TDF 2015 Day 1

The 1st day of the Tour de Fleece was a success. I spun for 3 hours and I only have 1/2 and oz of this lovely BFL left to spin. This is the roving I received from my spinning guild for their 30th anniversary in the Finger Lakes colorway. If your ever in the area check out the Genesee Valley Handspinners Guild it's a great group that likes to have fun, here's a link to the website. GVHG

In honor of Independence Day I did my spinning with Red,White & Blue toes.

Beret de Printemps

I originally spun this yarn to be a lace shawl!

There were just 2 problems. It turned out to be a heavier weight than I had planned and I was terrified of the pattern.

As you may already know, I have only used one other lace chart pattern and it was for a pair of gloves. So as I sat looking at the shawl pattern I knew if I made any mistakes their would be A LOT of tearing out to do. So I thought a hat would be a nice thing to make a little bigger than a glove and not as daunting as the shawl. 

The pattern is Beret de Printemps by Jeni Chase and can be found on Ravelry.

The fiber is 100% Merino in a Rose Quartz colourway and was purchased from Stone Edge Fibers. I spun it as a 2ply with a WPI of 18. It was very nice to spin with, soft and easy to draft.

I had a little problem with the pattern. I was about half finished with the hat when I realized I had been reading the pattern wrong:( I pulled it out and started over. Funny how the stitches look so much better when you do the pattern the right way.

It was worth the time to do it over again, and I learned more about reading lace charts!

 

TDF 2014

Here is what I accomplished for Tour De Fleece.
The top Grey is Jacob, the Dark Grey is Lincoln, purply pink is silk, the light yellow on the right is linen and the dark yellow is wool of unknown variety.
I wish I would have measured for yardage. I will do that next year.

I was spinning for Team Kromski and I won this wonderful pattern.

Sit n' knit mitts by Carson Allen
I can't wait to give them a try!

Tour de Fleece Day 8

Yeah! I'm finally finished spinning my 8 oz of Jacob. I found it much harder to spin a consistent yarn with the backward draw.  I will have to practice it much more in the future. For now I am going back to my aaw alpaca with a nice simple forward draw and give my brain a break :)

I had a pesky kidney stone this week so everything slowed down, I still made sure to spin every day but a couple of days I could only do it for 5 min :(

Tour de Fleece Day 3

Day 3 I was able to ply the three bobbins I made on days 1 and 2. 

I've been working on getting my school curriculum together for the kids next year so not much else is going to happen today:(

Tour de Fleece Day 2

It's day 2 of the tour de fleece!

I've spun 4oz of Jacob using a long backward draw and WOW is it hard to keep it consistent.

I will start plying these tomorrow. Then I will start on the next 4 oz. I sooo hope it gets easier:)

Tour de Fleece

I'm so excited tomorrow I get to start the Tour de Fleece!

My father was a cyclist and I remember having the Tour de France on TV every July.  I also remember grabbing my blanket and pillow to sleep in the back of the car while my mom was driving the support vehicle during various local races.  I may have complained at the time about getting up so early, but they are fond memories now! I try to remember that when my kids complain about an activity we're doing.

Well this is my year to wear the yellow jersey, doing exactly what I love.

My goal is to spin 8oz of Jacob with a long backward draw.

I have never spun Jacob before. When I pulled it out of the bag it had nice sheepy smell to it.

I normally spin with a short forward draw so this will move me out of my comfort zone a bit.

We'll see what happens!

 I will be spinning for team Kromski on my Sonata.

Who are you spinning for this year?