Fiber Friday: In Search of a Yellow Jersey

Fiber Friday: In Search of a Yellow Jersey

by | Jul 8, 2016 | General

yel·low jer·sey

 noun

  1. (in a cycling race involving stages, especially the Tour de France) a yellow jersey worn by the overall leader in a cycle race, at the end of any one day, and ultimately presented to the winner.

I have been spinning up a storm in week one of the Tour. I have spun up the Columbia rolags, the Merino/Yak roving, and the Gotland roving. I am working through the vintage batts, and I have to tell you, while I was skeptical about how this would look at the start, I am LOVING how this looks spun up!

Still to come: Montadale top and Coopworth roving.

I am not sure how much time I will get to spin this weekend, and day one of “rest” comes on Monday.

The next rest day is July 19, but there is plenty of time yet to spin.

Let’s talk about spinning and plying for a minute. I think that I have been in a real spinning rut – same kind of yarn spun every time had pretty much been my modus operandi. However, I broke out of that shell significantly over the last year in the Sheepspot Fiber Club. I tried new things, spun fibers differently, and generally learned that not all fiber should be spun the same way. While, in theory this might make sense – it did not to me. I had my preferred rhythm and drafting method – don’t move my cheese, right?

Well, it moved and I found I liked it in the new spot!

I envisioned this Merino/Yak spun in a worsted weight yarn that would be soft and squishy, like the fiber was. I think I nailed it. I wish you could feel how soft it is. I have not set the twist yet, because I think I am going to re-ply, it could be better and more uniform.

That gets me to plying…that was truly my log jam in spinning. I can spin a nice single, however plying is a hit and miss prospect for me. More misses than hits. I have tried plying with Scotch Tension, but it really is awkward for me. The take up is sometimes too hard, and I think that does not allow enough twist into the yarns.

But, I watched a couple of videos last week that really were huge “aha” moments for me. One by Rachel Smith, aka welfordpurls (which will be available to the public in a couple of weeks) and one by Sasha Torres, aka Sheepspot.

So, I sat down at my wheel and left it in double drive and tried the things that Rachel and Sasha talked about. And, guess what…THEY WORKED!! I am so excited by this, you just cannot imagine and it has really spurred me to finish up the spinning project for my sweater. I have the singles spun, but I have been holding off because of my inept plying abilities! I will definitely be plying those singles up ASAP. The fear has been vanquished!

Update on TTL MKAL – I finished clue #4 – I know! YES! I have not started clue #5 but I am sure I will at some time this weekend.

All in all, it was a fantastic week in fiber!

Friday Linkage:

That’s all I have for this week, I have miles to go in search of that elusive yellow jersey!! Have a fantastic weekend! See you back here on Monday!

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Fiber Friday – Tour de Fleece

Fiber Friday – Tour de Fleece

by | Jul 1, 2016 | General

Le Tour starts tomorrow, and that means spinners everywhere will be joining in to spin in le Tour de Fleece. That’s right teams of spinners will be spinning as the biking teams ride! It is really so much fun, and excellent preparation for Spinzilla!

I will be spinning with the Wool n’ Spinning Group, and as you can see – much of my fiber that I hope to get done is Sheepspot wool. I don’t think I have goals that are unreasonable, and they should be achievable if I am spinning on Tour Days!

Things I would like to get spun:

Tour de Fleece

  1. Sheepspot Columbia Rolags
  2. Vintage Crosspatch Creations Batts
  3. Spunky Eclectic Merino Yak Top
  4. Spunky Eclectic Gotland Top
  5. Sheepspot Montadale Top
  6. Sheepspot Coopworth Roving

I think this will keep me busy during the month!

Up next is a little wheel tune-up complete with drive band replacement and oiling all the moving parts!

IMG_4100

In my frenzy to empty bobbins for le Tour, I plied up the lace-weight Targhee and I am so happy with how all 618 yds, 100 grams turned out!

Friday Links:

So, tell me Gentle Reader – will you be watching any of le Tour while you spin? Oh, and Happy FriYAY which ushers in a weekend filled with YAY’s! See you back here on Monday.

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Fiber Friday, June 24th

Fiber Friday, June 24th

by | Jun 24, 2016 | General

The spinning this week continues. I have been working patiently though this gorgeous Targhee from Sheepspot Fiber Club.

