Fiber Arts Friday: County Fair, 2022

It's County Fair time again.  :-)

Upon looking at the Hand Spinning and Weaving Department Premium List when it became available in early June (~6/6/22) I was surprised to realize that I did not have any yarn completed since the specified date (8/1/21).  However, it does make sense given the move and focus on the large SOS Sweater.

Then, as I started to review the premium lists for other departments and thinking about where I was on projects, I realized that I might be able to field a decent entry.

So I have three photos:

Thanks to the Tour de Fleece, Hommes and Femme, and some warmup spinning, I finished two yarn entries.... Tibetan Mastiff (Ramen) and Dorset Horn (SE2SE) to go with one Handspun+Handknit Hat.

And some last minute Strawberry Jam.

Of all of these things, only the Hat was complete between August 1, 2021 and June 6, 2022.  Everything was dropped off last week.  Judging was on Wednesday and the Fair was open Friday thru Tuesday.

I went over the weekend to see the exhibits.  There were large entries in both the Spinning/Weaving and Needlework departments... especially Needlework was much larger than in recent years.

I'm happy to report that each of my yarns received second place and were displayed on the wall with the other beautiful yarns.

    

None of my other entries received ribbons, but it was quite fun to see my photos displayed with the other entries.

  

As well as my hat and jam on the shelf displays.

 

The Best in Spinning was this remarkable Handspun-Handknit Sweater.  This did not look like handspun yarn at all.

Some of the other entries....

  

  

  

Wilma and I picked up our entries on Wednesday.  She was a very good girl while waiting in line... and very excited when we picked up the fiber projects.  :-)

The comments received mostly make sense.

For the yarn:  The majority of points lost were for not following instructions.... while I did state the intended project for the yarns, I neglected to include the intended technique... knit, crochet, weaving.  oy.

The canned goods can only come from pre-approved recipes.  This wasn't clear to me in the Premium List prior to entry.  In going back to read it again, it's still not clear to me.... Although I now have the list of approved sources, so I will take a look and then decide if I want to try again.

There were no notes on the photographs, which was disappointing.

Overall it was a good fair for me and the fibery-stitching competitions are definitely my favorite.  I have no doubt that I will continue to compete.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2022, part 2

A few weeks later, and two Tours complete... the hommes and femmes.

I did end up playing with my regular Spinning Chien group, as well as joining the Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins Team... a former LYS in Boulder, that is still holding virtual meetups.

Week 1 

Friday, July 1

• Dorset Horn - 15 minutes
• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 15 minutes

Saturday, July 2

• Dorset Horn - 15 minutes
• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 15 minutes

Sunday, July 3

• Dorset Horn - 45 minutes
• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 15 minutes

Monday, July 4 - Transfer Day, US Independence Day Holiday

• With a little extra time for spinning today and yesterday, I was able to finish the single for the Dorset Horn - 1 hour 22 minutes

I wound it into a cake and will be ready to begin plying tomorrow.

• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 15 minutes

Tuesday, July 5

• Dorset Horn - ply 15 minutes
• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 15 minutes

Wednesday, July 6

• Dorset Horn - ply 15 minutes
• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 15 minutes

Thursday, July 7

• Dorset Horn - ply 15 minutes
• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 15 minutes

Week 2:

Friday, July 8

• Dorset Horn - ply 15 minutes.  As the cake shrinks, my speed increases.  But I still have a ways to go.

• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 15 minutes.  I got a new lamp last week and have noticed that the color is more grey when under the light of the new lamp.

Saturday, July 9

• Dorset Horn - ply 30 minutes
• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 15 minutes

Sunday, July 10 - Challenge

• No spinning

Monday, July 11 - Rest

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 30 minutes

Tuesday, July 12

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes

Wednesday, July 13

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes

Thursday, July 14

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes

Friday, July 15

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes.  After growing a bit too much confidence, I broke the thread.  sigh.  So I spent some time pulling part of the batt into roving.

Week 3

Saturday, July 16

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes.  I broke the thread again.  sigh.

Sunday, July 17

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes.  It's interesting to look at this photo along side the first one in this post.  Every little bit does add up, even when it doesn't feel like progress is being made.  :-)

Monday, July 18 - Rest

Tuesday, July 19 - It was lovely to be back at my wheel today.

• Dorset Horn - ply 15 minutes

• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 15 minutes

Wednesday, July 20

Thanks to the replay option on Peacock, this is the first Tour de Fleece where I have been able to watch coverage beyond a 2-hr highlight show of the actual Tour de France.

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes

Thursday, July 21 - Challenge

• Dorset Horn - ply 15 minutes

Friday, July 22

• Dorset Horn - ply 30 minutes

Week 4

Saturday, July 23

• Dorset Horn - ply 28 minutes.  Finished Plying.

• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 30 minutes

Sunday, July 24

• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen - 45 minutes

FIN - Men's Race

Weighing before and after means that I have 30 + 24 + 5 g or 59 g of singles were spun over 3 weeks and 112 g were plied thus far.

Tour de France, Femme Begins

With the Men's race ending today and the first Women's race beginning, I decided to dedicate the next week to plying my Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen.

There are 102 g here, that hopefully will be in a finished 2-ply yarn by the end of the week.

Sunday, July 24

• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen -  ply 30 min
• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes

Monday, July 25

• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen -  ply 30 min

Tuesday, July 26

• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen -  ply 70 min.  I think I might finish this tomorrow

Wednesday, July 27

• Tibetan Mastiff, Ramen -  ply 34 min.  I smashed my hand in a door this morning and injured my primary index finger.  It's the same one I shattered a few years ago, so it's good and painful. At least I can ply with my middle finger and was able to finish making this yarn.  sigh.

Thursday, July 28

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes.  I have a lot more cashmere to go, so I've decided to dedicate the rest of the tour to making some progress here.

Friday, July 29

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 21 minutes

Week 5

Saturday, July 30

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes

Sunday, July 31

• Cashmere - drop spindle (park and draft) - 15 minutes

FIN - Women's Race

Before and After Individual Top Photos

Sometimes it's really hard to see progress, so here's a side by side of before and after the Tours.

On my Clemes&Clemes Wheel, I had Tibetan Mastiff - Ramen., 143g (bobbin+yarn) to begin and ended with 173g (bobbin+yarn), for a total of 30g of single spun and 102g/324 yards of yarn plied.

 

On my Louet, I had Dorset Horn for SE2SE, that began with 233g (bobbin+yarn) and finished with 257g (bobbin+yarn).  Meaning that 24g of Dorset Horn Single and 112g plied during the Tour de Fleece, Homme.

 

On my Ledbetter Drop Spindle, I began with Cashmere, 24g (spindle+yarn) , Ended with 32g (spindle+yarn), for a total of 8g spun.

This was not my most productive Tour de Fleece, but this was mostly just about making it happen... and both of my wheels are currently empty, which never happens.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

In the Kitchen: Strawberry Jam

Hubba has been asking for Strawberry Jam for years... and by years, I mean YEARS!

I thought it might not happen again since we were not able to find any fresh strawberries for the weekend I had set aside for making jam.  Then he found them at CostCo...

So I cleared last weekend, and with Hubba's help, we put up 3 flats of fresh Strawberry Jam.

Two days.  Two recipes.  Fifty 1/2-pint jars.

This makes me very happy.