tour de fleece

The Tour de France starts today, which means so does the Tour de Fleece, whereby one sets whatever spinning challenges for oneself that one desires and the joining of a team for support is optional. This is my first Tour de Fleece, so I'm excited that I have such a fabulous group to spin with - Northbound Knitting.

I'm starting with a sweater's worth of this:

It's Lisa's superwash BFL in 'Purple Rain', 20 oz. I'll do a 2-ply sportweight, so that will take me awhile.

Then I'm out of town for a few days so I'm going to attempt to spindle spin this:

Again, from Lisa, it's Cheviot and called 'Violent Mood Swings'. I have no goals beyond making something vaguely resembling yarn, since my spindling skills are so poor.

Then I'll find something else to do if I still have time. Which I doubt will be an issue.

I should probably watch some of the cycling, too.

caribbean sleet

Fibre: Rambouillet in 'Caribbean' from Northbound Knitting
Pattern: Sleet by Lisa Mutch


I spun this gorgeous rambouillet a few months ago for a spin along in the Northbound Knitting group. Then we decided to have a swap so I knit it into Lisa's fabulous cowl pattern for Ingrid in Sweden. The wool is so squooshy and the pattern made it more so. I hope it keeps her warm. There's still 4oz I haven't spun, so I could make a matching one for myself...


Things are super busy around here. But fun. :) 

stranded wips

It's been really hot lately and hard to get motivated to knit. This time of year I usually think about sewing things instead and I have something planned that I'll talk about later. I have, however, made 50% progress on the pair of socks I'm knitting. This fabulous pattern is Autumn Frost Socks by Susi Ferguson and yarn is St-Denis Boreale.

Concurrently and coincidentally  I'm knitting another of Susi's patterns - her Mountain Mist sweater, in Wollmeise. Susi is one of those uber talented people I am always excited to see new projects from.

Being June, it's hectic around here during the last weeks of school, final performances, final lessons, etc. The boy has a rather elaborate (compared to mine, at least) grade six graduation day to prepare for. And the girl's birthday is coming; my sweet animal lover chose to have her party at the humane society.

Hope you're having a great June, too.  

rainy day spinning

I somehow failed to take a picture of this gorgeous superwash merino fibre from Pigeonroof Studios before spinning it, but this is it spun. I have about 282 yds of sport/dk weight from 4oz. The colour is called 'Springtide', from the May fibre club. I love the large percentage of white in this. Light and cheerful.

Is anyone doing the Tour de Fleece this year? If you spin, it's a fun thing to join and set challenges for yourself while the Tour de France is on. Assuming you're like me and need to be doing something else while you watch tv. I'm on the Northbound Knitting team and I thought I was all set to spin another sweater's worth of fibre when I realized I may be away from my wheel for 2 of the weeks it's on. This means digging out the spindle I haven't used in years and struggling to make something resembling yarn with it. Yikes. I'm severely downgrading my fibre amount goals now.

Happy long weekend, American peeps. I wish I could stay home tomorrow, too.

spoiled for choice

When I started dyeing yarn and thinking about opening a shop I knew I wanted to offer a fairly simple and straightforward collection of yarns in all weights. Partly because, as a spinner, I also wanted to dye several sheep breeds and I didn't want a store cluttered with a bazillion different things. I like it simple. So I tested many yarns and thought a lot about what I would want if I could only choose a few. Ultimately, I dye what I most love to work with.

I have this fantastic fingering weight sock yarn in the shop that's a 75% superwash merino / 25% nylon blend and I enjoy dyeing it and knitting with it a lot. It has a lovely, smooth ply. But I have another sock yarn that has slightly less nylon (20%) in it but has a plumper twist to the plies. Both are great yarns, perfect for socks, shawls, etc.  But I needed to choose between the two because I don't like offering two bases that are so similar. After much thought  I decided to go with the second one. It will be put in the shop in a few weeks.

So I've put the skeins of the first yarn on sale and I won't be dyeing more. I figure no-one but me is emotionally attached to it yet, so I have some flexibility.  : )

miscellaneous monday

I just got this off my wheel, so I thought I'd show you. First I grabbed a bunch of "experiment dyeing" fibre I had lying around and sorted it into dark and light colour piles. Then spun each and plied them together to make a cheerful hodepodge. I have about 300 yds of worsted weight, so I might use it in a sweater for the girl along with a solid colour.

I'm still at the bottom of the sock rabbit hole with no desire to leave, so I cast on for a pair with this fabulous bfl yarn that Odessa dyed and sells at her store. I love these jewel colours.

I also put some superwash merino combed top in the shop yesterday. I have the day off today, so I plan to dye, knit and enjoy the gorgeous weather.

give me some wood and i'll build you a cabinet*

Pattern: 'Clandestine' by cookie a
Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label Fingering Wt. in 'Peacock'

This week, I finished knitting this pattern for the second time since it's an option in the socks class I'm teaching and the first pair I made live in Ontario and weren't available as demos. This time I used the Knitty pattern version, and it's written differently from the Knit.Sock.Love version I used previously. I much prefer the Knitty one. The charts are less complicated and I generally found it read more clearly.

Tanis's yarns are wonderful, and this colour is striking in real life. The overcast day won't let me capture it well. I love my new sock blockers, too. I feel so mature, owning sock blockers.

Also, ongoing dyeing. Some of my current favourites:

(superwash merino)

( a new heavy lace / light fingering yarn I'm trying that's fanTAStic. great yardage, too)

Hope you have a good week.

* It's a sad time for Beastie Boys fans. :(