Goals Accomplished

For once the goals I set for the Tour de Fleece turned out to be within my reach....YAY!!

Goal 1:  complete the roving I'd started prior to the tour.

 

Goal 2:  spin lace.  First up......4 oz. of brown alpaca/silk top followed by 6 oz. dyed 100% merino.

 



 

Day 1 - 3:  completed the yarn I started before the tour....464 yds. sport

Day 4 - 12: alpaca/silk yarn complete....364 yds. lace

Day 12 - 21: merino yarn complete....just in time to cross the finish line!...508 yds.

My victory collage

Big, big thanks to Ms. Wonder Why for being our team leader again this year.  We had a very chatty group....lots of photos and information was shared and questions answered.....couldn't have asked for a better group of spinners.

What I learned on this tour....lace takes a l-o-n-g time to spin!...LOL.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Unexpected Words of Wisdom

I'm starting my post a little different than usual today.  I've been on a healthy eating, weight loss journey for just about a year and a half.  Tuesday I needed to go for a weigh in and I was feeling a little concerned after being away for a few day over the July 4th holiday.  You know how it goes.....ate a few things I shouldn't have eaten, then a bit of a struggle to get back on track. 

Anyway....I was starting my day as usual, going through my emails, and found a new posting by Kate, aka Sparkle Tart.  I follow her blog and her post that day was called "Words of Wisdom - Comparison".  She is one of the art bloggers I follow and this post certainly hit a cord with me.

It was just what I needed to read (hear) to get myself back in perspective.  It made me stop being concerned about what the scales might reflect and look at all I have accomplished in this year and a half.

Her post is well worth reading if you have the time.  So often we short change ourselves on what we have accomplished and how far we have come on our personnel journey through life.

Just in case your wondering how that weigh in went.......I lost 2 lbs. That puts my total weight loss at 101 lbs....YAY!

Okay, enough....now on to what I've been creating this week.  My week has pretty much been filled with spinning for the Tour de Fleece with a little time carved out in my studio.

Tour de Fleece......

Boy....it doesn't look like I've gotten much done this year.  You can just see my first skein in my basket, second is the brown alpaca/silk lace and last but not least, working on spinning 100% merino lace.  Hopefully I'll be able to get this merino done by the end of the tour.

Wow......I didn't have a clue how long it would take to spin lace.  It's going to be well worth the time and it was just what I wanted to try spinning this year.

I've been looking on Rav for a shawl pattern for my first multicolored skein.  I'm thinking of Hitchhicker, Vendanges or Dragonfly Wings.  Must admit, right now I'm leaning towards Vendanges.  Only time will tell which one I'll choose.  Not even thinking about what I'll make with the lace I've spun. 

I can't post any pics of my current art project....sigh.  It's going to be another present for my step daughters birthday in August.  Just remembered I haven't shared the first present I made for her earlier in the year....same reason!  I'll be sure to post pics after her birthday celebration.

That's it for me...hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.  To everyone one out there who's participating in the Tour.....spin on, the finish line is almost in sight!

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

It's That Time of Year

What time is that?.......Tour de Fleece!  Of course I'm back on Team Wonder Why Alpaca Farm.......some really awesome yarns are being spun.

I spent my first 3 days working on roving I had purchased on our trip last October to Vermont.  First time going to the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival.  Here she is.....

 

I now have 464 yds. of sport weight in this beautiful color way.  After the tour, I'll have to spend some time on Ravelry looking for a simple shawl pattern.  

 

My challenge for this year was to use my lace flyer.  I've had my Lendrum for 3 years now and decided this would be the year to give lace a try.  Looked through my fiber stash and decided to start with these.....

 

The brown top is a 4 oz. Alpaca/Silk blend that I purchased from Lady Peddler and the dyed roving was purchased last year at Michigan Fiber Festival from Winding Wool Creek Fiber in color way Peace -n- Love.  I thought they would go well together to make a two color shawl.

 

What I didn't think about was how long it would take to spin 4 oz. into a lace single.  There went day 4 through 12 (day 10 was a day of rest). 

 

Really proud of how fine I was able to spin even though the finished yarn did not fall into the lace range.  The wraps per inch turned out to be 25 and according to my WPI gauge that's probably a light fingering.......lace starts at 35+WPI......what?  I can't quite get my head wrapped around how fine the single would have to be. 

Day 13 had me starting on the dyed roving.  Now my challenge is to spin my singles the same thickness so the final yarn will be close to the WPI of the alpaca/silk.  I was worried the roving would be harder to spin this fine but am glad to say.......it is not....yay!

