I haven’t forgotten entirely about this blog; since paying for the domain it’s been weighing on me because I haven’t been using it. It reminds me of the time my parents paid out of pocket for a season’s ski pass at our local ski area (out of pocket because in previous years my Dad worked there on weekends and I got his free season pass) and I used it three times that winter. The winter before I broke my leg skiing, so I guess that helps explain it. Well, I didn’t break my fingers (or my brain, though a few times I’ve wondered), and I just finished Tour de Fleece, so let me tell you about that.
I joined two teams on Ravelry this year but I spent my time on Instagram looking at one team’s pics and the general TdF hashtags. My favorite part of participating is getting to see what everyone else is doing and I’ve become so acclimated to Instagram that Ravelry seems tedious to scroll through now. Maybe next year I’ll be better, or maybe next year I’ll be a rebel and just participate on Instagram? Or start my own team that communicates mainly on IG? That’s certainly something to think about.
My goal this year was to spin 15 minutes a day for each day of the tour, knowing that I would take non-standard rest days due to a weekend trip to Norfolk, VA. I actually ended up taking three rest days instead of two (there are two, right?); the Saturday and Sunday of the Norfolk trip I didn’t spin, and this Saturday I didn’t spin. But I honestly am not too upset about this. Last year I stopped not too far into the Tour to knit a commissioned shawl for an old friend, so I’m happy I was able to stick with it this year.
I haven’t tallied up my yardage or checked WPI on these, but here’s my yarn family photo from Tour de Fleece 2018.
From red to purple:
- Three Waters Farm Fall Folderol (40% merino, 40% superwash merino, 20% Silk – Tussah). I’ve been puzzling over why one would want both merino and superwash merino in the same top, but that’s a question to investigate another day.
- Pigeon Roof Studios (who’s no longer dyeing) Land and Sky OOAK (100% extra fine merino). I spun this thicker than my usual, so it’s a heavy worsted or aran and super bouffy.
- Spunky Eclectic Joshua Tree (65% Wool – Polwarth, 25% Goat – Mohair, 10% Silk). This goes perfectly with my next spin, which I acquired 6 months after this one.
- The Fiberists Specimen 209 (85% BFL, 15% Silk – Tussah). I know Reggie and Spencer personally and was thrilled to find two braids of this in my Shrödinger’s bag (their version of a grab bag). You should check them out; they just got a line of enamal pins that are really, really cute and I want them all but I really need Dr. Mori.
- The purples are both 4 oz braids of Targhee that I’ve had in my stash since 2010. It was time to take the plunge and dye them and spin them.
So that’s 28 ounces of wool that I spun for TdF! Huzzah!
More on those bumps I dyed myself … My Mom’s birthday is August 1 and she like purple, so I thought I’d dye and spin these braids for her – she knits and crochets. The first skein I spun almost like a fractal; I divided the roving into 3 lengths. I spun the first one end to end, the second one end to end but the opposite ends of the first (if that makes sense), and the third I divided into as many strips as possible. The resulting yarn varies pleasingly in color, but I spun it short forward draw (my go-to) and I don’t think the yarn really takes advantage of the bounce and crimp in the fiber.
So I divided the second bump into three equal portions based on color: red, white, blue. (How patriotic!) I carded each color, made rolags, and spun this one (mostly) long backward draw. The resulting yarn is squishy and bouncy, but the color is on par with butcher’s twine for me – it just looks really boring. So as I type this, it’s cooling off in a dye pot because I overdyed it with violet.
Phew. Now I need to count yardarge and update my stash on Ravelry with everything. That may be a good task for tomorrow since (hey!) I actually wrote a blog post! I hope that if you did the Tour, you had fun!
After taking the pocket off the jeans, I wrote the words on the pocket with a marker that washes out in the laundry. Then I searched high a low for my embroidery needles and could find them, so I had to go to JoAnn. I ended up picking up some DMC Cotton Perl embroidery thread along with the needles – it’s not quite as shiny as the usual embroidery thread, but it’s colorfast. It’s also not divisible into individual strands/plies. I probably should’ve chosen a different color, although I do like how subtle the final pocket is. At least the message is positive if no one can make out WOMEN – I’ll happily wear these.
One of my favorite pairs of jeans developed a hole where the top of right back pocket attaches. I kept wearing them. The hole got a little bigger and I just wore longer shirts. Finally, I heard them rip one day as I was getting out of the car to go grocery shopping. Thankfully, it was cold and I was wearing my winter coat, which ends about mid-thigh on me, so no one could see the rip.
This has inspired me to do the same to my holy jeans. I took the pocket off my jeans this morning and will patch the holes – yes, there’s another one on the other corner of the pocket, and another small hole starting at one of the corners on the other back pocket – when it rains, it pours, I guess. At least I realized it now, during the mending process and not right after mending them.
