Fiber Arts Friday: County Fair 2021

Our County Fair was not held last year because the venue was being used as an overflow hospital for COVID patients.  This year's fair is being held, but is a scaled down version.

There is no knitting or crochet and my weaving is not ready to share.  But the spinning classes are being held.

So back in early June I entered 5 handspun yarns, one of which is not yet completed.  So I will be bringing four yarns: 2 Tibetan Mastiff, and 3 SE2SE wool breeds.

Like most of these type of competitions there is a qualification window, and entries are required to have been finished since August 1, 2020.

From Top to Bottom:

Tibetan Mastiff, 2-ply - July 2021

Tibetan Mastiff, 3-ply - September 2020

Hog Island, 2-ply - December 2020 (I haven't posted about it yet)

Shropshire, 2-ply - August 2020

Drop off is Tuesday.  Judging is Wednesday.  The Fair opens on Friday.

Judging is open to the public, but (again) I am not available to observe.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

In the Garden: Cherry Tree

Hubba and I planted this Montmorency Cherry Tree soon after we moved into our current house.

We've gotten a small harvest here and there, but usually the Robins devour the fruit right before it ripens.

This year, we have a pair of Crows hanging around and we do not have Robins nesting on the house.  I'm not sure if these are correlated, but it seems to be.

As such, my tree is was able to fill of ripe fruit, so we took advantage and made a pie.

Since my books are packed for the move, I used this recipe.

Then we collected and froze a few batches and shared the bounty with our neighbors.

We intend to plant a larger cherry (hopefully Rainier, because they are my favorite to eat) at the new place, once we're settled.... but this pie was so good, we may end up with a few varieties. ;-)

I hope you're having a glorious summer!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2021, part 5

This is the last week of this year's Tour de Fleece.

Friday, July 16

I decided last week that I would only need two days to ply this yarn.  So I spun a bit more today... 

I had a bit more free time today, so I focused on finishing the batt I was working on.

... and then wound off the bobbin.

TM: 1 hour 09:42 minutes

Saturday, July 17

The important question for today is whether I spun enough during this tour to meet the minimum quantity of 1oz for my upcoming County Fair entry.

If yes, I will ply from both ends of the cake.

If no, I will ply with the single completed before the tour began.

 

Good News!  At 1.75 oz, this single makes weight.  WooHoo!  So I am plying from both ends of this cake.

Since I tend to find plying less interesting than spinning, I listened to a few podcast episodes to keep my attention... and just about a half-ounce remaining for tomorrow.

TM: 1 hour, 11:40 minutes

Sunday, July 18

Fully plied!

TM: 29:26 minutes

Weekly: 

• Weekly Time:  1 hour, 50 minutes, 48 seconds
• Days with Spinning: 3/3

Epilogue:

I missed a total of 3 days spinning.  I spun on one Rest Day and took the second as scheduled.  For a net loss of two days spinning... and one completed yarn.

I started using the stopwatch on my phone last year to track how much time I was spinning in each session.  As an engineer, I always enjoy having data.  :-)

In looking at my record over the last few weeks.... It's apparent that I get distracted or interrupted frequently.  I had sessions as short as 2 minutes and as long as 35 minutes, for an average close to 8 minutes per session and about 21 minutes per day.

I do think part of it is because spinning allows my mind to quiet down and then creative thoughts begin to develop.  So I do stop frequently to take notes or write a few paragraphs.

I also prefer to spin in the morning when I'm making coffee/breakfast and tending to the dogs, so I am also frequently interrupted.  

It's sort of funny to look into this bag... At the start of this Tour, I thought I might run out of prepared fiber.  Of course I didn't (and usually don't).  I have five batts of prepared fiber remaining.  However, had my daily average been closer to an hour, it would have been close.

As always, I truly enjoy the Tour de Fleece... and now I have my first skein finished for a sweater project that was hatched last year.  :-)

Cumulative: 

• Total Time:  2:29:36 + 2:17:06 + 1:07:42 + 1:50:48 = 6:45:12
• Days with Spinning: 19/21
• Daily Average Duration:  21 minutes per day
• Average Session:  8 minutes per session

The finished skein in my office:  It almost looks like a black and white photo.

The finished skein in Natural Light:  The red undertone is apparent.

Some detail of the color variation:  This is undyed yarn.

I do love it and I'm excited to make more... only 14.25 oz to go for my long-term project.  ;-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

One Year of Yoga

Today marks one year of having a regular yoga practice.

I had been trying to re-build a regular practice for some time with varying levels of success, then Covid happened and most things shut down, including my poor practice of yoga.

This pause was actually very good for me.  With the ceasing of travel in early-March 2020 and layoff in mid-April 2020, I needed time to decompress from 18 months of commuting out-of-state for work.

Just sleeping and eating at home made a huge difference in my well-being.

Then in mid-July 2020, gyms in Colorado were allowed to open with mask and capacity requirements.  Which helped me feel more comfortable going back into the studio... and I went back on July 20th.

Since then, I've been keeping a monthly status of my progress (because I'm an engineer).

In these 12 months, the numbers on the scale and tape measure have not changed significantly.  However, my energy and pain levels have both improved dramatically... and I am still wearing my mask.

