Tour de Fleece, Day 3

In today's episode of "Where in the World is Bunny Watson," I practiced threaditation and actually reached yarnvana.   And learned a little about how colors affect my nervous system, I think.

At work today, I took Bunny for a stroll, looking for a quiet and shady outdoor place to spin.  No such thing around here!  But I did find a tiny shady corner in a sunny courtyard.  The sides and other corners of the courtyard were packed with chattering (mostly) students.  In my little spot there was just enough room for Bunny and me to sit together companionably.

So I began spinning, and after a few minutes fiddling with speed and tension, I was able to settle down and focus on a consistent yarn.  After a few minutes, I suddenly realize that everything around me has become crystal clear, but separated from me and my little world.  I don't feel any of the aches and pains left over from yesterday's dance lessons.   The conversations around me that were just a cacophony, have separated into distinct voices, and the tinkle of the courtyard's fountain is magnified.  I feel like even my vision is affected -- everything is bright and in sharp focus.  I could get used to this.

Then I notice that the clarity fades in and out as the colors I'm spinning change.  The experience is the sharpest when I'm spinning the purple shades.  Still good as they move through blue, beginning to lose focus going through the green shade, and pretty much out of the zone when I hit the yellow.  Start to relax again at orange, getting more focus at pink, then back in the zone at purple.  I realize that while I pretty much despise orange, my real aversion is to colors that have a predominance of yellow.  Except in flowers and plants.  Is this just because I look awful in yellow tones?  Not really.  This dates all the way back to my childhood, because I can remember not liking the yellow and orange M&Ms.  I remember eating them in order from my least favorites, the two brown ones (those don't count because they're not colors on my personal color wheel), then the orange and yellow, and finally the really good ones, green and then red.  There were no blue m's back then -- as much as I like blue, on a little hard-shelled candy it's just wrong.

This sends me in search of information about color aversion.  As usual, theories abound on the internet.  Some say yellow aversion is a symptom of autism.  Hmm....   A color therapy site tells me that I'm disappointed and bitter, and that I tend to form shallow relationships because of my fear of being hurt.  Another site tells me I may be xanthophobic.  There's even an online test to determine how badly my aversion to yellow may be affecting my life and a home study program to help me recover from it.

Sorry, folks, but this time I think the cigar is just a cigar.  Daffodils, yes.  Raincoats, no.  Lemons, yes.  Housepaint, no.  Yellow is just one of those colors that should occur only in nature.

Yes, I'm rambling, but since I'm the only one who actually reads my blog, 100% of my readership agree that this is ok.

Back to the adventures of Bunny and Me...   When the sun consumes all the shade in my little corner of the courtyard, I suddenly know that it's time to go.  I look down and realize that I have spun up all but the last three colors of the last repeat of this roving.  Wouldn't you know it, two of the colors are yellow and orange.

Here's Bunny on location.  That's kind of a hint but a bit of a stretch.  Not telling exactly where, but that's a statue of Douglas Fairbanks in the center of the photo.

Tour de Fleece, Day 2

Second day of the tour, and I enjoyed another vacation from housework!

This morning I finished the third of the four smaller pieces for the fractal spinning.

 Decided to give myself a break and start the big piece on another bobbin.  Finished about a third of it.

Comparing the two bobbins, it's easy to see that there will definitely be some interesting color mixing.  You can see bits of all the different colors in the top photo.  But in the bottom photo, you can see only the last three or so colors spun.  I'm looking forward to seeing the results when these two are plied.

On the fitness challenge side, we took Bunny Watson with us to the lounge at the Bowlium, where we teach a West Coast class every Sunday.  We've just added a half-hour to the lesson specifically for woyking on the basics, and tonight we stayed an extra half hour to let the class practice what they've been learning -- so I got in about an hour more than usual.  Bunny only got to spin a tiny bit while there, but at least she was present while we worked.

Here's Bunny relaxing while we get ready to dance.  No dancers wanted to appear in the photo.

  Today I started using a new battery I bought from Amazon.com -- the Anker Astro3.  It weighs 11 ounces, compared to the 15 ounces of the blue battery I got from a Chinese ebay seller.  It comes with plugs for powering all kinds of phones and small personal electronics -- so maybe I won't be running around with a dead iPhone at the most inconvenient times.  One other advantage to the Anker is that the connecting wires are not fixed to the battery. I worry that the two wires coming out of the blue battery are going to get bent or broken, and then the whole battery is useless.

Comparing the Footprints of the Two Batteries

I had the Anker battery going for several hours.  I ran out of steam before it could, so I can’t say how long the battery life is, but it’s far more than one average day of spinning for me.  And being as obsessive about being prepared as I am, I just ordered a second one.   Next time we have a power outage, I'll still have my phone and my eSpinner.  What else does a girl need?

