I Join the Tour De Fleece

After publishing my little rant about the competition that shall not be named, I feel I need to talk about this upcoming event before they are forced to change their name.  I speak, of course, of the Tour de Fleece...  not to be confused with the Tour de France.

For those who need clarity, the "France"  involves a bunch of guys on bicycles riding around the French countryside.  The "Fleece" does not.  The Fleece (hereinafter called "TdF" does not sell sponsorships, tickets, souvenirs, and as a matter of fact, is not even an organization.  It is simply a bunch of regular human-type people from all over the world who have decided to have a little fun with their fiber arts while these guys ride all over France.

So there are a number of people who have invited others to join them in challenging themselves to do more, or try new skills.  I joined several groups for which a single project will fit the bill.  The most specific challenge I have is to try fractal spinning.  This is entirely new to me. When I first saw the challenge, I saw "fractal" and my brain immediately said, "STOP!  That's math and you've given yourself permission to forget everything you learned after Junior High." (Well, except, my favorite theorem in geometry : corresponding parts of congruent triangles are congruent.  Long, pathetic story about why I remember that particular theorem that does not reflect well on a certain sadistic geometry teacher.) 

Then I decided to be brave and find out what it was about.  The concept appeared in a Spin Off article by Janel Laidman.  Pulled out my book of Spin Off CDs, popped the right one in the computer, and had a look.  From what I understand,  you take a space-dyed roving, split it in half lengthwise, and spin one piece as is.  You then break the other half into two or more pieces lengthwise, and spin those in sequence.  When you ply them together, you get really interesting striping effects.  So I'm game.

Having just finished adding all of my various unspun fibers to my stash page on Ravelry (patting myself on the back right now!), I took a quick look and saw that I did not have a single bump of horizontally striped fiber.   How did this happen?  Well, I'm not a quitter so I was forced to order something appropriate.  So on Sunday, I ordered this:

I've had a little heart on this one on etsy.com for a long time.  I just love the colors.  But what if the stripes weren't distinctive enough?  What then?

So I was forced to choose a back-up fiber.  And I ordered this:

Oh, but what if it didn't come in time?  The TdF is beginning in just a few days!  I'd better be extra-sure I have something on hand before the event starts.  So I ordered this:

But then I started thinking that this event is about challenging yourself to go outside your comfort zone.  All three fibers are in colors that I naturally gravitated to.   Even though that red, blue, and purple one is a bit on the wild side. I should be trying something different!  So on Monday I ordered this:

This one is definitely outside my comfort zone.  It even includes (gasp!) some orange tones -- a color that I abhor and wish could somehow be excluded from the rainbow.  My personal opinion:  oranges belong on trees, not humans.  But I digress.  Even though these are not "my" colors, I do think the colorway is attractive in its own way and will be fun to spin.

Then I really got to thinking...  Bad Costly idea.    I'm currently spinning some yummy "Potluck Roving" by Ferndale Fibers in the "Stormy Sea" colorway.

 

Isn't this pretty?  It reminds me of  malachite with the black veins that show up every so often.

I'm training for the TdF by spinning at lunchtime every day.  I have one bobbin full, have a good dent made in the second bobbin, and hope to have the third started in a few days. But I won't have all three done and therefore won't be able to ply off the bobbins before the TdF begins.   Uh-oh!  I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH BOBBINS!  So I was forced to order two more bobbins from HansenCrafts. (And kudos to them for their great customer service!)



 One of the groups I joined is "Stashbusters."  Does it count if I only spin stuff I added to my stash after I signed up?

 I have to say, fiber people are very punctual.  All of my Sunday night orders were filled and I received shipping info by noon on Monday.  Those items have already arrived. There was a bit of a delay on the Monday order because the seller offered me a couple of choices, but that, too, is on its way.  So now I am nearly ready for the TdF to begin!


One last thing I need to do.  A couple of months ago, I "discovered"  the SpinDoctor podcast by Sasha Torres. She talks about all kinds of events and products, and I like that she is possibly just as obsessive about collecting fibers and tools as I am.  Until recently, I've been rationing the podcasts by listening only when I'm driving somewhere by myself. But this week I began listening during my lunchtime spinning.  Now I have only a few episodes left.  Either Sasha needs to start recording a lot more, or I'm going to have to go shopping for another spinning podcast.

Memorial Day Weekend

What a great weekend to honor those who have served their country.  Time to remember the major reason that I am free to do all the wonderful things I get to do.   Patriotic observances aside, there was still plenty of time for other things, so I now step down from my soapbox and record my recent fiber frenzies.

Saturday morning was my first meeting with the Greater Los Angeles Spinning Guild.  What fun!  They couldn't have been more welcoming and I'm looking forward to participating in as many of their activities as I can.  I took Thor, and was surprised to run into Judy, Thor's previous owner, at the meeting.  He turned out to be a great icebreaker for me as I turned into my usual pathetic shy self when I walked through the door.