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2021, part 4

Continuing with the Tour de Fleece...

Friday, July 9

I had my first full day in the office today, so I did not get to spinning.

Saturday, July 10

Thanks to a few friends, we got the rest of our herd sheared today... but again, no spinning.

Sunday, July 11 - Challenge

Back to spinning for a little this morning.  No specific challenge was undertaken.

Ramen (the donor of the fluff) joined me today.  :-)

TM: 25:46 minutes

Monday, July 12 - Rest

Tuesday, July 13

As an introvert, it's no secret that I am happiest by myself or with a small number of people.  It doesn't matter how much I like the people.  Anything more than one or two at the same time is tiring for me.  So the Grounding due to COVID has been a wonderful respite for this introvert.

I have been going into the office (fully masked) for the last few days.  After working from home for quite some time, it's clear that I will have to increase my endurance for crowds again.

Since today was a shorter day than the previous, I did get in a little spinning this afternoon... so I feel a bit refreshed at the moment.

TM: 10:38 minutes

Wednesday, July 14

TM: 15:32 minutes

Thursday, July 15

With three days remaining in the Tour, the primary question on my mind right now is; have I spun enough to cause me to need more than two days to ply everything?

I think this answer is no.... which means I can spin a bit more tomorrow then plan to ply on Saturday and Sunday.

TM: 15:46 minutes

Weekly: Time, Finished Singles, 

I missed two days of spinning this week and did not spin on the rest day.  So I'm down a net two days as of now.

• Weekly Time: 1 hour, 7 minutes, 42 seconds
• Days with Spinning: 4/6

Cumulative: Time, Finished Singles,

• Total Time:  2:29:36 + 2:17:06 + 1:07:42 = 5:54:24
• Days with Spinning: 16/18

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2021, part 3

 Continuing with the Tour de Fleece...

Friday, July 2

Just shy of 11 minutes for spinning this morning.  Not sure I'll get back to it today.

TM: 10:53 minutes

Saturday, July 3

Thanks to the help from a few friends, we got part of our herd sheared today.  As such, I did not get to spinning today.

Sunday, July 4 - Challenge, US Independence Day

I did not do any special challenge for today.

TM: 21:24 minutes

Monday, July 5 - Rest

While today was supposed to be a rest day, I did spin in order to make up for missing Saturday.

TM:  20:39 minutes

Tuesday, July 6

TM: 24:43 minutes

Wednesday, July 7

Day 12 and finally the last bit of the leader is now covered up.

TM: 39:07 minutes

Thursday, July 8

TM: 20:20 minutes

Weekly: Time, Finished Singles, 

• Weekly Time: 2 hours, 17 minutes, 6 seconds
• Days with Spinning: 6/6

Cumulative: Time, Finished Singles,

• Tour Time: 2:29:36 + 2:17:06 = 4 hours, 46 minutes, 42 seconds of spinning for the tour so far.
• Days with Spinning: 12/12

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Organizing Thoughts

I have a habit of brain-dumping in my blog drafts.

I have use it as a place to capture thoughts when they are coming fast, since I can type faster than write by hand.

As a result, I had well-over 300 drafts for this blog.... most of which will never be published here.

So I spent a few hours on a recent afternoon to delete, combine, and move drafts to more appropriate locations.

I still have 221 drafts, as of this moment.  So hopefully, I can get thru a bunch more before the number starts creeping up again.

*fingers crossed*

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2021, part 2

The 2021 Tour de Fleece is underway!

As per usual, I have joined the Chiengora Team and as I mentioned in part 1, I am spinning Ramen's undercoat from last season.

I wound off the current single before starting the official Tour.  This has been set aside and will be combined into one of the final yarns after this year's Tour de Fleece is concluded.

And just to prove that I'm starting from scratch, here's the empty bobbin.  :-)

On a side note, I discovered a few weeks ago that there is a small SE2SE Team,  I briefly considered joining them, but let's be serious.... With all that's going on in my world right now, I will be surprised if I'm able to spin even a few minutes every day on just the chiengora.  :-)

Now on to the daily status:

Saturday, June 26

I'm going after a fairly fine gauge.

It always takes me a little bit to get consistent at the intended gauge... especially since Tibetan Mastiff is so slippery, it wants to spin very finely.

I managed to get a good amount spun this morning.

TM: 34:46 minutes

Sunday, June 27

TM: 23:19 minutes

Monday, June 28

TM: 15:12 minutes

Tuesday, June 29

Very busy day today.  Almost forgot to spin, but I made myself do it for 4 whole minutes.  Still Counts!!

TM: 4:08 minutes

Wednesday, June 30

Day 5 and the Leader is very close to being covered.

TM: 47:40 minutes

Thursday, July 1

Happy July!  I hope you're having favorable weather in your area.

I was able to get about a half-hour on my wheel this afternoon.  I really enjoy spinning, and wish I could spin this long every day.  :-)

TM: 24:31 minutes

Weekly Total: 

• Weekly Time:  All Tibetan Mastiff, 2 hrs 29 minutes, 36 seconds
• Days with Spinning: 6/6

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!