy. FINISHED.

18. a Pulitzer-prize winning book: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

19. a book based on a true story: The Wild Princess by Mary Hart Perry.  FINISHED.

20. a book at the bottom of your to read list: Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson.

21. a book your mom or dad loves: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

22. a book that scares you: The Blackhouse by Peter May.

23. a book more than 100 years old: Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte.  FINISHED.

24. a book based entirely on its cover: Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliot.

25. a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

26. a memoir:  Two Rings by Millie Werber and Eve Keller

27. a book you can finish in a day:  India Black by Carol Karr.  FINISHED.

28. a book with antonyms in the title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt.

29. a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit: Iceland by Betsy Tobin.

30. a book that came out the year you were born: Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser.

31. a book with bad reviews: Moon People?

32. a trilogy (the first):  Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clarke. FINISHED.

33. a trilogy (the second) Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clarke.  FINISHED.

34. a trilogy (the third)  Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clarke.  FINISHED.

35. a book from your childhood: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.  FINISHED.

36. a book with a love triangle: Muse by Mary Novak.

37. a book set in the future: Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

38. a book set in high school: The Small Rain by Madeline L’Engle.

39. a book with a color in the title: Scarlet by A.C Gaughen.

40. a book that made/makes you cry

41. a book with magic: Grave Witch by Kalayna Price.  FINISHED.

42. a graphic novel: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.

43. a book by an author you've never read before:  My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira.

44. a book you own but have never read: The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro. FINISHED.

45. a book that takes place in your hometown: Magic America by C.E. Medford.

46. a book that was originally written in another language: Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende.

47. a book set during Christmas (or similar holiday): A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas.

48. a book written by an author with your same initials: Silver Lies by Ann Parker.

49. a play

50. a banned book: Beloved by Toni Morrison.

51. a book based on OR turned into a tv show: Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs.

52. a book you started but never finished:  The Heresy of Dr. Dee by Phil Rickman.

Weekending

We had a really nice, relaxed weekend here for a change!  D and I puttered around the house, cooked out on the grill and generally enjoyed our time together.

Saturday afternoon, I pulled out my Tour de Fleece fibers and did a little prep work.  I had a batt in the group I wanted to get pre-drafted and ready to spin, and I broke apart one of the rovings I plan to spin as well, and did some pre-drafting on that (with a little supervisory help, of course - she's actually more interested in the plastic bag than the fiber itself).

I've got a nicely organized project basket ready to go for the Tour, which kicks off next Saturday. I've got several books loaded on the Kindle to read while I spin, and I'm ready to get started!