'Twas the Night Before TDF 2011

What is TDF 2011?  If you aren't really into spinning or ravelry, then this will be your very first question.  Tour de Fleece is the annual spin-along during the Tour de France.  It starts on July 2nd and runs through July 24th, just like the Tour de France.  There are various teams and some people are committed to spinning on more than one team.  I usually just join Tempe Yarn & Fiber's team - Fred's Fiber Fiends.  A group name, by the way, which is totally fitting. 

I started spinning in 2009 and got my first wheel right when the tour started, so for me it's a very personal thing.  I can't say I've ever really set goals for myself.  Mostly, I just do a LOT of spinning during this time.  I decided to set goals because my mindset about goals has changed.  If we don't have goals, then we don't push ourselves and experience the utter joy that comes when a goal is reached.  My goals are pretty lofty and I am still subscribing to the fact that it IS about the journey. 

Here are my 3 Goals for TDF 2011:
1) I want to finish spindle spinning 56 grams (almost 2 ounces) of tussah silk.  I am spinning this incredibly thin, so this is probably one of the hardest goals.  I plan to wheel ply it. 
2) I bought some stunning black alpaca, mentioned in this blog post, from Peaceful Prairie Ranch.  I have about 12 1/8 oz. of this gorgeous stuff and I would like to spin it at a 2-ply fingering weight.  Here's some info about yarn weight for those of you that are scratching your head.
3) I have some BFL+ batts, mentioned in this blog post, which I'm hoping to spin into a thick/thin single (no plying) with some beads and glittery thread.  I haven't made an art yarn in a while, so this ought to be fun!!!

I hope to post a few blogs about my progress, but with all of the spinning, that is a very optimistic statement.  Ready?  Set?  Spin!!!

Fiberin' Around in Flagstaff

This blog is a bit overdue.  A handful of us headed to Flagstaff a couple of weekends ago to enjoy the cooler weather and check out the fiber festival at the Pioneer Museum.  We made this trip last year; here is the blog from 2010.

While it was nice to be able to see a couple of demos, hang with some alpacas and check out the limited number of vendors - the trip was really about enjoying the company of friends.  Friends that don't think you aren't paying attention whilst knitting/spinning and communicating with them. 

When we arrived, we had dinner at Brix.  The meal was great and the wine was delicious.  I was appreciating the night sky.


Sam, enjoying her tea...


Debi and Jodie enjoying their wine...


Theresa and Janet enjoying their wine... notice Theresa's sweater, she is such a rockstar!


The cabin was just gorgeous.  We stayed at Arizona Mountain Inn; the cabins were great, affordable and close to town.


Friends enjoying the cooler weather.


I was really interested in the fact that there was a metal playground.  It reminded me of my youth. 






We headed over to the fiber festival on Saturday.  We checked out the alpacas, chatted with the vendors, hung out to spin/knit and oh yeah... we shopped.  I walked away with a handful of the most silky alpaca I have ever had the luxury of knowing.  It came from Peaceful Prairie Ranch and I can't wait to spin it up!!!
A handful of vendors at the event.


Hanging out.


My wheel (Ms. Suzie aka Suzanne) in the woods.


As some of you know, I have overcome a weight issue that I've been battling for decades.  Here's a blog for reference.  Because of my size, I am anxious to do things that daunted me in the past.  Horseback riding is one of those things.  Sammy and I went on a wonderful ride while we were up in Flagstaff. 

I love this picture of the woods that I took from my horse.  My horse's name is Maverick.  Maverick is a red-head.  I had never seen a horse with such pretty red hair.  


Maverick's pretty red hair; the picture doesn't do his hair justice.


Here's another of the woods that I am fond of.


Sam had the guide manage to get a photo of me after our ride with her phone.


On Sunday, we tooled around downtown Flagstaff.  The buildings were of particular interest to me and the sky provided such a rich blue backdrop that I couldn't resist snapping a few photos.




I was really digging this mural.


Getting up close and personal with my new buddy.


And, of course, we stopped off at Macy's before heading home.  No Flagstaff trip is complete without a whiff of their roasts.  I'm looking forward to doing it all again next year. 

The Herd Somehow Grows...

I think spindles reproduce in the middle of the night and multiply at an astonishingly fast rate.  Either that or I am lucky enough to have a "hook up" with the spindle elves.

I spent some time organizing them on Flickr this morning.  Spindle details are listed in my picture descriptions on Flickr.  Now, I just need to get them up on Rav...

Here's a quick preview-

Threads and Rainbows

I just finished sewing my first baby blanket.  This marks the third project that I've completed.  I've sewn a tunic and a pair of pajama pants.  The blanket was the first project that I've done without a pattern - who needs a pattern for a rectangle, right?  It's been a real learning experience.  A friend in my sewing class suggested that I back it with a solid fabric and I do some top-stitching.  I'm pleased with how it turned out and I hope my niece Zoey enjoys it.  I can't wait to give it to her on Thanksgiving!

Ben really loved the blanket, too bad it's not for him!

We had a bit of a carding party at Debi's.  She and I had bought an alpaca fleece earlier in the year and attempted to wash it.  I now know that I would much rather send my fleece out for processing.  Debi had some lovely gray alpaca that we enjoyed tremendously.

