Friday, July 3, 2020

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2020, part 3

Daily Progress:

First up for this year's TdF is the remainder of my mill-prepared Mill-Ends Roving (42g) of Huacaya+Shetland+Tibetan Mastiff (here's a shot of the bobbin prior to beginning the Tour de Fleece).


and 122g of Leicester Longwool for SE2SE (here's the starting point for this bobbin).


Day 1 - Saturday, June 27

Chiengora - Mill-ends Roving, TM+Huacaya+Shetland: 67 Minutes


The Mill-Ends Roving has a 2.75-inch staple.  This roving is loose and slippery due to the alpaca and Tibetan Mastiff, but it drafts quite nicely.


SE2SELeicester Longwool: 121 Minutes


The Leicester Longwool has nearly a 5-inch staple and is a glorious, shiny, white.


Podcasts/Timekeeping:
Since I tend to multitask and am interrupted frequently, I am marking my time this year by using a stop watch and listening to podcasts.

Wise Traditions by the Westin A Price Foundation - 2 1/2 episodes
Professional Weaver - 1 1/2 episodes
Total Time: 3 hrs 8 Minutes

I know my days won't always be this productive, but this is a great start to this year's Tour de Fleece!


Day 2 - Sunday, June 28

Chiengora - Mill-ends Roving, TM+Huacaya+Shetland: 32 Minutes

It's interesting to come back to this roving after the Leicester Longwool yesterday.  I was hoping to increase my adaptability by spinning different lengths on different wheels at the same time.  So while this felt very normal yesterday, it felt short this morning after spending so much time on the Longwool yesterday afternoon.


SE2SE - Leicester Longwool: 41 Minutes


Podcasts/Timekeeping:  Professional Weaver - 1/2 episode

Total Time:  1 hour 13 minutes


Day 3 - Monday, June 29

Chiengora - Mill-ends Roving, TM+Huacaya+Shetland: 29 Minutes, the single is finished.



SE2SE - Leicester Longwool: 48 Minutes


Podcasts/Timekeeping:  Wise Traditions by the Westin A Price Foundation - 1/2 episodes

Total Time:  1 hour 17 minutes


Day 4 - Tuesday, June 30

Chiengora - Mill-ends Roving, TM+Huacaya+Shetland: 30 Minutes

I left the cake on the ball winder since about 1pm yesterday afternoon.  Then pulled it off the winder at 6am this morning, about 17 hours.


Notice how the center hole stays intact.


The center hole did collapse after spinning for a bit, but the center is still quite loose.  


This certainly isn't necessary, but I do think it helps plying from the same cake to go more smoothly.


SE2SE - Leicester Longwool: 37 Minutes

This single is now complete.


Podcasts/Timekeeping:  None

Total Time:  1 hr 7 minutes



Day 5 - Wednesday, July 1

Chiengora - Mill-ends Roving, TM+Huacaya+Shetland: 29 Minutes

I finished plying this yarn.


105 yards were wound off.  I'm looking forward to seeing this yarn after a bath.


SE2SE - Leicester Longwool: 32 Minutes

I began plying this morning.


Podcasts/Timekeeping: none

Total Time: 1 hour 1 minute


Day 6 - Thursday, July 2

Chiengora - TM+Huacaya: 33 Minutes

I began my second chiengora blend this morning.  This is 50:50 Black Tibetan Mastiff + Medium Silver Grey Huacaya Alpaca.  Both animals are from our farm.

The staple is a nice 2.5 inches.


The drafted roving is quite slippery.  This is to be expected since both Tibetan Mastiff and Huacaya Alpaca are slippery on their own.


So I'm starting out slowly and have reverted to my typical thin gauge yarn.


It's interesting how different this roving is from the mill-ends from earlier this week, which is the same blend but also has some Shetland Wool in the mix.

SE2SE - Leicester Longwool: 39 Minutes

I finished plying this sample today.


I really like these Longwool sheep.


Podcasts/Timekeeping: none

Total Time: 1 hr 12 minutes

2 yarns completed and 8 hrs 53 minutes of spinning for the week

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

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