Still Spinning Daily

The daily spinning for the Tour de Fleece continues. This 50/50 merino/tencel blend, hand dyed by Jude of Ewesful Creations, is on my EEW6 right now. I'm almost finished spinning the last of three 4 oz braids of it and then will likely get to the plying this afternoon. 

When that is complete I'll dive into this huge pile of fluffy batts. Both the white and the green were carded on my Patrick Green "Deb's Delicate Deluxe" drum carder from Superwash mill ends I purchased many years ago. I'll likely start with the green since there is less of it to get through and then I can recycle the cardboard box I have it stored in.

Somehow I totally skipped posting these two completed spinning projects. Both are BFL hand dyed by Jude. 8 oz of the green, 4 oz of the yellow. I love the vibrant colours!

What's On the Wheel

Michelle asked if I would consider doing a weekly blog post on my spinning, in much the same fashion that I do the Masters Monday posts. I pondered the idea for a while before deciding that for me, the weekly posts about spinning won't work.

The main reason is that I am a one-thing-at-a-time spinner and, wanting enough to actually DO something with when I'm finished, I spin large amounts of most of the preparations that I begin.

Like this for instance. This is part of about 2 POUNDS of blended batts that I am drum carding and spinning. It's a combination of black superwash merino, bright lime green merino, and a blue/green firestar. I have no idea what I'll make with it when I'm done, but it will be a long while before I card, spin, and ply it all ---- months likely, as I don't spin every day.

That type of long term focus would make for very boring weekly spinning reports.

Fibrefest Haul

Look what followed me home from Fibrefest International. I went with a plan. I was going to buy a longer niddy noddy, another bobbin or two for the Little Gem II, sock blockers, and as much luxury fibre as I could manage.

There were no sock blockers, no Majacraft bobbins, and the niddy noddy I saw did not suit my needs. Somehow I still managed to spend all the money I went with.



Want a closeup look?



50 grams of white bamboo top. 25 grams of cream yak top.



25 grams of white silk/cashmere (85%/15%). 20 grams of ramie.



250 grams of "Black Rainbow Glitter" a N.Z. Halfbred wool with a bit of sparkle added. I hope I'll be able to spin it thin enough to make a lace shawl for the holiday season.



A packet of silk hankies. This will be a totally different spinning experience for me.



A huge 225 grams of camel/silk. Ooooo, I'm looking forward to this one. I was gifted a small sample of camel silk a few years ago and that tiny bit was easy to spin into a 3 ply laceweight and it went far enough to make a pair of baby socks. This big bag should be enough to make something substantial.

And last, but not least I got these:



Two lovely alpaca batts. Once I get my existing project off the wheel the alpaca batts are likely to be the first thing spun up. They are the bulkiest to store and I am rapidly running out of space in my "playroom".

There was one other fun item, bought for me as a Mother's Day gift. I'll show a picture of that tomorrow.