Shop Update: TOUR DE FLEECE SALE!!

OMG you guys the Tour is almost here! I have my projects and teams all planned (more on that another day), and the only thing left to do is throw a party in my Etsy shop!

Save 13% on everything, all through June, with the coupon code TDF13

Today's update is fibertastic to kick the sale off!

The Latest Handspun, and Hey, What about the Tour de Fleece??

The main reason I have been such a delinquent blogger over the past month is the Tour de Fleece. Now normally, in a spin-along, one would make effort to share one's progress. Well one would if one hadn't chosen an enormous goal and therefore one desperately needed every moment of one's spare time just to complete it. Not that I would know anything about that. Nope.

But I spun for a freaking sweater people!!! I decided that my gorgeous Romney fleece that I purchased last October really needed to be a beautiful natural grey sweater. So I flicked locks and carded and flicked locks and carded and then some more of that and then carded some more, and prepped gorgeous floofy Romney batts, then spun a semi-worsted style worsted weight three-ply. Two POUNDS of it. It never ended, and then all of a sudden it did. Thank the spinning gods for storage bobbins and cool weather. I got over 1800 yards, which is more than enough to make a Girl Friday cardigan, or something similar. I want something oversized and cozy that I can layer on top of other things.

It was totally worth it and I'll definitely be spinning from fleece for sweaters again. The natural colour really bored me though. I'll dye the wool next time (I already have a white fleece washed and waiting!).

 

And because everyone likes pictures of my handspun (Right...? Guys...? You still here?), here are a few of June's notable skeins:

Polwarth in Ablaone by Unwind Yarn Company. I've got a beautiful FO to show you in this yarn. (7.6oz, 3-ply, dk-worsted, 585yd)

Desert Dawn, from a Loop Bullseye Bump (6.2oz, n-ply, fingering weight, 694yd)

Suffolk/Southdown from Hummingbee Farms in Purple Bomb. I did a terrible job spinning this (troubleshooting a wheel) but it is the loftiest, softiest, spongiest thing ever and the colourway is killer. I'll likely be buyng more of this roving to give it another shot.

I'll be back soon with more pretty things to show you!

Tour De Fleece Recap

Tour de Fleece, in pictures:

Merino/Nylon, Everything Old, "Time Warp"

490 yds, light fingering.

New Zealand Wools and Sparkle, Aurelia Wool and Weaving

140 yds, Worsted

Merino/Silk, Everything Old, Self Rescuing Princess

904 yds, laceweight.

Superwash BFL, Everything Old, Kool Beans

273 yds, DK

Wensleydale, Corgi Hill Farm, Water's Edge

850 yds, laceweight

Start them young...

Spinning on the last day of the tour.

Restocking the shop on the last day of TdF.

Everything Old Shop Update: TdF Sale Extended!

I realized the other day that the lovely fibre update I had planned for the end of the Tour de Fleece sale wouln't actually fall within the sale dates! So I made a new, one day only, 15% off fibre sale - the code is VICTORY. July 25th is the last day, but of course I'll keep stocking all sorts of lovely fibre. I think I'll be dyeing yarn for the next few updates!

Here are the pretties that went up today:

Tour de Fleece Day 16 - New Yarn!

I finally finished my merino/silk blend! I got frustrated with how long this took to spin, but I'm extremely pleased with the final result, and the official verdict is that all that work was totally worth it.

So, I finally switched to Picasa for my photos. Why didn't I do this earlier? Collages just make themselves!

I got 904 yards (holy crap, amirite?) of 2 ply laceweight, in one 98 gram skein. It's fractal spun so it will have a gradual striping effect. I actually lost maybe 75 - 150 yards of singles because my bobbins were uneven and plying it back on itself only got so far before a big tangle happened.

The colourway is called Self Rescuing Princess, and the base is Knit Picks Gloss Roving.

Tour de Fleece Yarn: The Second

I finished this yarn at least a week ago, but didn't get a chance to photograph it properly because my lightbox was in the storage room/death-trap-of-messishness and apparently I can't be bothered to walk the 4 feet from the front door to go in there.

What do you think?

It's spun from the Aurelia Wool and Weaving Topknot that I talked about when I was preparing for the tour by stashing crazy amounts of fibre.

It's about a heavy worsted weight (do I ever need a wraps-per-inch tool eh?) and is approximately 140 yards and 92 grams.

One of the 3 plies has a bit of sparkle, which is awesome, but other than that it's New Zealand wool - Merino, Corriedale, and halfbred, according to the website. The orange and red wools were definitely different - one was crimpy and grabby and felt a lot like Corrie, the other was slick and almost alpaca-like. The whole thing was a treat to spin.

Can you believe it's day 11 of the tour already? I'm still slogging through a braid of silk/merino that I dyed for myself. Super fine singles make my head want to explode. Here's a recent progress pic:

I've actually spun more since then onto a second bobbin, but it's not much to look at compared to that first bobbin. I think I'll put in some dedicated spinning time tonight and see just how far I can get.

Tour De Fleece: Day 1

Well, the Tour de Fleece has begun and I think I got a great start! I was hoping to get this off the bobbin before the start of the tour (I'm one of those obsessive types that likes a completely blank slate), but super teeny singles take longer than I expected. That said, I powered through and finished up the singles!

It may not look like much, but it's a big achievement for me. It's fine fine fine, and I'm hoping to chain ply tomorrow and get a self striping sock yarn. My only fear is that it will either be too thin, or, like my last attempt at sock yarn, there just won't be the yardage I need. I'm trying to stay positive, however, and enjoy my accomplishment!

I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew this month, as I have a shawl to knit and a dress to make to wear to a wedding as well as all the spinning I have planned, but I think it will be ok.

So, are you a spinner? Are you participating in the tour? I'd love to hear about it! And don't forget, if you need fibre I'm offering 15% off in the Everything Old shop with the coupon code TOURDEFLEECE2011 so go have a look!