This is a serious spin – as in counting treadles and lacing my flyer to get a nice lace-weight yarn – these things are not things I have done before for any project! I have half spun up and have half to go. This is such beautiful fiber – I have never spun Targhee and so this was a real treat! It has so much spring and the fiber drafts beautifully – practically by itself! Truly, this is drafting so easily, I am able to pull just a few fibers out at a time getting a nice fine single. I am using the 15:1 whorl on my Schacht Matchless, so I am putting a good bit of twist into the single. I love how my ply back sample looks and this is what I will be aiming for when I ply this up. This will bloom drastically in the wash so my goal is a light fingering weight, heavy lace weight and I think I will achieve it! Stay Tuned!

Friday Link Ups:

For the book lovers out there when a book appears in your vision, not once but three times in a week it is a message from the Book Gods! I heeded their call and have queued it up on my Kindle to read. I also finished Still Life and loved it! My bingo card is getting close to my first bingo! Summer reading FTW!

That’s all I have this week, have the Happiest of FriYAY’s! I will see you back here on Monday – and Tuesday there will be a special update on the Summer Knit Along that you won’t want to miss!

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The Yay-est of Days!

The Yay-est of Days!

by | Jun 17, 2016 | General

Friday. Oh how I love you! But, some Friday’s are just uber-appreciated. Today is one of those days.

It has been a busy week here, work has changed things up for me and I have still not gotten into a good rhythm with the new schedule, thus Friday arrives and I am still feeling a bit “behind the eight ball” with a list that still has things to get done.

Time coordination – the bane of my existence. Seriously.

And, apparently plying is right up there as well.

Which brings me to the Fiber portion of today’s post! Thanks to Rachel for hosting Fiber Friday’s!

I spent some time this week plying up the singles I spun. Some of it was lovely, and some…not so much. It is the one aspect of spinning that I really struggle with. I look at all the amazing photos of plied yarns that drift around on Instagram and I am in awe that people do this so well, yet it seems somehow elusive for me. I struggle most with worsted spun yarns – but maybe that is because the loftiness of woolen spun yarns fills in the plying problems I seem to have. I am not sure exactly how to fix this, but I am really thinking a plying class is in order.

But, not one to give up – I will “re-ply” this yarn and see if I cannot improve the areas where it is under-plied, or not plied as the case may be. I will update you next week on how this re-do goes!

There is some welcome rain forecast for today, and while an “on the road” version of Happy Hour is not looking good for today, there will be a snacks and beverages to usher in the weekend. Photos courtesy of last week’s FriYAY celebration that were preempted on Monday for a more somber post.

PicMonkey Collage

And, lest you think there were no links this week – you’d be incorrect! There are a few, even a few spectacular ones:

First off – everyone could use More Love! (and right now it’s free!)

Gradient Knits – how I love thee!

Perhaps you’d like a Party on your needles?

This is such a fascinating construction method.

And, then there is Jutta! I am in love and I am pretty sure that Genevieve needs one!

That’s all I have for today, Gentle Reader. Have a fantastic Friday and be safe this weekend.

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Fiber Friday

Fiber Friday

by | Jun 10, 2016 | General

Happy FriYAY everyone! It has been what feels like a long week – insomnia has been an ugly companion most of the week. But, on the bright side – the lack of sleep has spawned an increase in reading and a good bit of thought organization.

I did some sampling this week (while waiting for the Shetland to rest for a few days before I ply it up) Above are some Gulf Coast locks that I got from Sheepspot and I was really not sure what I wanted to do with it. I flicked the locks spun them – this sample is a fingering weight that when plied springs up with a really lovely, airy loft – even though this is spun worsted. I have not washed the sample yet – but I have a bag of locks in this lovely orange-y red and one of a funky green.

It’s Fiber Friday, (thanks Rachel!!) and this post really got me thinking…I had this bump of fiber from ITW that I was really not enamored of the color, but I wanted to try out what Rachel did here, I split the fiber down several times – keeping the colorway intact, but breaking it into smaller segments with more repeats. I will spin up this orange merino that I got from Beth eons ago (really, eons – way back when she owned The Spinning Loft) and then ply the two together. I am really excited to spin this up to see how it turns out.

Plus, I have the Cormo on the Turkish spindle that I am still spinning. There was not much spinning outside with Sherman this week – I used the time to weed the garden beds that were in need of some attention. But, with those beds all cleaned up, I can resume spindling, guilt free!

There were some really great links this week in the fiber world:

I also made a tiny bit of progress on clue two of Kirsten Kapur’s Mystery Shawl, which I plan to finish up this weekend. I have picked up button band stitches on Indigo Cones and will be heading out to do some Pergola Knitting momentarily! That is all I have today, have a great weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!

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