Tour de Fleece 2014

As the title suggests, I am taking part in the Tour de Fleece again this year. In short, is a spin along while the Tour de France is going on. The idea is every day the cyclists race, you spin. And you see what you can get done in that time.

The Tour started on the 5th, so my posts will be a round up of what I have been achieving day by day, and I will be posting my round ups every few days or so! So onwards!

When the Tour began I was part way through spinning singles of this gorgeous Blue Faced Leicester / tussah silk blend from Mandacrafts.

I had 200g of it, and what with deciding to do the Ringbearer shawl on the spur of the moment, I never got to clear down my wheel for the tour. In fact on day one I was about half way through the singles:

So day one was spent finishing the singles, and beginning plying (I did have three bobbins of it!)

Day two:

I finished plying, wound off and measured my yarn.:

414m of worsted weight yarn, all ready for my cardigan project! And a good chunk of the yardage I need for it.

But in the evening I got going on some new fibre. this time 100% merino from Yummy Yarns UK, colourway Namibia. Given the colours, I think you can guess what it is going to be part of!

 234m of light worsted weight yarn:

Then some Yummy Yarns UK Batts in Vesuvius:

147m of Aran weight yarn:

And lastly some fibre from Easyknits.co.uk became this yarn:

200m of Worsted weight. Fibre blend 50% White Corriedale/25% Grey Corriedale/ 25% Banana.

That's me up to date all the way to stage 10 of the tour!. Quite a lot done! See you for the next tour update!

Little things!

Hey guys, been a bit slow on the old blog, and you can blame the flu. I am still sick with it, but its been a rough few days. I meant to blog mid last week, but with the man falling with it, then me, and then my little miss falling ill Saturday... its been a rough few days. Now the man is on the mend, I am... coping, I think, and the miss is doing better, I can sit and have a type!

I have a couple of crafty bits I have been up to while working on my big and special project. Firstly I got around to finishing my headphones/earbuds/whatever you wish to name them. I have a habit of managing to wreck a pair in mere months and the good Bose ones I bought tangled to high heaven. Here I have proof that you really can knit anything, and the best part? NO TANGLES! That and I will never lose them when they are this colour!

I have also been doing a bit of spinning. I have had wanted something easy that I don't need to think about to be honest. So I sat down to do an experiment. I blogged about my new hand carders and the rolags I made from them a while back:

Well I got a new pattern book for christmas and I really want to knit myself a large cardigan/jacket for next winter and I want to spin for it. But I need aran weight yarn. Not a weight that me and my wheel do a lot of. This was going to be an experiment to attempt to spin the right thickness, and whether I liked these rolags as a yarn. So spin away I did, then n-plied them into a 3-ply. The colour is a bit washed out, but here is the final skein.

Its brighter in the flesh and really quite lovely I find. And.... yes, I got aran weight, first try. I really should have more faith in my spinning.

So that is what I have been up to when not full of flu or working on the big shawl! Which is soon to be finished too, so watch this space!

What have you all been up to?

Till next time...

Secret Santa

Now we are in the new year, I figure I had best talk about christmas before we get too deep into the month!

So every year I do only ONE Secret Santa, mainly because its all I have spare funds for. And for the last few years I have made it a craft based one, as its a way of guaranteeing I will get something I adore. Its something I very much enjoy doing too. The stalking of the person you are putting a gift together for, planning, getting bits together etc. Also these last few years I have participated in the one run by the Yummy Yarns UK group on Ravelry. I have even been the one to run it in previous years, I have simply been too busy to the last couple. Especially the year before last when I had a newborn on my hands. But my fellow moderators all chipped in and got it organised.

I love the excitement of being told who your partner is. We are an international group and my parcel had to make it to the USA so I got started early. As she was a fellow spinner I chose some gorgeous supper fluffy batts in soft fibres in the purples she loved, and packed them up with some ginger chocolate that she likes, and a set of felt tree decorations I had made especially for her. She is Wiccan so celebrates Yule, not Christmas, so I made some hearts for her tree rather than the traditional 'Christmas' themed ones. Then I sent it off in November. I was very pleased when Yule came that she loved what I sent.

So come late December, MY parcel arrived from another group member. And I had to be good and not open all the things, which was hard when is smelled so good! I could smell very yummy things in there. I was so eager to open it come Christmas, and was ecstatic at what I had been sent.

The fibre is beautiful Wenseleydale fibre in the colour 'Lily Pond'. Looks so scrummy colour wise, definitely thinking socks for me!

This gorgeous tree decoration is made of buttons! And came with a tag stating that it had been made for me before my santa saw the felt ones I made. I think its gorgeous and will definitely be used in years to come. By next Christmas missy should be less chewy!

And this seriously lovely  hand crocheted hair tie! Not only is it gorgeous and just my colour, its also one of the best hair ties I have ever had for my hair! Win all round!

And lastly the scrummy things I could smell!

I LOVE hot chocolate, but a lot of hot chocs lack in actual chocolate content. These are the perfect solution. You can even just warm some milk and melt these in for deliciousness. Absolutely perfect and so very me!

It was a wonderful parcel and this is why I keep doing it every year. Fabulous yarn or fibre from a shop I love, from wonderful people, and the little touches make me smile every time!

What did you all get that was crafty for Christmas?

Till next time.