Fruit Salad… Fiber!

I’m really getting a lot of spinning done, haha! Though this does mean my knitting time has gone down – it’s a worthy cause! Its spinning! Can’t resist!

So, I finished my Wine and Debauch yarn yesterday. That was all cool beans v^_^v

My wheel looked kind of sad without anything on it, haha. Soooo, I had to put something fresh on it ^_^

It was a challenge deciding what I wanted to spin next because of this..

Yes, the column on the right is my fiber stash. And theres some on the bottom that you can’t see, eh heh ^_^ In other words – I had a lot of choices! (Then on the left is finished yarn, my hat cubby, and ends of balls of yarn. Then theres three more of those. Ehhhh heh ^_^)

But in the end, I went with some more of Northbound Knitting’s fiber that I had got a long long time ago and was saving up.

This colorway is called “Fruit Salad”. 4oz of superwash merino.

This time, I’m trying fractal spinning. Which.. I’m not sure how its different from other ways of spinning – but from what I’m seeing… it should end up pretty cool!

I was able to find several very helpful walk-throughs of how to divide the braid up for fractal spinning. The Knitty Article – “Fractal Spinning” by Alex Tinsley and then this blog post by Slipstream Fiberarts. Both were extremely clear, and it was nice to have both of them to have the examples of what your braid’s color might be dyed like and then actual pictures of the different balls of fiber after the dividing.

I was able to spin up the thicker half of the braid last night and start on the smaller sections on a different bobbin. I thought about doing a center-pull ball, but read that it’s a little tricky to get it consistant… so I’ll try with the two bobbins, work on that, and eventually get to a center-pull ball ^_^

I plan on finishing the last two mini balls this evening, and start the plying process! I’m spinning it a bit thicker (I seem to always spin thin, and I wanted to do something different, haha) so it’s definitely going more quickly.

Stash Enhancement – Daybreak Dyeworks!

Tada! More finished practice yarn! Woooo!

I split this braid down the middle, hoping that it’d be somewhat evenly divided. Which, I think it was… but I had a fair amount of singles on one bobbin than the other at the end… which I don’t think is too weird – from what I’ve heard from really good spinner people, they do that occasionally too. So, I just navajo-plied the rest of the singles ^_^

But I’m quite happy with what I got! The 2-ply yarn was quite overspun, but loosened up with a nice long soak and about a day hanging up with something heavy hanging on the bottom. I’m getting there! It’s getting better! Woooo!

The fiber was from Northbound Knitting, in the “Wine and Debauch” colorway. It was about 4ozs… and a mixed BFL combed top.

I got some pretty good yardage too – the 2-ply ended up being around 274 yards. I also got 134yds of the navajo-ply.

Like I mentioned before, I really want to make a pair of these Easy Handspun Mitts by Vera Brosgol. But I might wait until I make more 2-plies and see which one is my favorite… But then again, who says I have to have just *one* pair of these mitts ^_^

In other fiber news – more prepping for the Tour de Fleece! It’s getting closer every day! I’m so glad that my French class is online this summer, so I can dedicate even more time to spinning every day. Oh, the joys of a knitter/spinner/fiber person d^_^b

So, a couple posts ago, I mentioned the teams I had joined for the Tour, one of which being the Daybreak Dyeworks team. A couple days ago, I ordered some of Dawn’s fiber from her shop (go check her out – she has a Tour de Fleece coupon code! 15%!) and my braids of fiber came today! Eeeee!!

Figuring out which ones I wanted was definitely a challenge, haha! They’re all so prettyy! But in the end, I ended up with “Neon and Neutral” (the bottom.. Which is 4oz of 100% Falkland. This is also the Team Braid.) “Dance Fever” (the middle. This is 4oz of 100% Merino) and my mom picked out “A Pineapple Under the Sea” (the top right. This is 4oz of 100% Falkland.)

She also included an extremely sweet note in my package of goodies. If you’re in the market for stash enhancing for the Tour or for whatever reason – you definitely need to check Daybreak Dyeworks out, because it’s awesome! Dawn is so sweet!

Bertie approved of the braids as well, haha! Well, he was probably more interested in the bag… But you can just see the approval on his face…

See? That is cat approval, right there.

Musical Monday!!

Tour de Fleece Training

During the past couple of evenings, I’ve really been focusing on my Tour de Fleece training… Spinning for longer spans of time, making sure my wheel is in good condition, making sure I have all the things I need (which isn’t much, but I’d hate to be unprepared, haha!) and working on that pesky 2-ply

This is some fiber I ordered from Lisa of Northbound Knitting (same one I mentioned yesterday! d^_^b) awhile ago and didn’t have the time at that particular moment to get it on my bobbins, though I was itching to get them going!

This colorway is called Wine and Debauch. It was a 4oz braid of a mixed BFL combed top. The colors are absolutely brilliant… so vibrant. And its soft. Its so soft.