This past Sunday, Debi and I took a trip to Jerome to meet some other knitters/spinners from Phoenix and Prescott.  On our way, we saw a stunning double rainbow.  Unfortunately, I was only able to get a couple of photos of the single rainbow.  So vivid!

We had such a good time with the Prescott Knitters and Erica, the owner of 

Knit 1, Bead 2.  She was so welcoming and has lovely fibery things!

Life Gets in the Way

By the way, it's appropriate that I started this blog on September 12th and never finished it.  Not much has changed in the last month and a half.

I have really been feeling like life is getting in the way. This is true for so many of us. I wish there were more hours to take care of my house (it's still in boxes), create, go to work, hang out with friends, go to the gym, etc. I thought that I hadn't gotten a lot of fiber things done in the last month or so and then took some pictures this morning. I guess I'm getting a lot more done than I thought. I didn't even take pictures of some of the things I've completed in the last couple months, including a Traveling Woman shawl out of my handspun. It was a great knit, once I got some help from a friend.

So here's just a few photos of what I've been up to:

This is some yarn that I spun up at an Expressions in Spinning group meet up at Tempe Yarn and Fiber. The inspiration was Scarlett O'Hara.  I spun some ivory colored merino to represent her race and hand blended the fiber with sari silk threads to represent the remnants of our country torn apart by the Civil War.  I knit a scarf that was a quick and easy knit and used a stitch from a stitch pattern book.

This is some yarn that I spun on various spindles.  It's 100% tussah silk from Dicentra Designs.  I kind of have a thing for the way she uses color.  It's a 2-ply, probably lace weight.  I spun a little of 2 oz. and gave it to a friend.  I hope she finds something to do with it.

This is some camel/silk and silk that I'm spinning up on an Autumn Hollow spindle.  I just finished plying it the other day, so I'll have to get some pictures up of that later.

This fiber has been on my to-do list for a while.  I haven't even spun the second part of it.  It's just not me.  Nice fiber; I got it as a gift for participating in Black Sheep Gathering's bingo game.  It's from Sunset Fibers.  It's always nice to try out different vendors.  

These were my first batts carded on my drum carder.  It's some delicious Pagewood Farms fiber and some milk fiber with a little razzle dazzle.  Can't wait to spin a little up.  I think it will go great with these coils that I had spun up previously.  It's some of the left-over fiber from that endeavor.  All of this goodness came from TYF.

This is some pygora that was given to me by a lovely fiber friend.  I've since plied it and it's got a lovely halo.  It came from Rainbow Yarns Northwest at a Black Sheep Gathering.  Pygora has one hell of a long staple.  It was pretty interesting stuff.

I'm doing a little knitting, making some socks and a shawl.  I am knitting some other things too, but they aren't as impressive.  The Minnesota Vikings hat that I made for my Dad is a memory I would rather forget.  

I'm jumping on the fleece bandwagon... we'll see if I manage to not fall off.  I have 2 alpaca fleeces that I need to process with a friend (we're sharing) and I've reserved a CVM fleece for next spring from White Barn Farm.  Here's a link to some past pictures of Tattoo's fleece.  Most exciting was this blog post about what one spinner/knitter created with his lovely fleece.  Just stunning and I hear it's quite soft.  

I spun my way into my 34th birthday with some awesome fiber friends last week!  

Spinning on my 34th!

Lots more going on... hope to get a couple more blogs in before 2010 is done and over.  It's hard to believe that there are only 2 months left of this year!!!

Published! Sort of...

I recently wrote an article that got published in my local spinning/weaving guild's newsletter. I am hyper-critical and caught a few things that I would have re-worked, but I'm still pretty excited. I also think it's cool that Black Sheep Gathering got a little extra exposure here in the Southwest.

Here's a link to the PDF. Check out pages 4 & 5.

Tour De Fleece 2010

Tour De Fleece is an event for spinners that takes place in conjunction with the Tour De France. I bought my spinning wheel just before it started last year and spun up a storm. Here's just a bit of what I'm spinning up this year.

Starting in top left corner (and working clockwise):
1) Dicentra Designs hand-dyed tussah silk spun on my Spindlewood drop spindle
2) Finishing up my Tempe Yarn & Fiber - Expressions in Spinning called "Tucson Wildflowers", which was spun thick and thin
3) 50/50 camel/silk spun on my Avi Wasserman drop spindle
4) 4 ounces of fiber purchased at Black Sheep Gathering - I need to look up the details


Over the past weekend, the TYF retreat occurred. This is a fun time to hang with fiber friends all weekend. I made some yarn that I called "Dangling Carrot". I carded up some batts, made strips of fabric and secured the yarn with sewing thread. Thanks to my fiber friends for helping to make this project possible. This yarn was intended for Sam, but I had said that she only gets it if she knits up all the other handspun she has. I think she will probably be getting it sooner than that.


I'm also spinning up some of this BFL/Silk hand-dyed by Dicentra Designs. I'm doing a 2-ply of 8+ ounces. I haven't taken recent photos, but here is a photo of the before.