Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2016, part 4

I spent a few days working on whichever ball was larger, then I decided to focus on the smaller one.  So both balls of Suri Pencil Roving are smaller than they were at the start of last week.

Starting with 1 3/8 ounces this week.

Friday, July 22nd

Saturday, July 23rd

Sunday, July 24th

I spun a lot more after my photo from yesterday and a little more this morning.

I have 7/8 oz to go. 

Epilogue

The Spin Your Stash team was a lot bigger than any I've been on in the past, so I found it difficult to keep up with who's who.  Not to mention a lot of them were spinning huge amounts of yarn.

I had to remind myself that I was using short staple yak and spinnging the Suri extremely fine, both of which go slower than some other fibers.

The nice part is that I ran into Fat Cat's Corner, who's spinning is looking wonderful... and who's blog needs some love.  ;-)

These are the fibers I was choosing from for this year's tour:

This is what I accomplished:

yak cloud - stashed October 2008
122 yards, single
1 1/8 ounces

Medium Brown Suri Roving - stashed March 2016
Started with 2 5/8 ounces
Ended with 7/8 oz to go
1 3/4 oz spun
Plan is to finish as a 2-ply yarn.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday

Alpacamundo Monday: Skirting Fleece

I have sold my first whole fleeces.

They will be skirted and washed before they are delivered.

Three more to go.

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2016, part 3

I started this week with 1 3/4 oz of Suri alpaca pencil roving to go.

Friday, July 15th
An early meeting this morning, but found time to spin. :-)

Saturday, July 16th

Sunday, July 17th
I'm starting to let go of the idea that there will be a third yarn in this tour.  This thread is taking forever. ;-)

Apparently today was a second challenge day. Ah well, my goal is really just to make morning spinning a daily habit. :-)

Monday, July 18th

Tuesday, July 19th - Rest Day
Not resting... working on making spinning a daily habit.

Wednesday, July 20th

It was late, but I managed to spin for about 30 minutes before going to bed.

Thursday, July 21st

I'll have to double check the weight, but I think I only spun about a 1/2 oz this week.  The extremely fine yarn takes much longer than a thicker yarn.  But I do believe that this will end up being the finest yarn I've ever spun, which is kind of cool.... even though it's taking for-ever.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Alpacamundo Monday: Dinner for Two

Besties, Willow and Pearl, enjoy an evening snack at the buffet.

Sweet Willow of Alpacamundo and Alpacamundo's Pearl

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2016, part 2

I started this week with less than 1/8 oz of yak down left to spin.

Friday, July 8th
Morning: So close to being finished.

Evening: I couldn't stand having such a small amount to go. So the Friday night activities included spinning...

and skeining...

and one very excited single of Yak Down, ready for a bath. :-)

1 1/8 oz
122 yards

Saturday, July 9th - Challenge Day
I didn't have any specific challenges for today.  So I started spinning a Medium Brown Suri Pencil Roving.

Being a gift from a local Suri Alpaca breeder in March, this is quite youthful as far as my stash goes.

It turns out that transitioning from the short staple of the yak down to the long staple of the Suri was a challenge.  ;-)

Sunday, July 10th
This is spinning much finer than I intended. So I'm thinking about plying it.

Monday, July 11th - Rest Day
While today is supposed to be a rest day, I'm working to make spinning a morning habit.

Tuesday, July 12th

Wednesday, July 13th
I am really enjoying spinning for a few minutes in the mornings.

Thursday, July 14th

I've almost filled the first layer on the bobbin. 

1 3/4 oz to go. 

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2016, part 1

Barely into this year's Tour de Fleece and I was already thinking about changing my plan.  But I held strong and started with the small amount of yak cloud that has been in my stash since October 2008... that's as old as this blog. Yikes!  I guess Team Spin Your Stash is the right place for me this year.  ;-)

Saturday, July 2nd
I had some trouble getting started with the leader I had on this bobbin, but once I replaced it with a longer, finer gauge things started progressing.

My goal is to spin at least 10 minutes every day. This represents about an hour. 

Sunday, July 3rd
Another 40 minutes or so.

Monday, July 4th - Independence Day
10 minutes of spinning was had.

Tuesday, July 5th
15 minutes before everyone woke up... blissful.

I'm really starting to love this yak.

Wednesday, July 6th
20 minutes.

Thursday, July 7th

15 minutes this morning.

With less than 1/8 ounce to go, it's almost disappointing that this yarn isn't finished today, but this tour is not about quantity.

It's about spinning quality every day for at least 10 minutes. So far, so good.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2016, Prologue

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the Tour de Fleece is coming up.  In fact, it starts tomorrow.  ;-)

I've decided to join a new-to-me team this year, Team Spin Your Stash.  I think it's appropriate for what I plan to do... everything has been in my stash for at least a few months, some for much (much!) longer.

Clockwise from left: cashmere+silk, suri alpaca,
huacaya alpaca+bamboo, yak, milk, cashmere

My goal is to spin at least 10 minutes every day the Tour rides, Saturday, July 2nd thru Sunday, July 24th.  As usual there are two rest days and one challenge day.

I don't expect that I'll spin everything I've set aside, but if I do, I have plenty more ready to go.  ;-)

Happy Spinning and Happy Fiber Arts Friday.