2020: The Year that Wasn't and Was

A whole lot of things did not happen in 2020:

• Dog Shows
• Trips
• Races
• Competitions
• Litter
• Online Farm Store
• Gainful Employment

But some very important things did happen in 2020:

• Rest and Recovery
• Regular Yoga Practice
• Improved Health and Fitness
• Elimination of Constant Pain
• Whole, Home-cooked, nourishing and creative meals
• Extended Quality Time with my Chosen One
• Goals for the Future

Last night I attended a guided meditation as a means to transition from 2020 to 2021 in a purposeful way.  I found the metaphor of the evening to be quite profound.

For us, the sun has now set on this last day of 2020.

My hope is that when the sun rises tomorrow on 2021, our collective hearts are full of joy, curiosity, kindness, and courage.

Taking a Break

Apparently I'm taking a break from my blog.

I didn't intend to... but I haven't had much of an appetite for fiber pursuits recently, and the cooler weather means I'm less interested in spinning as well.

Neighborhood Elk on a Windy Day

I do have lots of thoughts and have been journaling quite a bit.  So I'll be back soon.

I hope you all are staying healthy.

Fiber Arts Friday: New Normal Socks

I was thinking that I would use my left-over New Normal yarn in my Scrappy Palindrome Scarf, but at 111g (3.9oz), there is enough to make a pair of socks.

I decided to make the simple Toe-up sock pattern that I've used a few times for Hubba.  I intend to work thru the rainbow New Normal Remnants while making two socks at a time.  I have considered it, but have not done two-at-a-time before.

First up is swatching...  The New Normal Scarf used US10 needles in Linen Stitch.  Since I'm making socks in stockinette, I want a more dense fabric.  I started with US6 (lower swatch) which is nice, but not dense enough.  So I made a second swatch with US3 (upper swatch), thinking it might be too dense for this yarn... but since I do not currently own any US4 or US5 needles, I wanted a clue before I ventured out to buy a set.

I think the US3 will work fine for this project.... and as a bonus, I don't need to buy more needles, during a lay-off, during pandemic!

After a few measurements and setting of Way Points, I cast on.  :-)

I cast on 15 stitches because I like a wide toe box.  It should have been an even number, so I added an extra increase on the outside of each sock, which means they now have a top and a bottom, the stitch marker indicates the top and the end of the round.

While working on this project, I need to remember to pay attention so the yarn joins are clean (no knots) and that the ladders are minimized on the sides of each sock.

Resources for Two-at-a-Time:

Top Down - Knitter's Pride
Top Down - Vickie Howell
Top Down - The Spruce Crafts
Toe Up - Very Pink
Toe Up - Kristin Belle

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Copperbranch, part 2

I decided to tink back a few rows, since 42% of the total yarn is required for the edging/lace portion.  This way I am being conservative, since I do not have a third skein of this yarn.

I now have a lifeline in place, 25 sections, and 3 stitches on each end for a total of 406 stitches.

106g have been knit and 87g remain, leaving ~55% of the total yarn.  Lace is next.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Shave 'Em to Save 'Em, Shropshire

Breed - Shropshire

My first thoughts are this yarn is extremely spongy, drafts nicely, and would be really nice in anything requiring a lot of memory such as hats and socks.

I like that this preparation doesn't seem to have lanolin in it.

A nice spongy 2-inch staple.

I was wanting to spin these SE2SE samples thicker, but sometimes the yarn just wants to be what the yarn wants to be... this is much closer to my typical thin gauge.

I think this breed would be lovely in garments requiring some memory such as hats and sweaters.  It would also be lovely in socks and mittens.

I spun a lot of this during the 2020 Tour de Fleece, v1, but finished it between tours.

Shropshire is a member of the Down family of sheep, which explains my thoughts about its potential uses.  Ancestors of this breed are documented as far back as 1341.  The name Shropshire was assigned in 1848 and they were first imported to the US in 1855.

Shropshires are considered good quality for meat, wool, and milking... which, in my opinion, should make them a great option for homesteaders.

The Livestock Conservancy has Shropshire listed as Watch, meaning there are fewer than 200 annual registrations in the US and a world population estimated at less than 2000.

This wool was grown in Connecticut, but the roving was milled and sourced locally form the Fiber Traveler/Aspen Kid.