Don't answer that!

Tour de Fleece, Day 1

Why is it that when you set a goal, it takes the guilt out of doing something fun instead of doing chores?

Today was the first day of the Ravelry Tour de Fleece (hereinafter called "TdF").  So I got up determined to get all my "must-do" chores out of the way so I could have the rest of the day to work on my fractal spinning project.  The housework is just going to have to wait.

Slight detour on the chores...  I just couldn't wait to get started.  First order of business was to split the bump of Tropical Rainbow into sections for fractal spinning.  .  Although the colors are not what I would ordinarily choose, they are actually quite pretty -  the photos don't do justice to it.  When I unbraided it, I found that the colors are sequential - blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, purple - repeated 6.5 times.  I think this will make a lovely fractal yarn.

 Although I'm still a rank beginner at spinning, I like to try to be precise, so I did my best to make the first division as equal as possible.  Not nearly as easy as it sounds.  The piece weighed 3.85 ounces, and when I split it I wound up with once piece at 1.55 oz, and the other at 2.3. Split the 2.3 oz piece into four and got three .6 ounce pieces and one .5 ouncer.  Debated about putting the smallest piece with the largest for the "big" half, but I doubt that I could have managed to keep the colors aligned.  Then decided perhaps I would simply save that bit for later.  The chances of me spinning two singles of relatively equal length even if the division was precisely even is nil, so I thought I would just set the smallest bit aside for a later date.

Then on to the must dos:

Pick up Tallulah's Fourth of July cards at Walmart.  (Yes, my dog sends greeting cards to special friends on all major holidays).   Check!

Pick up a case of Tallulah's food at the vet.  (Tallulah has some food intolerances and requires a special diet.)  Check!

Address and mail Tallulah's cards.  Check!

I think I'm beginning to see a theme here...

Pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy.  Check!

Toss a load of laundry in the washer.  Check!  But darn,  I forgot about it and it's been sitting in the washer all day.  Excuse me while I go finish the laundry...

The incentive to begin spinning makes me get my chores done in record time.  By 10:30 I'm raring to go!

As it turned out, when I began to pre-draft one of the .6 oz. pieces, I quickly realized that I was dealing with a staple length that I haven't encountered before.  So the extra bit turned out to be a good thing.  I took the opportunity to spin that bit first, and had a chance to get acquainted with this fiber. I spent quite a bit of time spinning a little, stopping to check the twist, and fiddling with the tension and speed of the MS until it felt right.  I still have a feeling I may be underspinning a little but whenever I check it looks ok so we'll see.

I'm adding the three .6 oz pieces to this -- since I'll be plying directly from the bobbin, the small bit will be at the end of what I'm plying and I probably won't even get to it before I run out of the big piece.   It's really lovely to spin -- except for a couple of tiny slightly felted spots, it drafts more easily than anything I've spun yet.  And it feels so soft running through my fingers. 

Here are the five pieces -- in the midst of pre-drafting so they look like all random sizes.

 One of my group challenges is to do something extra to improve my fitness every day - and document it with a photo.  Rather than posting pictures of myself doing activities, I decided that my fitness challenge will be to take a walk to a different spot each day with Bunny Watson (my Hansen MiniSpinner) in tow and do some spinning there.  Then I would document it with a photo of Bunny on location.  This morning was already turning into a scorcher, and my little dog needed a training workout and a chance to play.  So I decided to take advantage of the shady part of my yard and work on Tallulah's leash etiquette. Then we chased each other around the yard a little bit.

Finally I sat on the back porch and started my spinning while Tallulah chased the birds and patrolled the perimeter of the yard.  A very pleasant morning until the heat drove us both indoors.  Since my porch is still loaded with plastic tubs full of fleece and assorted stuff, I cheated a little and took a photo of Bunny near the fountain.  The sky really was that blue today!

You can't really see the yarn already on the bobbin, but at this point I had spun about a quarter of an ounce.

 

This Tropical Rainbow is a bit of lovely soft Corriedale top.  I read up on this breed in The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, which I highly recommend.    The cool thing about this book is that you get the history of the breed, and there are tons of photos of the different fibers raw, washed, spun in different styles, and even swatched. Today I was excited to realize that I'm actually beginning to tell a difference between the several types fiber I've been spinning. Maybe I'm going to get the hang of this!

 The afternoon just flew by.  I  alternated spinning with a bit of reading, catching up with email, a quick nap, and a dinner break, plus some quality time with Tallulah.  I only stopped spinning for the day when I noticed a little ache in my wrist.  Don't want to risk an injury this early in the competition!

So here's what I finished today.  This is about 1.4 ounces, quite a bit more than I expected to finish today.   Gotta get some rest so I can put another big dent in this project tomorrow.

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.