So, I kind of split it in half, long ways… spun both halves and now I’m in the process of plying them. I think this might possibly make a really awesome pair of Easy Handspun Mitts by Vera Brosgol. But I’ll wait and see what my yardage is like when it’s all niddy-noddied up and had its bath ^_^

I overspin my singles a little bit, like a lot of you guys suggested (thank you SO much! That was so helpful!) and I’m really liking what I’m seeing as I ply it.

I did have a bit of a chuckle when I realized my big mistake in calling it “barbera pulling” when it’s actually “barber pole”… I had no clue, hahaha. I told my mom, and she was amused too. So thank you to everyone who led me to the correct path of terminology. What would I do without you guys, heehee :-P

I’m thinking about maybe getting some kind of spinning book before I leave home so I can have something like that thats really convenient. Do you guys have any suggestions for a good book that talks about like all the different plying and spinning techniques? Or would I be better off finding that stuff online whenever I needed it?

Texas A&M News and Everlong

I have to get one thing out of the way before I continue on with this post.

This is quite big. And I’m so excited about it.

I officially got accepted into Texas A&M University. I’m kinda bouncing off the walls.

This might be a bit confusing, you might have thought I was already *in* A&M, because I’m going there in the fall… we have a place to live. Its all kind of set in stone. But actually, I hadn’t really been accepted yet. I was going either way… because if I didn’t, I would be going to the community college, Blinn, which is right next door to the A&M campus.

So why was it in question? Why the uncertainty? Because I’m going to be a transfer student, and all the grades they needed for that, I didn’t have.. quite yet. They needed my 2013 Spring semester grades, which I was working on.. but didn’t have.

We talked with lots of advisors, made sure we could do everything possible. Worked really hard to get good enough grades. Got my grades (which were above what I needed, that was a huge blessing) at the end of this semester, sent them in lickty-split… and all we could do then was wait. It was in God’s hands. If He wanted me to start my journey of being an Aggie this fall, He would make it happen.

We waited, and waited… it was only a *bit* suspenseful. (/sarcasm)

Then, this morning. I found out the good news. I had been officially accepted. I screamed, ran to the stairs… almost fell down the stairs and decided that I’d be better off standing at the top until I was done kind of and shaking and making every possible sound that expresses joy and happiness. Then I ran downstairs to give my mom a hug, haha.

It hasn’t really sunk in – its kind of like having a birthday. You don’t really like actually realize you’re older until later. I don’t really understand or realize that “Oh hey, I’m a fightin’ Texas Aggie, class of 2016 now. Waaaat?” Yeah, no that hasn’t sunk in yet.

SO. Now I can really REALLY embrace knitting ALL the A&M things with gusto. Ohhh boy.

Which leads nicely into a test knit I’m doing for Lisa of Northbound Knitting (so sweet, she has amazing patterns, yarn, *and* fiber – CHECK HER OUT!!) (sidenote: her yarn and fiber come on te updates, which you have to be watching for. So worth it – I absolutely love the stuff I’ve gotten from her!)

These are called Everlong, and they are… a pair of very long legwarmers, haha. They are awesomeness. And, if you didn’t notice… they’re in A&M colors ^_^

When I saw the picture on Instagram, I immediately though “OH… OH OH… Maroon.. and white. and OH MY GOODNESS.” So, I actually ordered Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in the right colors, because I absolutely *had* to do those colors.. how could I not? (Just as a btw, the maroon color is “Hollyberry”, which is the perfect maroon. Oh yeah. Then its White and Marble Heather for the grey)

I knit the cuff while walking around Ikea with my parents and aunt and uncle looking for various college-y items ^_^ Then knit the whole leg the next day while we went to College Station to get our flats/apartments/townhousethings inspected. And tada! All done!

Working on the second one at the moment – its total mindless knitting. Just knitting around and around.. but with the stripes and occasional decreases, its not boring. They’re super warm and snuggly. I can totally see these with a skirt or, if its really cold, underneath a pair of jeans or something. They’re so snuggly ^_^

I’d also love to make a pair out of like handspun or out of Harry Potter house cup colors. Which I’d probably go with either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor colors. But who knows what’ll happen ^_^

Musical Monday!!

Yarn acquisitions and a Brown Betty

Two things happened yesterday.

(well, in actual fact, lots of things happened yesterday, but I’m about to tell you about two of them v^_^v)

I got a Brown Betty teapot.

Which you may recognize from many different places. One of which, that I remember from my childhood is the one that Wallace and Gromit used all the time. I always wanted to have tea with them, haha.

This is for my flat (because thats what it is most like – a friend reminded me of that at church today, haha) in College Station.. because tea is important and definitely a necessity in life. It cannot be done without!

So, I’m making plans on knitting a tea cozy. I am quite excited about this. Because… the possibilities are endless.

I am quite enamored with Churchmouse Yarns and Tea’s two patterns… X x X Anniversary Tea Cozy and their Ribbed and Ruffled Tea Cozies. Both would be gorgeous in handspun, I think. Or anything, haha.

Second thing…

Yarn acquisitions! Waaaaat! I couldn’t help myself… My mom ordered a copy of Botanical Knits when it came out, and the book recently arrived… full of all it’s Fall-ish goodness. Full of inspiration and tantalizing knits calling to be cast on immediately.

