Tour de Fleece 2020

I missed last year's Tour de Fleece.  It was intentional, and I do not remember the reason.  This year, the idea of a spinning challenge dovetailed with my word-of-the-year, which was "consolidate".

The Tour goals are simple.

1.  Ply all the bobbins hanging around the house, and count them as yardage in "Race to the Bottom of Your Stash v3.0" in one of my Rav groups.  I counted twelve bobbins.

2.  Spin something that counts as a comfort spin.  Nothing with a purpose, nothing with a goal, just spin.

The Tour started June 27.  Today is day #7.  So far:

1.  Plied Quiche, a Whitefish Bay (WFB) Corriedale.  2 ply.  34.67 yards
2.  Unidentified coarse marled grey singles, on a bobbin, with ends that would not pull free.  Razored off the bobbin, estimated 30 yards         to compost
3.  Yak/silk blend from Halcyon in Maine, dated 2006, spindle spun, fine laceweight, 2 ply, took forever to ply, 185.5 yards
4.  Unidentified coarse grey wool, 2 ply, lost the last 1+ yard to crappy join, 88.29 yards
5.  Copper Moose commercial Shetland, spun laceweight, measured and thrown into compost, 80.50 yards
6.  Unidentified grey singles, spun as an experiment with twist controlled with my right hand, overspun, measured and tossed to compost
7.  WFB Corriedale sample, white, 2 ply, 37.92 yards

Remaining:  four bobbins on the storage rack, one bobbin with mohair singles on it.  I am planning on really plying the storage rack four, not sure if I will wind off/measure the mohair singles and keep them, or toss them.  (Tossing spun singles represents impressive personal growth.)

The comfort spin is 6 oz of Friends Folly Farm "mishmosh" blend, purchased at SPA in 2017.  Usually she sold wool/mohair 50/50 blend.  This is blues and blacks and greens.  I forgot that I don't like wool/mo blends because they draft clumpy no matter what I do.  I am heaving a moderate-sized sigh, and continuing.  It is a nicer endeavor than all ply all the time, but, yes, not my fave.  Maybe someday I will remember that.

In other knitting news, I am working on seaming the saddle shoulder pullover for Mr. E.  I have part of one sleeve left to knit, but thought I would see if the first sleeve/cap/saddle worked for the body.  Bless Suzanne Bryan for her Youtube video on seaming rows to stitches.  Saved my toast.  OTOH, her ratio, and Churchmouse's ratio ended up being entirely different.  My first trial was Bryan's ratio.  RTFM.  The next try will be Churchmouse's.  

The Vanilla sweater (a Woolly Thistle offering) is >50% done.  I am working on splitting the bottom hem, then I have two sleeves to go.  It is knit at a loose gauge (5st/inch) in Rauma Finullgarn 2.  I think it will be a versatile, oft-worn garment when the weather turns towards fall.

The deck garden is racing for the clouds.  I have never seen such rampant morning glories.  Most of them are volunteers from seeds left in the soil from last year.  The parts of my yard garden that are doing well look good because of rapacious volunteers:  feverfew, digitalis, teasel, perennial geranium.  This year, I do not begrudge them the space.  Free flowers?  Heck yeah.

I am seeing reports in the lay press that the virus has mutated.  It is now reproducing more efficiently in the upper respiratory tract, which means it is more contagious.  That is bad.  But it hasn't mutated into a more deadly variant.  That is good.  But it is demonstrating mutational behavior.  That is predictable and bad.  How that impacts the efficacy of a vaccine is anybody's guess.  I am hoping for effective therapy.  And I stay home.  And I wear really good masks to the grocery store.  And I socially distance everyone except my DH.  And so should you.  

No pictures today.  Maybe next time.  

Comments

[Lynn]

I finished the pound of BFL! And I'm leaving it as singles to size and weave with, so ... DONE.

Can you explain why, if we're all spending more time at home, we (I) are not churning through the stash more quickly?

[Carole]

That's a LOT of plying! I think we've all fallen down at SPA and bought fiber on a whim and then discovered it's not something we love to spin. You will prevail, though.

[Caroline Morris]

My mother is 87 and she needs me so I live under a rock. I used to spin, like knitting and weaving I just can't be bothered at the moment. I have no enthusiasm for anything. This too will pass.

[Margene Smith]

Your time at home as been well spent. Pictures of wool are necessary! I leave the house to pick up groceries that someone else has pulled from the shelves for me. The bookstore has curbside no contact pick up, as does the library, and the tea shop. I see my baker about once a week. I am careful. Smith is as careful as he can be. I miss you!