SIMPLIFY

Whether it be my craft room, my finances, the clutter in our house, or just taking a few moments to breathe and enjoy life, I hope that this word will help me focus in 2012 and live a happier life.

One would think now that I embraced my word, that I would be doing my best to simplify my life. Well I suppose in some ways the challenge I have set for myself is a simplification. It is to spin, to enjoy spinning and to spin down my stash. To this end I have pledged to spin 12 pounds of fiber in 2012. For those who don’t spin, an average braid is about 4 ounces, meaning I need to spin 4 per month or one per week to keep up.

I’m delighted to say that I have already finished this month’s goal!

Spin #1: A 3-ply yarn made up of three different fibers from Funky Carolina, The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga and some batts I received in a swap. It was fun to see how the colors played together!

Spin #2: A spin-a-long with a group. The dyer is JulieSpins and the fiber is a gradient in the colorway December Dusk. I got approximately 200 yards of floofy 2-ply yarn and this skein already went flying out of my shop to a good home!

Spin #3: This month my friend K challenged a group of us to spin a fiber we labeled as our “precious.” This is a fiber that we had been holding onto much like the ring in Lord of the Rings – hoarding it and/or afraid to spin it. I went into the stash and pulled out my braid from All Spun Up in the sought after colorway Goldfish Wearing a Tutu. It’s bright and happy and I’m so pleased to have spun it up!

So that brings me up to 19.7 oz or slightly over 1 pound!  I’ll be back with my knitting challenge for the month in the next post!

We’re now in the time of year when I take most of my photos on the weekends, so that I can use natural light. I can’t seem to take photographs under lamps and indoor light that I like quite as much as those I can take in natural light.

Anyway, I gathered up a ton of stuff this weekend and got out the camera.

There were a few spins:

And of course there was knitting. A test shawl for a friend:

And my favorite, a new set of handknit fingerless gloves.  I didn’t actually spin this yard, but rather traded for it in a group on Ravelry. I LOVE the colorway though (by one of my favorite dyers, maude & me).  I mixed up two patterns to make my own.  When I was done I had a bit of handspun leftover, and you know it’s a SIN to waste good handspun so I made a matching headband/earwarmer.

I also cannot say enough wonderful things about etsy. I got the buttons from a crafter in Israel!

Next time… more weaving, and sweaters #9 and 10!

A few months ago, I participated in a Spin-a-long.  That is, I ordered some fiber dyed especially for a group of spinners and we all spun them up. When it was all over there was a drawing for a prize, and I won! A short while later I received this beautiful superwash merino braid from FatCatKnits, in the colorway “Wretched Kiss.”

I spun the yarn up intending it to go in the shop, but I miscalculated and ended up with a larger skein of 2ply and a shorter skein of navajo plied leftovers.

With colors this bright, I decided that I was going to have to knit myself some socks. It took me a little while (as I got distracted by other projects) but now, just in time for fall, I have some awesome socks.

A while ago I purchase a pretty fiber batt, “Rich Girl” batts from a Ravelry friend, Adventures in Fiber. I purchased this around the time she opened the shop and she was kind enough to stuff a second batt into the package as a bonus! The colors were rich magenta and purple.

At first I wasn’t sure how I wanted to spin these batts, but then during Tour de Fleece I threw caution to the wind and spun them into singles:

The yarn came out pretty, and I got about 400 yards out of them, but I hadn’t counted on the silk creating nepps and uneven singles. So I waited, and as always happens, the perfect pattern fell in my lap.

At the beginning of September my friend Chrissy asked me to test knit her new cowl, one that she was calling Chou Cowl (and knitting in the colorway Mon Petit Chou).
Voila! My Cabbage Leaves:

This was only my second time participating in Tour de Fleece, and my first with a wheel. I’m pleased to report I spun quite a bit:

My goals for the Tour were fairly simple:

1. To spin a sweater quantity of yarn

2. To Navajo-ply (or chain ply) a full skein of yarn (previously I had just been practicing the technique on leftover singles.

As of Saturday, I had my sweater quantity of yarn. The fibers are all from beemiceelf and are Falkland, Superwash Merino and Merino/Silk.  The colors from top to bottom are Dark Red, Slate, Oyster, Black and Dazzleberry and in total I have ~1065 yards. I’m hoping for a stripey sweater with some black trim.

For my new technique, I decided I wanted to Navajo or chain ply a whole skein of yarn.  I also was aching to spin this beautiful braid from Maude & Me, called “Ooops I did it again.”  While the end result was a bit lumpy and bumpy, overall I’m pleased with it and ready to keep practicing.

I also attempted a few other projects this tour, but didn’t quite get to finish. You can see 2 bobbins of singles there, and I’m working on a third so I can try making a true 3-ply yarn.  I also tried spindle spinning an art batt, an experience I probably won’t repeat, but did enjoy learning more about.

Now it’s time to get back to the knitting!

Saturday ended up being a “rest day” as far as the Tour de Fleece was concerned, but I was able to dust off the spindle and spin a little on Friday.  I started spinning an art batt from BohoKnitterChic.  It’s different than anything I’ve spun before, and while it isn’t my favorite, it has been an interesting learning experience.

We got home this evening and sat down to catch up on the Tour de France (thank goodness for DVRs).  We have one more stage to catch up on, but the Tour is on rest tomorrow so we’ll be ready to go by Tuesday!  I managed to finish a bobbin tonight so there was a little bit of progress on Day 9.

Now if only I were on vacation tomorrow…

Of course, I like to change things up fairly frequently. So today, rather than do my third sweater skein, I started something different. I’ve been inspired lately by folks on Ravelry who pick three different things from their stash, spin them separately and then ply them together (3-ply).  After thinking and tossing the stash, I came up with my own “plying potion.”  Today I started spinning the first of 3 different fibers by different dyers. I’ll be switching between these and my sweater skeins for the duration of the tour.