 

 

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, I only spun 0.4oz.  I really wanted to spend some time "shabby chic'n" a couple pieces of furniture.  Got my plant stand done....

 

and a little side table painted.  Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do to fix the top.  I have several ideas but just can't seem to make up my mind....this tells me I haven't come up with the right design yet!

 

Well that's it for me.  I need to read some of the other Fiber Arts Friday posts, get to spinning and hopefully get back to painting my next furniture piece.

 

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

 



Beautiful Day

What an awesome day we had today in West Michigan.

 

I started the day off with spinning for the second day of the Tour de Fleece.  Tour de Fleece, what in the world is that?  Spinners all over the world join their favorite teams to challenge themselves to spin every day along with the Tour de France. 

 

I filled a bobbin of this beautiful roving I purchased on our trip to Vermont last October.  I was able to attend the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival for the first time and purchased this roving on that visit.

I already had a full bobbin of this fiber spun up and my plan for the day was to ply the two together to complete my yarn.....

 

but, it was so beautiful I decided to spend the day outside working on painting some furniture pieces I've been collecting.  This is what some of them looked like before I started.....



 One coat done on the plant stand, square table and the mirror....

I was able to complete the green magazine table that the mirror is laying on, as well as the desk organizer pictured in the right hand corner.  I was so excited about being able to get outside and paint, I forgot to take before pics of these two items.

 

My last project for the day was to make some quiche for our breakfast this week.

Yum, yum, we just love these mini mushroom sausage quiche.  Now to watch some TV and do some knitting and my day will be complete!

 

 

 

Traveller aka Viajante

Wow, can't believe how long it's been since I've done a post.   Decided it was time to get back at it.

My goal was to get this project complete to wear at Stitches this year.  Last year the air conditioning was turned so high I couldn't believe how cold it was....my hair was actually moving at times. 

So without further ado, here I am.....

                                            
I looked through almost all of the individual photos on the Viajante projects page and found that several people made changes.  Some added beads and some changed up the lace at the end.  Beads.....did I actually see beads!  Well once seen, I certainly had to add some to mine.  Their hard to see in the photos but in the 1st one you can see a hint of glisten around my shoulder.  Seen in person, they show right up.

Must say I just LOVE how this turned out.  It's knit in the round but it was still a lot of knitting.  It was my mindless knit and sooooo worth it.  I've worn it several time already and have gotten positive reviews.   

There's several ways this shawl can be worn so you might want to check it out for yourselves.

I'm currently working on two knitting projects....yup, two.  Those who know me well, know this is way out of my comfort zone.  I'm usually a one project person.....knitting, painting, sewing, mixed media, spinning but only 1 in each category.  I'm living on the edge......I'm out of control!!!!

Started the Camas Bolero by Maggie Jackson, of course using yarn by Maggiknits.  This is a pic of the back. 

It's moving along nicely and pretty mindless at this stage so I also started working on my Wisdom Wrap.  Another pretty mindless knit.

Along the fiber theme, I decided to make some throw pillows since I found our local JoAnn's Fabrics was selling a bunch of their custom order material samples for 50 cents a piece.  Now who could pass that up.

Hubby was with me when I was shopping and the next thing I knew he and found 2 panels and asked if I would make him a couple for his "man cave" camper.  Here's what he picked out.

This one's done except the sewing up where I had to leave it open to stuff.  I have tons of stuffing but didn't like the way it was turning out kind of lumpy bumpy.  Hmmmm, what did I have on hand I could use to line the inside before stuffing?  Searched around my messy studio but couldn't find any quilt batting.   Glanced over and saw a felt batt that I had made at a mill using our alpaca seconds.  So I thought, "why not", after all they are for my hubby. Tee he, it was the warmest pillow I've ever stuffed......my arm was sweating before I got it finished.

 Here's the second one waiting for it stuffing.

I think he did a great job picking out his material.  He thought they looked kind of Hawaiian and would go nicely with the red cushions already in his camper and blend in with his ukulele obsession. 

"I" think they look great with my new chairs that sit between my dining room and kitchen.   It's certainly really nice material for something called "the man cave"!

Here's a few photos of other project that have been taking up my time....

Mixed media; background texture using fiber paste, spackle, onion bag and layered with paint and items from my stash

a friend gave me this sprinkler head thinking I might be able to use it.  Couldn't pass up that challenge.  Background textures; lace, drywall tape, fiber paste and used dryer sheets

canvas using different textures; gesso, egg shells, spackle, string

fern canvas; spackle with fern impression
 

My son and his girlfriend mixed media canvas; background textures wood filler and fiber paste. Computer parts, nuts, old tools, and flowers

 

I've been a slave to my studio lately! 

