cosmicpluto knits!

tour de fleece – the final wrap-up

So! I accomplished my goal of spinning every day, and got quite a bit done.

These four skeins are the only ones I spun in their entirety during the Tour – I also plied some silver merino/silk and spun and plied the rest of some tussah silk.

So how about some glamour shots and stats?

Ashland Bay Merino Silk in Cranberry – 300 yards/100g of 2ply, worsted weight.

Spirit Trail silk/camel – 320 yds/4oz of 3ply (chain ply), DK weight.

Foxfire 95% cormo, 5% silk – 350 yds/4oz of 2ply, sport weight.

and one that I snuck in the last few days of the Tour – a skein of 100% cormo that I am absolutely in love with!

100% cormo, 300 yds/100g of 3ply (chain ply), sport weight.

I’m not sure what my grand total is, because of the aforementioned finishing stuff up that was already on the bobbin. But I do know that I’m feeling really re-inspired to get back to the wheel, and I’ve already started some awesome wool/angora. I’m gonna keep spinning down the stash until Rhinebeck!

tour de fleece! day 5

I’ve been spinning!

Okay, so these two skeins were spun up ages ago. Months ago. But I only just wound them off the bobbin, so here’s the photo! These from from a Blue Moon Sheep 2 Shoe kit that I got at *last* year’s Maryland Sheep and Wool. Crazy colours. Superwash merino, chain plied into a DK/sport ish yarn. There should be plenty of yardage, though I haven’t actually counted.

And what I’ve done since starting the Tour on the 3rd. The silver merino/silk singles were already done (8oz of Ashland Bay stuff) so I plied those up into a couple of big skeins. On the right is a big skein, about 100g and 300 yards, of cranberry Ashland Bay merino.

I don’t have a lot of goals for this Tour, but the main one is to spin every day. So far I’ve done it, although last night I only did 5 minutes at 11:55! I’m also teaching a wheel spinning class this month so I guess I’m in more of a spinning mood. I’m also trying to vary my technique a bit – as with a lot of spinners, I get stuck in a rut and produce a “default” yarn style and weight.

I’ve currently got some cormo/silk on the wheel, and it’s a bit challenging because it’s a woollen prep that’s a little bit neppy. So it doesn’t really want to spin up into my usual smooth type of yarn. I’m trying to go with it and spin it a bit thicker and with lots of air and more thick-and-thin than I usually do.

Of course the other reason I’m doing the Tour de Fleece is so I can spin down the stash a little before Rhinebeck! Just three months away and I already can’t wait.

I love yarn

Because it’s sooooo pretty!

Merino Fingering from local dyer Viola, in Sea Storm:

Sliver Moon Farm merino fingering in Smoky Plum:

Colinette Jitterbug in Oyster Blush:

I’m madly in love with all these yarns at the moment. Good thing they don’t expect me to be faithful!

Frolic ’10

It was a dreary, blustery, rainy day – so what better than surrounding oneself with wool?

I love the Knitter’s Frolic. It’s gotten bigger and bigger every year, and even aside from the awesome yarn and yarny stuff I love the opportunity to see the people! I know lots of knitters (as you might expect) and I just love that at the Frolic I tend to see people I know where ever I turn. I headed up with Jane and Cheryl for a few hours (thanks for the ride Cheryl!) and had lots of fun.

And! There were Milkweed Shawls a-plenty! I saw a few in booths, and some being worn, like these beautiful ones:

(Neither are sneaky photos, just so y’know!)

And of course, the yaaaarn.

Zen Yarn Garden:

Dyed in the Wool Handmade:

Tanis’ beautiful Mulberry Silk:

I bought a bunch of books – although I’m regretting not buying more Japanese books! – and one sweater’s worth of yarn, a semi-solid Koigu in a shade of deep red that seems to be impossible to photograph.

I love yarn events! I already can’t wait till next year.

purple and more purple

In addition to the basket backpack, which was the first thing I picked up at Rhinebeck, here’s the bit of yarn I got!

Some silk/merino from Skaska. None of the cashmere there really struck me this year (and I went early) but I love this colour. I’m already knitting some of it up!

Cashmere from Still River Mill – love it! So soft. Not sure what I’ll make since it’s quite thin laceweight. Maybe a shawl.

Sock yarn from Sliver Moon Farm. I bought three skeins of this exact colour last year, so when I saw more I bought it up. Now I should have enough for…well, something more than socks anyway.

A few skeins of natural cormo/alpaca/silk from Foxfire Fiber. So squishy. I feel that perhaps I should’ve bought more, but none of the colours really did it for me.

This didn’t come from Rhinebeck – on the way back to Boston we made a long pit stop at Webs. I had a great time looking around there and bought a sweater’s worth of this red Araucania merino as well as a bag of Misti Alpaca Royal Worsted. Yum.

Now I just need to get on this swatching thing!

we interrupt…

…your regularly scheduled Rhinebeck yarn post for an important announcement.

Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Make them NOW. Go to the store for ingredients if you must – they are orange and black after all, perfect for that Hallowe’en party later this week (if they make it to then).

My very slight mods to the recipe: I used 1/2 brown, 1/2 white sugar, upped the chocolate chips a touch (to use up the rest of the bag), mixed by hand, and used heaping tablespoons rather than 1/4 cup portions for each cookie. I got 30 cookies…but there aren’t that many now!

A sneak peek at the yarn? Sure.

Clearly I’m in a purple period!