Final Yarn: 
Single Duration: July 9 - July 26, 2020
Ply Duration: July 26 - August 1, 2020
ounces: 3.5
yards: 244, 2-ply
wpi:  12
Ready to Submit:  August 7, 2020

SE2SE Status:  Shropshire
Total Breeds: 22
Breeds Sourced: 16
Breeds Spun: 13
Breeds To Go: 9

Months Remaining: 14 (12/31/21)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: emPower People 2020 - VOTE!

I don't have a lot in the way of dyed yarn.... certainly not much in anything that resembles purple.  However, my Brother and SIL have provided me with a two purple yarns from their travels.  :-)

The most recent is an alpaca they found while on a trip to Peru a few years ago.

This is a hand-spindled, 4-ply, baby alpaca that I've been saving for just the right project.

Given that 2020 has been.... well... 2020, and our upcoming election is the most consequential in my lifetime, I felt the emPower People Project was something I wanted to get behind.

I got close to having to play yarn-chicken, which I don't enjoy.  So I opted to make the last few rows in Pussy Hat Pink.

This is a very simple knit and easy to increase or decrease the size.

Election Day is November 3rd.... just 3 weeks away.  Please ensure you are well-informed and have a plan to vote.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Shave 'Em to Save 'EM, Cotswold

Breed - Cotswold

Since I've been going out of order (Hog Island was supposed to be next), I decided I wanted to focus on the longwools remaining in my queue for the Tour de Fleece.... each of these should go quickly, assuming they spin similar to the Lincoln that I spun last fall.

A long 5-inch staple

and a very toothy fiber.

Before a bath...

The outside of this bump was felted, so several sections had to be tossed.

I can definitely see this as useful for felted outer garments... and like the Leicester Longwool, this Cotswold has a lovely luster.

This is a very old breed and may be a descendant of the sheep brought to England by the Romans.

The Livestock Concervancy lists the Cotswold as Threatened, meaning that fewer than 1000 sheep are registered in the US each year and that the estimated global population is less than 5000.

This sample went very quickly during version 1 of the 2020 Tour de Fleece.

This breed roving was sourced from The Ross Farm in Pennsylvania.

Final Yarn: Cotswold
Single Duration: July 3 - July 4, 2020
Ply Duration: July 7 - 8, 2020
ounces: 3.75
yards: 111 yd, 2-ply
wpi:  10
Ready to Submit:  July 10, 2020

SE2SE Status:
Total Breeds: 22
Breeds Sourced: 16
Breeds Spun: 12
Breeds To Go: 10

Months Remaining: 15 (12/31/21)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2020, part 11

Day 21 - Friday, September 18

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 35 Minutes

With finishing the 3rd Single on Thursday, I began plying my yarn today.  There are 222g in the three singles.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 15 Minutes

Day 22 - Saturday, September 19

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 76 Minutes

My bobbin is full, Full, FULL... with 81g of singles still to ply.

Day 23 - Sunday, September 20

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 65 Minutes

I skeined the full bobbin from yesterday and finished plying the remaining Tibetan Mastiff.  All but 7 grams made it into the final yarn... this makes me happy with my batt division prior to the start of this Tour.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 17 Minutes

I did not expect to finish the Hog Island during this Tour, but I did make some progress, bringing the remaining roving from 44 to 25 grams.

Weekly Time: 208 mins

Total Time:  4:42 + 7:03 + 5:26 + 3:28 = 20hrs 39mins

Epiloge

Carrying on a bit from Part One, my Podcast backlog has improved as follows:

• Wise Traditions by the Westin A Price Foundation - I finished Part One of this Tour with a 1 year and 6.5 month backlog.  I began Part Two with a 7.5 month backlog and finished with a 4 month backlog.... equating to an improvement of another 3.5 months.
• Professional Weaver -  I finished Part One with a 3 episode backlog.  I began Part Two with a 2 episode backlog, listened to a few episodes, and finished with a 2 episode backlog... so I'm holding steady on this one.

I took two rest days.

I spun 19 Batts in 18 days of spinning (20 days minus 2 Rest Days) which means that I met my goal of averaging 1 Batt per day.

I finished the Tibetan Mastiff 3-ply yarn.  It is not a sock yarn, but I think I have a new plan for it.

