Friday, July 20, 2012

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2012, part 3

Hi Everyone, Happy Fiber Arts Friday.  Today I share part 3 of my Tour de Fleece.  :-)


Friday, July 13
I was so excited about remembering to get my FAF post out this morning that I nearly forgot I was supposed to spin something. ;-)


So I squeezed in about 15 minutes of spinning time between the Day Job and Evening activities.

Saturday, July 14
I love Saturdays... This week I managed a leisurely morning at the Farmer's Market with Hubba and Lil' Miss Wonton, Farm Chores, Spinning and a Nap...



and another very energized single.  :-)


109.5 yards of Camel+Merino - camel and white
Unknown origin - purchased at the Estes Park Wool Market from Your Daily Fiber
1 7/8 ounces
~16 wpi

I then got a second wind.  So I spun


and plied 1 ounce of Corriedale.


I plied using the inside and outside ends of the same cake again.  I figured a little more practice wouldn't hurt.  ;-)

This one is softer than the grey Corriedale that I started the Tour with.

17.5 yards of Corriedale - white
Unknown Origin - purchased at the Estes Park Wool Market
1 ounce
2-ply
~9 wpi

Sunday, July 15
Yesterday I stopped by Your Daily Fiber to pick up some Alpaca Roving since I was out of prepared alpaca and was wanting to spin more.

This is a Medium Rose Grey Alpaca blended with silk into a lovely pencil roving.  I met the farmer while I was there.  She has been breeding alpacas and llamas for 20 years.  :-)


Monday, July 16
I finished spinning this morning.  Nothing quite like a 2-ounce bump to make one feel very productive.  ;-)



94 yards of Double K Diamond Alpaca+Silk - Silk Feathers
Wellington, CO
2 1/8 ounces
~18 wpi

Tuesday, July 17 - Rest Day

Wednesday, July 18 - Challenge Day
I have a small stash of unusual fibers in cloud form.  I've been nervous to spin them for fear of messing them up.  So I thought this 1/4 ounce of Paco-Vicuna would be a good thing to try on Challenge Day.


I chose my wheel over my drop spindle because I figured the less things my hands have to do, the better.  ;-)


This preparation wasn't skirted very well.  There was a lot of vegetable matter, some second cuts and I found a couple bits of fleece that were definitely not blanket.  It is also quite dirty so the color is dull.


The more time I spend thinking about it, the more I think this was raw Paco-Vicuna and not a cloud.  There were some clumps of fiber that I think would have been opened up if the fiber had been through a picker... and frankly if it had been through a picker, I suspect there would have been less vegetable matter.

All that being said, I did make something that looks like yarn.  :-)  I plied it since the gauge was not consistent and the resulting 2-ply is very squishy.  I think it will be nice as an accent on something... after a good bath.  :-)

7.5 yards of raw Paco-Vicuna - Dark Fawn
Unknown Origin
1/4 ounce
2-ply
~12 wpi

Thursday, July 19
A different blend with the same Double K Diamond alpaca from earlier this week... Alpaca + Bamboo.


Only a few more days to go with this year's Tour de Fleece.

I hope you will head over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder today, since you know it is Fiber Arts Friday.  :-)

8 comments:

Vivian said...

That's a lot of spinning, and all in different fibers. The Rose Gray Alpaca blend is beautiful! I have something similar in my stash that I bought from a spinning shop in southern California.

Voie de Vie said...

I'm voting for the camel/merino and the Alpaca/silk (one of my favorite blends). I also do love that wonderful gray colorway on the bottom spindle.

You are definitely spinning up a storm. :)

Kathryn Ray said...

It's pretty crazy, I think I've spun more during this Tour de Fleece than ever before.

The Camel+Merino is pretty hard to beat. :-)

Spinster Beth said...

Lovely work! I like the Paco Vicuna, I got a sample pack of exotic cloud fiber, and it was a mess to work with! Yours looks much neater than mine did!

WonderWhyGal said...

I've enjoyed all of your spinning this TdF. I'm glad that it motivated you to spin more this year.

Heather Woollove said...

Kathryn-What a productive week!! I really love your alpaca-bamboo, and I like your 'dirty' yarn, too. (I've meant to try drop-spinning raw, unwashed locks for some time, but always seem to think of it in the dead of summer!) XXO-

Alittlebitsheepish said...

Beautiful spinning, you have been so productive!

Natalie said...

I can't believe how much spinning you are getting done. It all looks so nice.