Tour de Fleece: Day 3 - 6oz of victory!

Just a quick post tonight as it is very late. I've finally caught up on my daily spinning goals!!! I was able to spin another 2.5 oz this evening and now this very full bobbin has 6oz on it. Not too shabby. Now I have a fighting chance of getting it all spun into singles AND plying. It's been a good night! Hope yours was an productive as mine :-)

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Tour de Fleece: Day 2

Day 2 Progress - 2.5oz

Today was another pretty full day for me.  I went to go see Pixar's Brave with a couple of good friends after going to church in the morning.  Brave was absolutely awesome!  Pixar does such great work.  There were multiple times in the movie when in some of the wide shots, the animation was so good, the people and scenery looked real!  The storyline, voice acting and music were all top notch as well.  So, if you are itching to go to the movies make sure you check Brave out.  It is a good movie for all ages. 

The title does say Tour de Fleece, so I guess I should talk about spinning huh?  :-)  Unlike yesterday, I got to sit down at my wheel reasonably early in the day and was able to spin for about 3-4 hours altogether, which was really nice.  I got a nice rhythm going and was able to watch Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts as I happily treadled away throughout the evening. That was enjoyable movie number two for the day.  I was on a roll!

While I didn't completely catch up on my spinning goals for both yesterday and today, I did make a ton of progress, spinning about 2.5 ounces in total.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to finish up the little bit I have leftover from today's bump of fiber and then attack another one :-)

Below are the trailers for the two movies I saw today.  Mirror Mirror is now out on DVD and Brave just started in the theaters last week.

Tour de Fleece: Day 1

I spent most of today with my husband taking care of my friends' 3 month old son, which I might add, was an awesome way to spend a Saturday together :-)  After that we went to my favorite Italian restaurant, Polcari's, for dinner.  We then wended our way back home where I had to sit down to prep some music I'm singing tomorrow.  Finally around 8pm is was time for me to get spinning!

My spinning setup & Dr. Who on Netflix

Day 1 Progress - 1oz

Because I had such a full day, I wasn't able to spin up a whole 2oz bump of fleece as I had hoped.  Nevertheless, I am a happy camper for actually sitting down to get Elphaba, my wheel, up and running and also reclaim my spinner's mojo.   It always takes me a bit of time to get back into the steady rhythm of treadling and drafting, but it's kind of like riding a bike (ha ha ha, Tour de France, do you see what I did there? Yes, I can hear you groaning at my horrible joke) so you don't forget how so much as need to reacquaint yourself with the mechanics of things.

I was hoping to be able to spin my singles pretty thin so I could ply two or three together to get a DK or worsted yarn for the final product.  So far it looks like that might actually happen - HUZZAH!

Anyway, just a quick update for you.  I'm hoping to get way more accomplished tomorrow.  Although, I've got a pretty full day planned again.... /facepalm.  Anyway, g'night!

Ready? Set? Wait!

My Romney fleece before processing

It's that time of year again.  The time for some friendly competition.  Our weapon of choice? Spinning wheels.  That's right, it's Tour de Fleece time!  I think this is the third year I have taken part in this fun spinning competition organized by volunteers on Ravelry.  It's a great way to challenge yourself and find some motivation at the same time. Fortunately, three of my fellow knitsibs will be taking part in the games, so knit night should turn into a veritable wheel-a-palooza for the next three weeks. 

My team for the Tour is Team Sasquatch, which consists of knitting and spinning podcasters and their listeners.  It's nice to be on a big team of people with a common interest (well, other than knitting).  Competitors cheer each other on, offer advice and encourage those with spinning injuries or equipment failure.  Having your drive band snap just when you are just getting your spinning groove on is just not cool.  You need moral support for that kind of tragedy!

My goal for this year's Tour is to spin up a beautiful Romney fleece that a friend and I bought at Rhinebeck a year and a half ago.  We sent the fleece out to be processed and split what came back, each getting about 2.5 lbs of gorgeous wool, which is the most fiber I've ever purchased at one time. I want to spin all of it up on the 23 days of the tour and if I have time I'm going to try to ply it as well. 


Weighing one of my Tribbles!

While the Tour doesn't start until Saturday, there are things I can do to get ready.  Yesterday, I started prepping my roving and gathering all the various bits of equipment I'll need to spin and ply my yarn.  I split up the roving into 2oz bumps so that I could pace myself throughout the Tour.  I ended up with 20 of them, so that means I could spin just a bump a day during the tour and meet my goal.  My little bumps of roving look suspiciously like tribbles according to my husband... What do you think?  So, what I need to do in the next two days is check over my wheel and do any regular maintenance that I probably haven't done recently, like oiling all the moving part and tightening up the joints that inevitably work loose as you spin over long periods of time.  I already gathered up all the free bobbins I had available to me, so I think I'm doing pretty well. 

Now I just have to be a patient little spinning and wait until Saturday evening to get my spin on!

Hexipuffing Along!

Back in November I started work on a project that I know is going to take me quite some time to complete.  I know I know, I am the queen of long term abandoned projects, but I don't think that will happen with this one.  The pattern is the much loved Beekeeper's Quilt by Tiny Owl Knits which is made up of hundreds of small hexagonal puffs (dubbed hexipuffs) that are stuffed with fiberfill so they are all smooshy and skooshy.  The beauty is that the yarn for the project is just leftover sock yarn scraps.  Lets see if I can manage to use said scraps rather than letting the quilt be an excuse to just acquire more sock yarn, lol.

I really like the Beekeeper's Quilt because its a large project, but at the same time, you just work on it one puff at a time.  In the words of two of my favorite podcasters, the Knitmore Girls, it's "potato chip knitting,": You can't just knit one.

