Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2023, part 5

This week, week 4, includes the final few days of the mens' race and the beginning of the womens' race...

Day 21: Friday, July 21 - Stage 19

Continuing with the second single started on Thursday last week...

Day 22: Saturday, July 22 - Stage 20

Day 23: Sunday, July 23 - Stage 21

Since today is both the last stage of the mens' race and the first stage of the womens' race, I thought I would divide it out by a morning session and an afternoon session...

Morning Session...

Tour de Fleece, Femmes

Day 23: Sunday, July 23 - Stage 1

Afternoon Session...

Day 24: Monday, July 24 - Stage 2

Day 25: Tuesday, July 25 - Stage 3

Day 26: Wednesday, July 26 - Stage 4

As of midday today, I am very close to the end of my prepared fiber.

One of the things that is great about having my Studio mostly set up, is that I can prepare fiber as I need it.  Which means I am not feeling anxious about not having enough fiber prepared to finish out this year's Tour.

I will be able to spend ~30 minutes later today making another batch, because everything is set up and in it's place... Of course this will not be true while the floor is being replaced this coming fall, but for now this is true and completely wonderful. :-)

Unlike in our former place, when I would have to unpack the tools in order to set up outside, and hope the weather was suitable... as in not too hot, cold, wet, or windy.  ;-)

Day 27: Thursday, July 27 - Stage 5

Given the amount spun thus far, I think I will spin a bit more tomorrow, then ply for the last two days.

Counts at the end of Week 4:

• 1st Single is complete: 40 g (1.4 oz), 137 yards.
• Second Single is in progress, ~14 g completed
• Zero cashmere has been spun.
• Spun 21 of 21 Stages for the Mens' Race and 5 of 5 Stages for the Womens' Race.
• Over 54 total grams of Tibetan Mastiff has been completed

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2023, part 4

Week three of the mens' race continues...

Day 14: Friday, July 14 - Stage 13

As of yesterday, I thought I might complete the current batch of roving and that it would be enough to meet my County Fair Entry Requirement...... and I did, and it is.  So I will ply it after the weekend.

I did almost forget to spin today... because I started working on a fiber presentation at the end of the day for next month.  I enjoy this type of writing a lot... and the presentation is now nearly finished.  So that's good.

Day 15: Saturday, July 15 - Stage 14, Challenge

As I mentioned last week, I did not plan any specific challenges for this year's Tour... spinning each of the stages continues to be enough of a challenge for now.  

Wilma and I were dog-showing this weekend, so I brought my drop-spindle with the perpetual Cashmere project with me.  My intent was to spindle during the waiting around times.

Which did not happen.

There was plenty of waiting around, but not in a way that had me comfortable to spin, for even a few minutes.

Day 16: Sunday, July 16 - Stage 15

I didn't spindle this day either.

However, once we got home from the show and I had a nap, I did cake and begin plying the completed single from Friday.

The cake weighs 40g, so I definitely have more than enough for my county fair entry.  WooHoo!

Day 17: Monday, July 17 - Rest Day

Since I did not spin on Saturday, I did some plying today, rather than take the Rest Day.

This catches me up for number of Stages spun.

Day 18: Tuesday, July 18 - Stage 16

A bit more plying for today.  One or two more sessions for this yarn to be complete.

Day 19: Wednesday, July 19 - Stage 17

I spent some extra time this morning and finished plying Yarn #1.

This yarn is now having a bath.

• 137 yards
• 40 g (1.4 oz)

Day 20: Thursday, July 20 - Stage 18

I began the second yarn today.

I think I will spin this single until the end of next week, then plan to spend the last three days plying for the final week.  Which means I should make at least another batch or two of roving.

Counts at the end of Week 3:

• 1st Single is complete: 40 g (1.4 oz), 137 yards.
• Second Single has begun.
• Zero cashmere has been spun.
• Spun 18 of 18 Stages
• Over 40 total grams of Tibetan Mastiff has been completed

As mentioned last week, my goal for the end of this event is to have at least 1 oz (~29g) of a 2-ply yarn to enter into our county fair early next month.  Which has been completed.  That yarn is currently being dried and will be ready to go in time for entry drop-off.

Everything else is gravy.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Merchant Marine

Many (ah-hem) years ago, when I was a little kid, I visited someone with my parents.

I don’t remember how many people were there, other than an old woman. I also don’t remember if both or just one of my parents were there, and nor do I remember if these people were friends or family.

I do remember the adults talking about someone who was a “Merchant Marine” and that they had something to do with boats.  This term confused me.

I was pretty sure that the Marines were military. I was also pretty sure that the Navy was the one with the boats.  But I wasn’t sure if the Marines were separate from the Navy.

I was confident that "Merchant" meant "Shop Keeper."

So I could not figure out why a retail store would need a military service.

I don’t remember hearing that term, "Merchant Marine," again, until last week, when I listened to this podcast episode by ModeKnit Yarns from several years ago.

Lucy Neatby, famed Knitwear Designer and Author, began her adult life as a Merchant Marine.

Fiber people are the most interesting people.

Major Remodel Update

My Studio/Office has been toward the lower priority of resettling after our major remodel over the winter of 2022-23.

At the time of this writing, my Studio/Office is mostly, but not fully moved in.

I have been working my Day Job from here for several months,

and have recently begun working on fiber preparations from here.

