Posts
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Tour de Fleece, Day 2
Only a little progress. If only the rest of the world would realize that this is the Tour de Fleece, folks! Let the spinners spin!
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Tour de Fleece 2013, Day 1
Hoorah, it's time again for Tour de Fleece! Let's see, I'm on three wildcard teams and three official teams -- sound like enough?
I decided my theme this year would be "sweater quantities." I have about a pound of each of these:
and I'm going to try to get through TWO of them, enough for two sweaters. From the top left, two 8 oz bags of merino/silk blend (actually one is 8.5 and the other 9.5, so more than a pound), a 16 oz braid of hand-dyed merino superwash, a 16 oz bag of charcoal merino top, and two 8 oz bags of natural black Welsh. I decided to start with the merino/silk, and see where I go from there.
My knitting group had a TdF kickoff party today, with five wheels and two spindles present, and passersby looking to see what the heck we were doing. In three hours time I got through about 1.5 ounces of my merino/silk blend:
It's a good start!
I decided my theme this year would be "sweater quantities." I have about a pound of each of these:
and I'm going to try to get through TWO of them, enough for two sweaters. From the top left, two 8 oz bags of merino/silk blend (actually one is 8.5 and the other 9.5, so more than a pound), a 16 oz braid of hand-dyed merino superwash, a 16 oz bag of charcoal merino top, and two 8 oz bags of natural black Welsh. I decided to start with the merino/silk, and see where I go from there.
My knitting group had a TdF kickoff party today, with five wheels and two spindles present, and passersby looking to see what the heck we were doing. In three hours time I got through about 1.5 ounces of my merino/silk blend:
It's a good start!
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Black Sheep Gathering 2013
Fiber Festival season is upon us, and though I need more stash like I need a hole in my head, I went nevertheless. One must support local business and local agriculture, no? And so long as I put less into the stash than I spin and knit up, it does slowly go down, right?
Besides, why miss out on all the fun?
I went down to the Lane County Fairgrounds to visit Black Sheep Gathering on Friday afternoon with friends, just to take in the marketplace. We didn't have a lot of time for sitting and spinning, alas, but there were spinning circles indoors and out. The fine weather made it a lovely time to be outdoors and spinning:
Indoors lies the marketplace! The Black Sheep info booth is by the front entrance, and beyond that, dozens and dozens of vendors!
Not only fiber and yarn, but also equipment, like this beautiful walking wheel, and sweet smelling soaps from Fog Wash soaps.
And of course a dazzling array of fiber:
Everything is better with friends, right? Lydia and Stephania (of Three Fates Yarn) carpooled with me and we had a good time looking around.
Out in the barns, there was plenty of fiber on the hoof. Here a pair of Blue-Faced Leicesters wait to be shown.
Jacob sheep were in the ring for judging.
And these Shetlands awaited their turn to be shown and judged.
A couple of the Angora goats decided it was nap time.
I was pretty modest in my purchases. So much lovely stuff that I could have brought home, but the stash is still larger than I'm comfortable with, so for myself I bought only 4 oz of an an angora rabbit blend (blended with Gotland wool, alpaca, and silk), and a gradient-dyed braid of Polwarth and silk from Huckleberry Knits. I'm going to try to spin the whole thing as one long gradient, chain-plied, for a shawlette, something I haven't done before so it will be an interesting new challenge. The six-ounce bag of Romney roving is for a prize for one of my Tour de Fleece teams -- got a good bargain on it!
Besides, why miss out on all the fun?
I went down to the Lane County Fairgrounds to visit Black Sheep Gathering on Friday afternoon with friends, just to take in the marketplace. We didn't have a lot of time for sitting and spinning, alas, but there were spinning circles indoors and out. The fine weather made it a lovely time to be outdoors and spinning:
Indoors lies the marketplace! The Black Sheep info booth is by the front entrance, and beyond that, dozens and dozens of vendors!
Not only fiber and yarn, but also equipment, like this beautiful walking wheel, and sweet smelling soaps from Fog Wash soaps.
And of course a dazzling array of fiber:
Everything is better with friends, right? Lydia and Stephania (of Three Fates Yarn) carpooled with me and we had a good time looking around.
