Finished Object Friday, 7/27/2012

Well, it's been a bit! I've been working very early the last couple Fridays, with evening plans to boot, so I've missed some Fridays. Meanwhile, this Wednesday...I didn't HAVE any WIP - since I hadn't yet settled on my Ravellenic Games project - and therefore very little to say for myself. But now I'm finally around on Friday - if rather busy - and can quickly take a few minutes to show off the vast amount of spinning that I got done during Tour de Fleece!! :)

Angora!
I tried my hand at spinning angora for the first time!

1 ounce, Navajo plied, around 40 yards. :)

Silk!
While I was experimenting with fibers, I also took a stab at the silk cap that I had bought!

Also 1 ounce, also Navajo plied, but it's sooooo thin, I ended up with 110 yards!

Everything else I tackled was sheep-y. I did some "confetti" - boring old wool with bits of multi-colored yarn mixed in...

And I spun some lovely superfine merino that I had bought, the braid felt like a dream, and I tried my hand at fractal plying - no idea if it worked...

Of course, I did a bunch more of the spinning of the fiber that I prepped and dyed myself...

Finished the first pound!

All in all, I did about 2 pounds worth of spinning during Tour de Fleece. But man, I need a break! So it's time to drive myself insane crocheting for the Ravellenic Games. ;) Here's the whole TdF stash!!


You know you want to...check out Fiber Arts Friday and Finished Object Friday.

Work in Progress Wednesday, 7/18/2012

It's still all Tour de Fleece, all the time for me - all my crafting time is going to spinning. :)

On Monday night, I went to my first spin in in ages! The NYC Spinning Group met down by the Winter Garden, and I joined eight fellow spinners to sit in Battery Park and pull out our spindles. :) I finally made some progress on the ochre I've been spinning - I've been neglecting it intentionally so I can finish it in August for Nerd Wars Work in Progress challenge. :)


Then, last night I pulled out the silk I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool. It's my first time spinning silk, and I found it pretty hard, but I solicited some tips from my TdF group (and now from ya'll!) so hopefully I'll have less trouble tonight. :)

The blue is another project, it'll be on Friday's post, though. ;)

Check out all the Works in Progress over on Tami's Amis!

Work in Progress Wednesday, 7/21/2012

Not much to say this week - it's all Tour de Fleece, all the time! Here's what I'm working on now:

It's almost 4 ounces, I've got maybe half an ounce left of the first hank, then 4 more ounces after that, and I'll two ply it, should be fingering weight if I've gotten all my ducks in a row. ;)

Work in Progress Wednesday! Go over there! Check it out!

Finished Object Friday, 7/6/2012

This week has been all about Tour de Fleece, and spinning my own dyed fiber! It's been pretty fun. I've rarely spun this much this quickly (though not never! ;) ).

Right before TdF, I finished the second skein of yarn for my Nerd Wars dissertation. I posted a couple pics last week, I think, but now I've set it and dried it and all that jazz. :)


127 yards, exactly 4 ounces, roughly DK/Worsted weight.

Then, in May I tried Wilton's dyes for the first time. I posted a bunch of WIP pics of this on Wednesday, and now it's done! Turns out it's only 5.4 ounces - I had thought it was more. I wasn't too happy with the singles, or even how it looked while I was plying it, but once I got it off the niddy noddy and it was all dried, I'm actually thrilled with it. Funny how that goes...



400 yards, 5.4 ounces, fingering weight. Really very happy with it. I want to figure out what to make with it! :)

Check out what everyone else has done this past week at Wisdom Begins in Wonder and Tami's Amis.

Work in Progress Wednesday, 7/4/2012

Happy Independence Day, to my fellow USA-ians! :) (and a belated Happy Canada day to my Canadian friends!)

It's Tour de Fleece, which means my WIP is all about spinning, and probably will be for most of the next month. The current project is 6.7 ounces of (I think) Corriedale that I dyed myself in May. Various pictures!

The braid:


Day 1 of TdF:
Saturday, I was out virtually all day, so I did like 25 minutes of spinning in the morning and that was all...


Day 2 of TdF:
In contrast to Saturday, on Sunday I was spinning for like 6 hours. My hand was quite achy by the time I stopped! This was also when I realized just how patriotic-looking my choice of fiber was...


Day 3 of TdF:
Monday I didn't have loads of time, but I made decent progress.


Day 4 of TdF:
Finally, yesterday I got to start plying!


I expect to finish plying this skein today, before I head off to the fireworks. :)

Oh, and by the way? If you're curious about dyeing with Wilton's food coloring (like this skein!) you should take a peak at my post from Sunday. :) See what everyone else is up to over on Tamis Amis and Other Creations.