Let me tell you, over the past few days I've found out just how addictive knitting these puffs up can be!  I've made about 12 of them so far and did a good 8 of them in the past two days. I'm guessing I probably make one in about an hour, which isn't horrible, but not exactly quick either.  That's ok, since the pattern is so easy to memorize and it is quite possibly the tiniest project to carry around ever; perfect to stuff in a purse and go!

Anyway, I'm off to knit some more hexipuffs and enjoy all this lovely weather we are having.  Ta!

Attitude is everything

So, it's been awhile... about three months if anyone is counting.  Probably not, but a girl can dream right? :-)  Basically I've spent all this time not blogging... just living.  Since I last wrote a post I have had to make some big changes in my life, specifically with my diet and exercise.  At first I really wasn't happy with these changes.  I didn't think things were fair; Why should I have to work so hard to be healthy when it seems like most everyone else has it easy?  Bad attitude?  Um, that would be a resounding YES!

My husband and I also lost our kitty just a few weeks ago.  Molly was the first pet we had together and she truly was part of our family.  Losing her was so horrible... and I think it is really only within the past week or so that I have been able to be at home and not feel like something very important was missing.  It's amazing just how integral to your life a 17 year old cat that yells at you for food can be.  It's been a pretty rough few months around here...  and I have had a whole lot to think about.

With so much on my mind, there wasn't a lot of time for knitting or spinning or anything really.  I don't think I touched a project for at least a month if not two.  I just couldn't settle down enough to enjoy the process.  I did do a fair bit of reading during my blog hiatus.  Maybe that was because it would occupy my mind so I didn't have to think about the serious stuff that was going on.  I read The Hunger Games, The Help and a whole bunch of other less serious books on my Kindle.   It was really nice to get back to reading for awhile.  In middle and high school, my nose was constantly in a book and quite honestly I really miss having all that free time to read.  Nowadays I seem to read voraciously for a few weeks and then switch to some other form of entertainment for much longer periods of time.  I think that's because when I'm knitting, spinning or weaving I can talk with people or watch tv and still keep my hands busy.

I find more and more that I can't just sit and watch tv, I need to have a project to work on.  At parties I almost always bring a simple project to work on so that I can chat with people and not be completely immobile.  It's funny that I used to get so annoyed at my mom for not being able to sit still and watch a tv show without getting up 5 million times to fold laundry or organize something while she was watching.  Apparently it just took until my 30's for that particular genetic foible to kick in...

With that I have been able to get into crafting of all kinds again in the past month.  I finished up a sock yarn shawl which I still need to block and take final pictures of and have started another small project for a friend of mine.  I also took an advanced weaving class and learned about using a pick up stick to make warp and weft floats in my weaving.  It's a neat technique especially because no matter what, the two sides of your woven project are always different.  I'm hoping to weave and spin much more this summer when the heat makes me not want to drape anything knitted on my lap.  I also have a afghan I am slowly crocheting.  That would be a very good summer project as well since the blocks are only 12" by 12". 

To go back to where this post started: In reflecting on everything that's happened in my life recently... I think I've grown a little wiser.  Admittedly, it's hard to change your mindset from feeling like a victim to realizing you are really blessed.  It's even more difficult to understand that the struggles you have been handed in life can mold and change you into a different and better person.  But, I have had wonderful people surrounding me and praying for me through all of this and my attitude has truly made a 180.

So, if you need the cliff notes version, this blog post is a very, very long way for me to tell you: 

Life is good and I am back on track!

Hey Look! I finished something... or maybe a few things

Finally I have something (or a couple things) to post about, yeay!  Blogging has gotten placed firmly on the back burner lately, but since I have some new and cool stuff that have just come off the needles, I thought I would share  :-)

The favorite of the bunch is my Estelle cardigan.  Isn't she pretty? (And man do I need to do some sit ups! But that's beside the point...)  I started knitting this beauty back in October of 2011 and worked on it steadily for about a month before moving on to more pressing projects.  I had managed to get through the lace yoke, separate for the sleeves and start the miles of stockinette needed for the body of the cardigan before I put it down, I had about 1/3 of the whole thing done.  

Then Christmas and New Year's came and went and my cardigan stayed all wrapped up in her little project bag patiently waiting for me to remember she was there.  Finally this past week I came into a bit more free time than I would normally have and decided it was time to finish my cardigan.  I mean seriously, I had to finish it before what little winter we have had in New England goes away: It would be heartbreaking to have a finished cardigan just in time for the weather to be too hot to wear it!

I got to wear Estelle today for the first time and people really seemed to like how she came out.  I'm just happy she fits and looks good on me.  It's the small things that count you know :)

The other project that I'm really proud about finishing is my first completed pair of hand knit socks.  I seem to really have an issue with knitting my own socks.... the problem is specifically called second sock syndrome, which means I have no problem knitting the first sock, but that second one really has a slim chance of ever making an entry into the real world.  I basically just get bored doing the same thing over again.  So....  to trick myself into finishing both socks, I learned how to do two socks at once! It also didn't hurt that most of these socks were knitted while I was on a trip when I had lots of time to myself waiting for planes or hanging out in my hotel room.

I looove my tube socks and since completing them I have cast on another pair of socks that I have been drooling over for quite some time.  Hopefully now that I know I can actually knit a pair, I'll use that momentum to keep going and get better at working with such tiny yarn and needles.  

Well, now that I have finished two pretty sizable projects, I am taking a much deserved knitting break!  Now off to enjoy a book or maybe a bit of playtime on Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Ta and happy crafting!