I went to the meeting intending to buy a Dorset fleece.  One.  Somehow I left with two.  Or possibly three.  Our guild has some link to Action K9 Sports in San Diego County. This is a school that features herding and agility training for dogs.  (Yes, there are still plenty of sheep in this country and dogs are still the most effective herders.) They ordinarily have a day each spring when they invite people to watch them do their thing and a professional sheep-shearer takes care of the flock -- after which attendees can buy the raw fleeces.  This year they were unable to get the sheep-shearer for the right day, so they sent a number of fleeces to our guild meeting.  Well, little miss back-to-nature here decided that one fleece would probably not be enough, and bought two of them.

 I was warned that since it was a warmish day, I would be smelling sheep all the way home.  Happy to say that didn't happen.  In fact, my drive was extremely pleasant both directions despite some traffic delays.  I've recently discovered the the Spin Doctor podcast and have been listening to them in order (another exercise in self-discipline).  I had several episodes on my iPad and plugged it into my car radio -so had the pleasure of listening to a few episodes along the way.   Sasha  is possibly even more OCD about fiber arts than I am so I feel like I'm listening to a kindred spirit (as well as an enabler).
 
Got home, and after pulling out the first fleece, it looks like there are either two more smallish fleeces or one humongous one.  They were only $20 each, so I'll settle with the guild at the next meeting if it turns out to be two of them.

Here's the first fleece waiting to be sorted (second and possibly third fleece waiting on the ground.  After sorting the first one, I put the other back in the bag for another day).  It actually wasn't as bad as I had expected.  There wasn't an awful lot of filth (polite speak for "manure") but enough to make me glad I had a pair of heavy duty rubber gloves.  You usually discard parts with large amounts of  vegetable matter or any filth.

 This is what I consigned to the allegorical compost heap.

 
Then you generally grade the fleece by staple length, coarseness of fiber, and cleanliness.  The shoulders and flanks generally have the highest quality fibers.  But to my untrained eyes, especially since I was not careful to unfold the fleece as one piece, I could not tell you what was from the shoulder and what came from the britch.  It all looked pretty much the same to me. So it all went into two tubs of cold water without being sorted.

I'm guessing there are about three pounds of fleece in each tub.  I GENTLY pushed the fleece down into the water.  They say that Dorset is very forgiving and not as easily felted as other breeds, but I'm not taking any chances.

Next morning, I carefully lifted the fleece out of the water and set it on a screen to drain.  I knew the raw fleece had been pretty dirty, but was still surprised by the appearance of the water.  I also ran into some filth that I had not seen when sorting the day before.  Guess I was a little too eager to get it into the water.  More junk went into the trash barrel as a result.

This is one of the tubs post-fleece.

And the fleece just removed from water.

As I write this, the fleece is back soaking in tubs - awaiting the delivery of some Unicorn Power Scour.  I've been hearing about this product for scouring wool for some time - most recently on the Spin Doctor podcast, and think I'll give it a try.

Saving the other fleece(s) for a group session I'm going to try to organize.

Sunday was a real treat.  One of my fellow Inland Empire Handweavers Guild members was looking for people to help her demonstrate weaving and spinning at the annual Home School Fair at OCHS.  I had no clue what it was about, but went along with my buddy Gail and took Bunny Watson (the Hansen mini-spinner) to keep me busy.  As it turned out, the organizers put us together with another group of (mostly) spinners.  Here is one of the things I love most about fiber arts.  In most activities, when you put two separate groups together, you get instant rivalry.  But for some reason, fiber artists tend to bond and share. Maybe it's cross-enrollment in many groups.  Or perhaps it's because the fiber community has a number of traveling teachers so we aren't limited to thinking that WE have the only way.  But whatever the reason, we joined ranks and  had a delightful day. 

The other group was called "No Idle Hands."  All but one were in costume -- one in a civil war-era dress and bonnet, one in a Victorian smock, and the rest in Ren-Faire apparel.  I gather their emphasis is on Victorian era crafts, but they also participate in SCA and historic reenactment activities.  Most were spinning, but one was grinding wheat in a manually cranked grinder and making dough on site.  One of them gave each of us a a beautiful beaded orifice hook she had made.  Just in time since I've been using a big paper clip on Thor.  We sat in the shade and chatted most of the day while we worked on our projects.  And talked with loads of parents and children who were attending the fair.  May have won a few converts over to the fiber arts this weekend.

Gail took one of her triangle looms and the moms at the Fair were sure interested.  She weaves an awful lot faster than I do - got all this done in just a short time.

We had two other charming neighbors at the Fair...

These babies are only three weeks old and I may have spent more time watching them than I did actually spinning.