2 skeins

229 yards of finished 3-ply yarn

7 7/8 oz (223g) spun

I'll give it a bath later and get a final wpi measurement, but I believe this is close to a Sport or DK weight.

It's clear that if I don't plan to spend a certain amount of time, it's harder to work spinning in every day.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2020, part 10

Day 14 - Friday, September 11

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 18 Minutes

Having finished Single #2 on Thursday, I wound off the cake and began Single #3 this morning with Batt # 14.

Day 15 - Saturday, September 12

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 51 Minutes

Begining Batt #15.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 15 Minutes

Day 16 - Sunday, September 13

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 16 Minutes

Continuing with Batt #15.

Day 17 - Monday, September 14 - Rest

Day 18 - Tuesday, September 15

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 87 Minutes

Started on Batt #17.

Day 19 - Wednesday, September 16

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 85 Minutes

Finished Batt #18.

Day 20 - Thursday, September 17 - Challenge

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 54 Minutes

Today is supposed to be a day for challenging my spinning.  But since this whole Tour is about starting and completing an entire 3-ply, sock-weight yarn, I chose to focus on keeping on.

I completed the last batt (#19) for Single #3 today!

I have 3 days left for plying.  I hope that's enough to finish this yarn.

Total minutes for the week:  326

Tour Time Total:  4:42 + 7:03 + 5:26 = 17hrs 11mins

Completed Singles:  3 of 3

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2020, part 9

Day 7 - Friday, September 4

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 38 Minutes

Continuing with Batt #5 from last week... and after 4 days, Batt #5 is finished.  WooHoo!

Day 8 - Saturday, September 5 - Kentucky Derby Day

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 149  Minutes

I finished the first single today with Batt #6.

Then I began the second single with Batts #7 and #8 which brings me back to my goal of averaging 1 batt per day.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 15 Minutes

Day 9 - Sunday, September 6 - Challenge

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 51 Minutes

Since each of these batts are taking longer than I had hoped, I opted to forego the challenge today and continue working on my TM 3-ply yarn.  I completed Batt #9 and started on #10 today.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 17 Minutes

Day 10 - Monday, September 7 - Rest, US Labor Day

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 33 Minutes

Today was supposed to be a rest day, but I made some progress on Batt #10 prior to the farm chores this morning.

Day 11 - Tuesday, September 8

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 25 Minutes

Completed Batt#10

Day 12 - Wednesday, September 9

No spinning was accomplished today, so I'll take credit for the rest day from earlier this week.

Day 13 - Thursday, September 10

Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 79 Minutes

Batt #13 completes Single #2!

SE2SE - Hog Island: 16 Minutes

Weekly Time Total:  7 hrs 3 mins

Tour Time Total:  4:42 + 7:03 = 11 hrs 45 minutes

Completed Singles:  2 of 3

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2020, part 8

Tour de Fleece 2020 v2.0

As I mentioned last week, I have been working on this Hog Island since early August.  So here's a before photo.... more than half of the single is complete, with 44g remaining.

Day 1 - Saturday, August 29
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 88 Minutes

Beginning the first single today...

My goal is to average one batt per day.  Today I completed two batts and started on a third.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 16 Minutes

My intent with the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em (SE2SE) breeds for this Tour is to spend about 15 minutes after I complete the first batt of TM each day, if time allows.

Day 2 - Sunday, August 30
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 61 Minutes

Batt #3 finished and #4 started.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 15 Minutes

Day 3 - Monday, August 31
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 51 Minutes

Batt #4 finished.

SE2SE - Hog Island: 15 Minutes

Day 4 - Tuesday, September 1
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 10 Minutes

I didn't have much time for spinning this morning.  I have started Batt #5.

Day 5 - Wednesday, September 2
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: TBD Minutes

Still in the midst of Batt #5.

Day 6 - Thursday, September 3
Chiengora - Tibetan Mastiff: 12 Minutes

Somehow it's already Thursday.  This week flew by.

I did not have time for spinning this morning, but got a few minutes in this afternoon.  I'm still working on Batt #5.

Total minutes:  282 (4 hrs 42 mins)

Completed Singles:  None Yet.  I was hoping to finish the three singles in less than a week each.  The first one will be complete once I finish Batt #6.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!