Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2017 - part 1

At the end of every Tour de Fleece, I have big plans for the next one... ideas like spin the number of minutes as km they race, or spin an entire braid one day then ply it the next.... and then the time comes for the next Tour and I think, how am I even going to spin every day this year?

So, this year, I know that spinning every day is really not likely.  So I am joining one of the official, moderated teams.... Lanterne Rouge.

The description for the team is as follows:

This team is for people who want to join the Tour, but won’t be able to spin every day.

In the Tour de France, there is opportunity for everyone, even cyclists who can’t “keep up” with the pack. In fact, the last rider to complete the Tour without being disqualified is awarded the distinction of “lanterne rouge”.

I plan to make a weekly post of progress, but expect it to be light.

Guidelines (NOT RULES) Copied for the TdF Ravelry page:

• Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday July 1 through Sunday July 23th. Days of rest: Monday, July 10th and Monday, July 17th. (Just like the actual tour.)
• Spin something challenging on the challenge days (usually the toughest high mountain stage: this year, it’s Stage 9, on Sunday, July 9th, when the riders will take on 3 mountains with a steeper than 10% grade, and Stage 15, on Sunday, July 16th, when they will face high altitude and steep grade!
• Wear yellow on Sunday July 23th to announce victory. Why not wear yellow on any day you feel particularly successful? (Yellow is the color of the race leader in the Tour - but here we are all ‘race leaders’) Other colors if desired: Green (sprinter - think FAST), Polka-dot (climber - as in uphill), and white (rookie).

Are you participating?

The Tour starts tomorrow.

Fiber Arts Friday: Revising Plans

After double-checking the stretched-out length of each section, and therefore the likely blocked length, I believe I have surpassed my desired length of 60 inches.

So now to finish at the right number of stitches after the last section, fix a dropped stitch and add a life-line before embarking on the lace portion.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: World Wide Knit in Public

Well, we didn't make it to the Farmers Market, so I did not knit in public last weekend. But I did steal a few minutes to knit in y comfy chair.

Did you knit in public?  If so, what did you think about it?

Fiber Arts Friday: WWKIP Day

I thought World Wide Knit in Public Day was last week so was going to bemoan my being unable to even knit, let alone do it in public last weekend.  But it's tomorrow!

Will you be participating?

I'm planning to go to our farmers market.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Dog Show: Laramie Kennel Club, 2017

With shearing less, I was able to attend the Laramie Kennel Club show for the first time over Memorial Day Weekend.

This was our first out-of-state show, but Laramie Wyoming is actually closer than several of the shows in Colorado.

We brought five dogs.

L-R: Colorado's Big Bowl o' Ramen, Colorado's Quaking Aspen,
KayaKyi Bala (Noodle), Shang-hai's KayaKyi Susitna (Wasabi),
Colorado's Leap of Faith (Nobu)

I know that a lot of people bring this many dogs to shows all the time.  But for me, the first time required a lot of thought about the logistics of making it happen.

Colorado's Quaking Aspen

I had to increase our inventory of show collars, show leads and holding kennels.  Then make sure that everyone had enough practice at class and similar types of venues.... to stand still, while a stranger physically examines you, and looks into your mouth, while an audience is watching, is a weird idea... especially for working Livestock Guardian Dogs.

Colorado's Big Bowl o' Ramen

I'm happy to say that they all did beautifully.  They were calm and quiet in the grooming space and handled the ring well.  Aside from Nobu who did not like the slippery floor in the exhibition building, they took the event in stride.  I'm very proud.

Colorado's Leap of Faith (Nobu)

Our friends with Windy Pine Cane Corso helped with handling in the ring.  Hubba kept us organized ring-side and took a few blurry pictures while holding dogs.

Colorado's Leap of Faith (Nobu)

Ramen was awarded Winners Dog (WD), Best of Winners (BOW) and Best of Breed (BOB) both days to achieve both majors required toward his championship title.

KayaKyi Bala (Noodle)

Wasabi and Aspen split the Winners Bitch (WB) awards for one 3-point major, each.

Colorado's Quaking Aspen and Colorado''s Leap of Faith (Nobu)

Nobu was awarded Reserve Winner's Bitch (RWB) both days.

Noodle, our lead livestock guardian, performed very well for her conformation show debut at 6 1/2 years old.  She defeated Wasabi in the American Bred class on the second day.

The show chairman mentioned to me how happy she was to have us there.  With it being shedding and mud season, it's a tough time of year to show Tibetan Mastiffs but I enjoyed the show and would like to attend again.

Colorado's Leap of Faith (Nobu)

As always, the dogs are happy to be back at their day job.  :-)

Fiber Arts Friday: Progress

As a Program Manager I like to see progress toward a goal...

Although, now that I'm well into this project, I don't think I will need all 35 sections to achieve the desired length.

How do you manage progress on a large project with a deadline?

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!