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

.

Old and New Projects

Hey everyone....hope you all had a great Easter.  Mine turned out to be very busy since one of our sons came home for a visit with his girlfriend.  I spent most of my time cooking and doing dishes.  Seems like we just could not get our eating schedule to match up.  By the time they were up, hubby and I had already had breakfast and our farm chores done.  That meant cooking another breakfast and it just snow balled from there.

Those who know me well, know I never have been much of a cook.....always wanted to use the time for creating something artistic....not food!  Well that has certainly changed since I started seeing a Nutritional Counselor.  For the first time in my life, food has become a friend.  The end of March was my 1 year anniversary of eating "clean" and I'm proud to share my weight loss of 86 lbs.  Wowsa!!....so hard to believe..... just had to put it in writing.

Now on to what I've been doing in my studio.  On a fiber note, several of us did get together on good Friday at Your Local Yarn Shop and I almost completed spinning the 4 oz. batt I shared in my last post.   I've also been knitting along on my Viajante. 

Decided on my bead placement and though it's hard to see with it on my knitting needles, I've started another section of beads that I'll continue with until I start my lace border.  Lovin' how this is turning out.

A couple Monday's ago a friend came over who wanted to learn how to make a spiral bead. 




I hadn't made one in quite a while so I decided I'd better give myself a refresher before she came.  While getting my supplies out I found a bracelet I'd started quite a while ago and thought I should try to finish.

I've been working on it a little bit each day.  I've only got the right upper side to complete before I can attach the backing and bead the edge.  Trying to stay focused this time to get it done......long overdue.

But.....I seem to always find new things to try.  I've gotten hooked on the thought of Zentangles.......yup, doodling.  Check out the link I've posted......their awesome! 

Here's my first try.....

Then I just couldn't help myself.  I had to try an alpaca......

We live in a very small community with an even smaller library but they are so helpful whenever I want to try something new.  They even went so far as to actually buy some of the Zentangle "how to books" so I could give it a try.  The books came last week and they called me as soon as they came in so I could bring them home.  I plan on taking these samples in to show today but you can bet I'm hanging onto the books for the full 3 weeks!

That's it for me.....now hop on over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see what everyone else has been up to.  I'm on my way there to check it out....Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Spinning Fun

We had our monthly get together last Sunday at Ms. Wonder Whys farm and I decided I'd take my wheel since it's been months since I last spun.  After a fab-u-lous lunch and some chit chat, we finally got down to some spinning.

I had just a little bit of one of my blended batts that needed finished and thought it would be a good time to try my hand at Navajo plying.  Lucky for me, Ms. Wonder Why was very willing to give me a lesson.

Ta da.......



It sure wasn't easy but I gotter done!  I was thinking it was going to be an over plied mess but was surprised, once I had it wound into a skein, to find it was pretty balanced .....shocker!

So on Monday I decided I'd better try again before I forgot what Andrea had shown me.  Checked my spinning basket and sure enough found another full bobbin.  For some reason before I left Andrea's, I took the jumbo flyer off my spinning wheel and put the smaller one back on. 

You know how it goes, I was to lazy to put the jumbo flyer back on.  I just wanted to get started plying. I was sure it would be just fine to use the smaller flyer....Wrong.  Of course I didn't figure out why I was having so many problems until I was about half way through the bobbin.  Dah......I couldn't peddle slow enough for my hands to keep up.  So this skein, not so great....

Close up.....just look at that over plied skein or maybe I should say "energetic"!

 

Oh well, I'll definitely give it another try....practice, practice, practice.

It felt nice to be sitting at my wheel again so thought I'd find something else to spin up.  Chose some fiber I picked up when we were visiting our son in VT last October. I have two 4oz skeins of Frabjous Fibers hand dyed Merino called Green with Envy.

I'm loving how it's spinning up.  I haven't decided if I'll try Navajo plying this when I'm done or not.  Since I have two braids, I my fill two bobbins and ply them together.  I'll see how I feel after I get the singles done.

I've also been knitting on my Viajante but decided not to bore you with any pics at this point.  It's going to be while before it will look any different.  After looking at several of the finished Viajante's, I found inspiration from tippsy1's Viajante....she incorporated beads and also love how DeDitte's added additional sections of the lace edging.  So I'll wait to give an update once I've added some beads.

That's it for me, thanks for stopping by......hope you all have a wonderful weekend.