Out in the barns, there was plenty of fiber on the hoof. Here a pair of Blue-Faced Leicesters wait to be shown.
Jacob sheep were in the ring for judging.
And these Shetlands awaited their turn to be shown and judged.
A couple of the Angora goats decided it was nap time.
I was pretty modest in my purchases. So much lovely stuff that I could have brought home, but the stash is still larger than I'm comfortable with, so for myself I bought only 4 oz of an an angora rabbit blend (blended with Gotland wool, alpaca, and silk), and a gradient-dyed braid of Polwarth and silk from Huckleberry Knits. I'm going to try to spin the whole thing as one long gradient, chain-plied, for a shawlette, something I haven't done before so it will be an interesting new challenge. The six-ounce bag of Romney roving is for a prize for one of my Tour de Fleece teams -- got a good bargain on it!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Knittin' on the Rails 2013
Hello, back again after being far too busy for my own good. Much to post about FOs and such, but for now, a day away from the busy busy-ness to go on a yarn crawl to Portland on Memorial Day Weekend. Here are some highlights from the trip:
The Amtrak pulls into the station at Salem, where Helen and I awaited, bringing the delegation from Eugene.
This is the way to travel! Comfortably seated, a convenient table to use, lots of leg room, and plenty of knitting to keep us occupied. Airlines, take note.
Once in Portland, we bought day passes for the TriMet system and took a bus over to the east side of town, where we hit Twisted. Alas, I didn't think to get the camera out until after we were done, and missed documenting the Wonderful Wall 'o Sock Yarn. I'll leave it a mystery, then, and entice others to the delights of Twisted.
Just steps away was the Rose and Thistle pub, where we lunched on pub fare. I had to taste the Scotch Eggs, along with a good salad.
Back on the bus and back to the west side, where three beautiful yarn shops lie within walking distance of one another. First, Pearl Fiber Arts:
Just a few of the delights inside. Notice the beautiful Rockefeller shawl around the owner's shoulders, done up in rainbow-toned Poems sock yarn.
We took the streetcar up a few blocks to visit KnitPurl, and again, overcome by wool fumes, I forgot to photograph the interior. There were lovely things inside, trust me!
After a refreshing repast at The Tea Zone, and with the train's departure time approaching, we made a dash for Dublin Bay, where Helen found a few Jamieson yarns that she needed.
I was fairly conservative in my buying, considering all the wonders that I saw. I came away with a skein of Poems Sock for a future shawl, a skein of Black Trillium sock yarn for a sock pattern I have in mind, two books of adorable knitted toys, the Sock Report, and a pattern for a darling little short-sleeve cardigan.
The Amtrak pulls into the station at Salem, where Helen and I awaited, bringing the delegation from Eugene.
This is the way to travel! Comfortably seated, a convenient table to use, lots of leg room, and plenty of knitting to keep us occupied. Airlines, take note.
Once in Portland, we bought day passes for the TriMet system and took a bus over to the east side of town, where we hit Twisted. Alas, I didn't think to get the camera out until after we were done, and missed documenting the Wonderful Wall 'o Sock Yarn. I'll leave it a mystery, then, and entice others to the delights of Twisted.
Just steps away was the Rose and Thistle pub, where we lunched on pub fare. I had to taste the Scotch Eggs, along with a good salad.
Back on the bus and back to the west side, where three beautiful yarn shops lie within walking distance of one another. First, Pearl Fiber Arts:
Just a few of the delights inside. Notice the beautiful Rockefeller shawl around the owner's shoulders, done up in rainbow-toned Poems sock yarn.
We took the streetcar up a few blocks to visit KnitPurl, and again, overcome by wool fumes, I forgot to photograph the interior. There were lovely things inside, trust me!
After a refreshing repast at The Tea Zone, and with the train's departure time approaching, we made a dash for Dublin Bay, where Helen found a few Jamieson yarns that she needed.
I was fairly conservative in my buying, considering all the wonders that I saw. I came away with a skein of Poems Sock for a future shawl, a skein of Black Trillium sock yarn for a sock pattern I have in mind, two books of adorable knitted toys, the Sock Report, and a pattern for a darling little short-sleeve cardigan.
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