Primarily Books and Canning Supplies are remaining to be unpacked and organized, though this part has been started.  I also have a few large weaving appendages to give space to and a bit more fiber storage to settle on.

AND... I have to move out...  Again.

One of the blessings of our extremely wet spring (I'm choosing to view this as a blessing), is that the wood floor has expanded... significantly.

To be clear, all materials grow and shrink with temperature and humidity.  How each behaves is well understood and each installation is a unique situation.  So there is always an art to the analysis... especially as the climate continues to swing between extremes.

Anyway, my Studio/Office floor is layed on a concrete slab which conducts temperature and humidity differently than the wood subfloor and crawl space of the rest of the house.

That, coupled with our extremely wet and therefore humid spring has caused the Studio/Office floor to grow so much that it is buckling.  Sections have separated from the substrate, even though a vapor barrier was used.

So, after reviewing the situation and discussing several potential solutions with the Flooring Installer and Designer/Architect, we decided to remove the entire Studio/Office floor and replace it with an Engineered Solution.

The exterior surface of the floor will continue to match the remainder of the house, but the under portion will be a series of layups with differing fiber directions.. essentially, a plywood.  Rather than the solid hardwood that is currently installed.

While frustrating, I feel blessed that this happened during our first season with the new floor, and is therefore under warranty.

This, however, means that I must vacate my Studio/Office once again.  Just as I was closing in on feeling settled, once again. sigh.

Once we know the material lead-time, we will schedule the arrival, demolition, and installation for the new, new floor.  In the meantime, the working-plan is to be ready for it by the end of August 2023.

With all of that, the remaining punch list is only 3 items, two related to our stove/oven and one related to our interior ramps.

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2023, part 3

For week 2 of the 2023 Tour de Fleece, we are continuing with the mens' race...

Day 7: Friday, July 7 - Stage 7

Only about 10 minutes of spinning for today.

Day 8: Saturday, July 8 - Stage 8

I added ~5g today.

Day 9: Sunday, July 9 - Stage 9, Challenge

I did not plan any specific challenges for this year's Tour... spinning each of the stages is challenge enough for me this year.  :-/

Day 10: Monday, July 10 - Rest Day

I'm feeling confident that I will be able to spin on each of the Stage Days, so I chose to take today's Rest Day.

As such, I did not spin.  Though I did weave in ends for a knitting project, trimmed a needle-felted item, and considered class options for an upcoming fiber festival.

Day 11: Tuesday, July 11 - Stage 10

I only had a few minutes for spinning before work today.

Day 12: Wednesday, July 12 - Stage 11

One of these years I will have as much time to dedicate to this project as I want to, but alas, this is not the year.... only about 10 minutes available for spinning today.

Day 13: Thursday, July 13 - Stage 12

Once I complete this current batch of roving (hopefully tomorrow), I should have enough for my County Fair Entry.  So plying should start soon.

Counts at the end of Week 2:

• 1st Single is still in Progress.
• Spun 12 of 12 Stages
• Over 26 grams completed

As mentioned last week, my goal for the end of this event is to have at least 1 oz (~29g) of a 2-ply yarn to enter into our county fair early next month.  So far, so good.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2023, part 2

Before we get too far into this, let me mention how much I hate the qualification for the womens' version of events....

• There's the Tour de France and the Tour de France, Femme
• There's the NBA and the WNBA
• At my High School it was the Lions and the Lady Lions
• The PGA is apparently soon to not be a thing anymore.  There is(was?) the LPGA.  I'm not confident that the acquisition by LIV bodes well for women playing professional golf.

I'm sure you can think of many other examples... perhaps even many that are not part of sports.

This kind of labeling serves to de-value the female contribution... and every time I see it, it makes me sad... and a little angry.

So I am calling the Tour de France out as Hommes and Femmes.

For 2023:

Tour de Fleece, Hommes

Day 1: Saturday, July 1 - Stage 1

I spun up ~3g of Ramen Roving over ~30 minutes.

This is my first day spinning since well-before we embarked upon our home remodel last winter.  My fingers and ankles are definitely out of practice, but boy does it feel nice to be spinning again.

I'm also attempting to stay ahead with fiber preparation.... below is my second attempt at 100% TM Roving.  It came off of the carder better than my first attempt yesterday.  ;-)

Day 2: Sunday, July 2 - Stage 2

About 24 minutes of spinning today.

Day 3: Monday, July 3 - Stage 3

27 minutes of spinning today, over the lunch hour.

I really like how this is spinning up.

I am spinning from a near-pencil roving, prepared on my Clemes&Clemes carder.  The classes are paying off... and each batch I make is a little better than the last.  :-)

Day 4: Tuesday, July 4 - Stage 4

I finished the 8g piece started on Day 2/Sunday and added another 5g today over a couple of spinning sessions.

Day 5: Wednesday, July 5 - Stage 5

About 25 minutes during my lunch break today.

Day 6: Thursday, July 6 - Stage 6

I ended up using most of my free time today to do some organizing in my studio, but I did squeeze in about 15 minutes for spinning.

Counts So Far:

• 1st Single in Progress
• Spun 6 of 6 Stages
• ~17 grams completed

My goal for the end of this event is to have at least 1 oz (~29g) of a 2-ply yarn to enter into our county fair early next month.  So far, so good.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!