Sooooo, I got some yarn with some of those new patterns in mind ^_^

The blue on the right is Madtosh Sock, and its destiny shall be the Ivy Trellis Mittens… which I think are absolutely gorgeous.

The stuff in the middle is Madtosh Chunky will be made into the Twin Leaf Loop. I realized that my inventory of cowls is significantly smaller than my shawls… And I don’t have any dark cowls either. When I saw it, a lightbulb went off and it had to be gotten, haha. Plus, the pattern only takes 2 skeins and is knit on size 11s. Can’t go wrong there ^_^

The TARDIS colored stuff on the left is Cascade 220 Superwash… and I’m not quite decided as to what that’ll be. I’m leaning towards Gyllis by Stephen West, which I’ve wanted to make ever since it came out. The time has come!

Finished Yarn! ~ Mocha

So, like I said yesterday, I’ve been trying to get better at doing a 2-ply..

in preparation for the Tour de Fleece, I’m practicing now… so during the Tour, I won’t be stumbling around in the dark as much, heehee :-P

Anyways, I got this braid back in July 2012… heehee, long time ago. This is from the WildHare Etsy store. There are some fun braids of fiber there :-P I have one more her store that I’ll be spinning up at some point.. it’s a rainbow gradient. So that’ll be fun :-)

This one was called Lithos, and it was 4oz of a superwash wool top. Not the softest thing in the world, but it’s not horribly scratchy :-)

Part of this braid was an accident, haha. I split it down the middle then split the halves in half.. so I’d try to get some kind of barbera-pulling (is that the right term? I’m not sure, haha). I spun one bobbin, it turned out great! Went on to the second bobbin, spun one of the halves of the half and for some reason didn’t spin the second half of the half before starting to ply. I have no idea why I forgot, haha. But I did, so that kinda messed up the color sequence I had in my mind.

I’m pretty happy with it though… the plies aren’t too loose. It is in some places, but overall it seems pretty tight. It was pretty over twisted when I took it off the niddy-noddy.. but after it’s bath, it evened out a bit and hangs pretty straight now. I hung a hanger on the bottom of the skein while it was drying just to make sure it’d get rid of the extra twisty, heehee :-P

What do you guys think? Does it look okay? As far as 2-plies go, I’m a bit clueless, haha :-P but I’m working on it! I plan on mastering the 2-ply (maybe during the Tour, maybe not, haha :-P) and then moving on to 3-ply… which I might need another bobbin for. I only have 3, heehee. But that’s way in the future v^_^v

On a scholarly note – I started my French 1 online college class!! I’m SO EXCITED about it!! There was big drama about the French 1 class at Lone Star college (where I took classes the past two semesters, and finished my freshman year at. Our local community college) and that didn’t end up working.

But I’m so glad this online class worked out – I started last night around 8:00 and stayed up till like 12:30 because I was having so much fun (and there was a lot that was due the next day/today). I did take breaks though, haha :-P My teacher is extremely awesome – she’s so sweet. If this class ends up well, I plan on taking French 2 from her as well.

Tour de Fleece 2013 Plans

Its that time of year again! Its time for the Tour de Fleece! d^_^b

The dates this year are June 29st, 2013 through July 21st, 2013. Plenty of time to spin spin spin!

So, in preparation for this almost-month-long-event-of-awesomeness, I’ve joined 3 different teams and started thinking about goals and what I’ll be spinning.

Team wise, I have joined (if you click on the images, it sends you to sign up for the teams ^_^)

~ Team Loop ~

~ Team Daybreak Dyeworks ~ (Dawn is SO sweet! You really need to check out her shop – her colors are absolutely gorgeous!)

~ Team Must Stash ~

I am so excited about Tour de Fleece this year… Its been about a year and a half since I got my wheel, and my spinning skills have definitely increased… making it even more fun and enjoyable to participate ^_^

So, out of the many many ideas that I have of what I want to spin, here are two that are recent fiber acquisitions

I joined the Two if By Hand fiber Willy Wonka fibre club… and this was the first shipment. This is called “Bean Feast” after the request made by Veruca Salt in the Golden Goose Room (which I love and adore that movie. Best version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory EVER. But thats personal preference, heehee :-P)

And! I also got the fiber from the SAL with the Knitabulls Podcast…

This was inspired by this picture of Lavinia Swire from Downton Abbey

I think the colors are absolutely gorgeous… I’m not quite sure what I’m going to be doing with it yet. Probably Navajo ply, since thats what I’m most comfortable with. But I’m trying to branch out and get better that doing 2-plies.

Any tips on doing a 2-ply? The ones I’ve done in the past end up being over-twisted a fair amount because I’m worried the plies will come apart and not be twisted enough. Then I overcompensate, haha. Any advice will be appreciated v^_^v

What are your plans for Tdf 2013? What teams have you joined? I’m uber excited, I can’t wait for it to start!! ^_^

Musical Monday!!