One more fiber-related activity in the works - for a later post.  But I will hint now that I've been regretting having sold my Mountain Looms tabletop loom years ago.

P.S.  - while writing this, I had a friend drop in to visit and he saw the photo of the two fleeces on my screen.  He was concerned that I had participated in the killing of sheep for their fleeces.  So I feel it important to tell any family or friends who happen to read this that no sheep were harmed in the acquisition of these fleeces.  Most domestic sheep don't shed so they need to be sheared yearly to protect them from problems and potential death resulting from overgrown fleece.  For those who want to know more, have a look at this.

Time flies!

Can't believe the whole month of March went by without a post.   Not that I haven't been doing anything, because I most definitely have had a great few weeks with fibers.  Except for my cotton seedlings, which have all gone to that big compost heap in the sky.  A gust of wind knocked over my greenhouse while I was out of town and the plants that didn't freeze in a late cold spell dried up.  Going to start over after I figure out how to weight this puppy down so it doesn't happen again.

Biggest news -- (thanks to Uncle Sam for returning some of my hard-earned tax withholding) -- I ordered the cherry Hansen Crafts miniSpinner I have lusted after since the day I saw Judith MacKenzie McCuin using one last year.  It spins like a dream!  As much as I love spinning on my Joy, my spinning improved immediately with the Hansen and I can also spin just about any time, any place.  When the new eSpinner arrived, I got caught up in finding just the right batteries and just the right bag to carry everything.  Thanks to the Hansen Craft forum on Ravelry, I ended up with a bright red (what else?) Zuca bag (the top is flat and works as a seat - perfect as a tabletop for the spinner).  And for batteries - I ordered a low-priced battery pack from China that was highly recommended for price, size, and durability.  While waiting for it to arrive, found a Milwaukee tools doohickey at my friendly Home Depot that lets you use any of their 12v batteries as if it was a cigarette lighter socket - added bonus being that they're bright red.  I now have enough battery power to spin for weeks.

Started spinning right away with "Potluck Roving" from Ferndale Fiber in "Stormy Sea" and I love, love, love my new eSpinner.

This is after just a few hours' spinning time.  Between the ease of use of the spinner and the smoothness with which the fiber drafts, spinning has been a zen experience. And because the spinner can sit just about anywhere, I've spun at a table, in the car, and even sitting in my reclining chair.

Also used it to ply some yarn with beads for a triangle shawl I'm going to start soon -- plies beautifully and the product looks exactly like what I had in mind. The large orifice on the spinner and large loops on the Woolee Winder make it easy to add all kinds of inclusions to the yarn.

This is a minty green fingering-weight soft and fuzzy polyester plied with a finer white thread on which I alternated mint and clear Austrian crystals every 1-2 yards.  Hopefully when woven on the triangle loom the beads will show up randomly.  Still have to decide whether to weave with two more strands of the same green or add one or two different yarns.

Thanks to Ravelry, I ran across someone selling some alpaca fleeces and made the mistake of looking at the sample pictures.  I'm now the proud owner of five pounds of cria and adult alpaca fleece. 

 This is the fiber that captured my attention - it's a medium fawn color from an adult alpaca - two pounds.

This one is in variegated colors from an adult alpaca.  Ranges from a little "nearly" cream to a rich fawn brown.  Another two pounds.

And here is a pound of cria (baby alpaca).  Wonderfully soft and can't wait to start spinning this one.



Fortunately I have access to a drum carder to help with this (although my very own drum carder is at the top of my fantasy wish list).  First I have some studying to do -- I need to wash and tease the locks to get them ready for carding.  Found this really neat wool picker the other day - looks pretty lethal, huh?

Then, while doing some genealogy work, I came across some references to Manx  Loaghtan sheep and had to refresh my memory.  I saw some of these in real life while exploring the Isle of Man several years ago.   They're incredible looking creatures with (usually) two pairs of curly horns.  Like these:

Well, then nothing would do but that I get some wool of the types that might have been used by my Manx and Viking ancestors -- so thanks to World of Wool, I now have a little over a pound of top in each of these:

  (l-r) Dark grey Icelandic, mid-grey Icelandic, Norwegian, Manx Loaghtan.

Incidentally, the word "loaghtan" is Manx for "mouse brown."  Having  never seen a mouse that close (knock wood) I can't comment on how true that description is.  I myself would have called it "gial shocklaidagh" (light  chocolate).  The color is a very rich cocoa brown.

Oh, and while in San Rafael a couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to visit Dharma Trading.  Their store in San Rafael has quite a selection of yarns not in their catalog, and a small selection of some, but not nearly all, of the items in the catalog.  Came home with a few silk and cotton scarves to dye, some sequined yarn (because I don't already have enough yarn), and a selection of dyes to add to my stash. 

Won't be running out of things to do any time soon.