Friday, July 27, 2012

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2012, part 4

The Tour de Fleece ended on Sunday, so this is my final wrap up for 2012. :-)

Friday, July 20
I literally had only a few minutes for spinning today.  This is a continuation of the alpaca+bamboo I started last week.


Saturday, July 21


Sunday, July 22



104 yards of Double K Diamond Alpaca+Bamboo - Katydid
Wellington, CO
2 1/2 ounces


Epilogue


I might be on to something with this Less is More idea.  ;-)  My only goal was to spin at least 1/2 inch on each day the tour races.  Which I did.  :-)  But this turned out to be the most productive Tour de Fleece I've had... in number of skeins (8), yards of finished yarn (641.5) and ounces spun (17 3/4).

L-R: Corriedale, Corriedale, Lincoln Longwool, Paco-Vicuna,
Alpaca+Silk, Alpaca+Bamboo, Grade 1 Alpaca, Camel+Merino

Some Things I've Learned
  • Lincoln and Lincoln Longwool are the same thing.  The sheep are often sheared twice each year in order to keep the staple at a shorter length or else the mill will often cut the fibers to make it easier to process.
  • A blend of Navajo Churro and Alpaca makes a roving that people are very interested in.  I am intrigued and still need to get my hands on some of that.
  • Plying from both ends of the same cake is possible, but I think two cakes is less stressful.
Happy Spinning and Happy Fiber Arts Friday.  :-)

8 comments:

Paula said...

That is a gorgeous pile, for sure! Congrats on a successful tour. Now you'll have to knit all of it up for the Ravel-whatever games! :)

Voie de Vie said...

I love the final skeins of your TdF spinning - they are truly wonderful! Love all of those natural colors together.

AllyB said...

Thanks for the tip on the Churro/Alpaca blend, I've got both here and will have to do some experimenting. Your collection of yarn is beautiful. I always like the natural colors best of all. Congratulations on sticking to your goal for TDF. Have a great weekend.

Spinster Beth said...

Yes, you can ply from both ends ... but don't!!

Glad you had a happy Tour!

WonderWhyGal said...

We did learn a lot this TdF, didn't we?

I will keep my eyes open for those batts. I have two fiber festivals this next month.

Vivian said...

I can't believe the mills would cut fiber short for the ease of processing. But I guess when it comes to commercial value they do what they need to do for the bottom line.

Your pile of yarns look wonderful!

Gracey is not my name.... said...

Nice job...I love the color of the brown one just peeking through the others....

Melissa Plank said...

Wow,that's some beautiful handspun, what great fiber combos. I agree two cakes are better than one ;0)