TDF 12 day 22.....

Today is the final day of TDF 12 and I finished the second bobbin of the latest BFL pulled from the bin.  I will be plying this week and hopefully will have more than the pattern of 242 that I have gotten this summer.  I ended with 16 ounces spun, which is a record TDF for me and I met my goal of spinning at least 15 minutes a day, with the exception of a beach vacation :)  Now I need to figure out what to knit with my handspun....get to spinning, get to knitting.

So EXPLICIT!

My TDF 12 continues and I 2 plyed the superwash BFL, Bitten (4 ounces).  I am naming it Explicit, so kinky it deserves an X rating.  It is SO kinky.  I have about 246 yards of a sportish weight.

  I love the colors and I love the feel, but frustrated that the last 3 braids I have spun have all been in the 240 yard range.  Hey, at least I am consistent :)

But what to knit with 240ish sport weight yards????????????

Seat post readjusted and back on the spinning wheel for TDF....

 I'm back on a roll, which is good because I go back to work Monday and need to get this spinning done!

I finished 2 bobbins of the superwash BFL and that needs to be plyed.....sometime this week!

 I dug into the fiber bin and found a cream/pink/orange BFL to start next and decided to try fractal spinning.

I am so close to finished bobbin 1, so close, but my back is killing me from sitting and spinning.

This bobbin has the 4 parts from the split.  I will do the other whole part next and then plying magic will take place.  I have no clue what it should look like then, but it will be a first for me!

I think I have been kicked off the TDF tour :(

 

We went on a little vacation to the beach and I wasn't able to spin for TDF, so I think I have been kicked off!  Nah, just put on the sidelines, but home and back at it....spinning away.  I 2 plyed the mystery BFL and have about 242ish yards and very pleased with the end yarn.  Yep, it is kinky but I love it.

 

I stopped for some peanut butter cup chocolate ice cream, I'm in training you know!  And split a superwash BFL braid.  I have 4 ounces of this gorgeous roving and it is named "Bitten" from Pigeonroof Studios.

I have bobbin 1 finished and the colors are spectacular.  I have never spun SW before and it was a little tricky for me at first, because it is slippery!  I have started bobbin 2 today. 

 Oh, here is the reason I wasn't spinning....the beach!  I had to throw in some random Poopies pictures...they are so cute!

Oh, yeah....here is TDF 12 so far, I'm slack!

 Okay, this isn't TDF (Tour de Fleece) 12, but something I did in June at the beach.  Made a cute wrist wrap from leftover handspun I had....think this was the peacock colorway from mom's shawl.

 I was sitting in the car with the poopies waiting on His Majesty to come out of Harbor Freight when I finished this up and did an impromptu photo shoot. 
I think the guy in the truck beside me was concerned that I was photoing my lap :)

Yarn ninja!

 Okay, here is where my TDF 12 begins.  First day I weighed and split some gorgeous merino.  This was from a destash and Ravelry gals, have some more destashes please!!!!

The Yarn Wench  black cherry 1 

I discovered that merino wool HATES me!!!

 This was my first trip down the spin-some-merino-lane and it was a rough ride.  I had some kinky singles on the bobbins....while the merino rested I started on some BFL....ah love you BFL.

Finley assisted in the spinning process

A mystery BFL in blues and grays and gorgeous all the way around!

BFL bobbin 1 almost complete...no clue what TDF days these are

 

Ava graciously modeled the 2 plied merino, which resulted in 242ish yards and is very soft and making me happy.  Though it kept giving me the stink eye on the wheel.  Maybe I won't get rid of the remaining merino in the bins...though hiring a hit man to take it out was in the cards for a while.

BFL bobbins 1 and 2 finished and ready to be plied, but no one here wants to ply them.....we are tired of plying

Friday and I have green yarn!

Boo-yah, finished the lime green/yellow Punta fiber and have 196 yards of yarn.  As you are probably thinking, no I have not checked the WPI....that would mean I have to dig out the little tool and I am tired :)

I believe this will become a little monster or two...perfect Hulky green monster colors.

Other events around here include lots of puppy naps and cats taking turns looking out the door.  They must be waiting on a ride or a pizz delivery...

 And lots of backyard ball has been played and songs sung....I think they look like they are singing. I'm going with Bohemian Rhapsody, since that is one of our favorites to belt out at any given moment.

The bleeping socks are done and the cow gave me the stink eye....

 I finally finished these socks and I never thought I would, but they are blocking right now.  Thank goodness!!

These are a modified version of the Primavera Socks  pattern with my very first Afterthought Heel heel.  Not sure how I feel about them at this minute....not sure if I love the fit. 

The yarn is a Knit Picks yarn, I think Essential and that stuff fuzzes up when water hits it.  Reminds me of a Gremlin.

I have to say I loved my Ott light for helping my old eyes see the stitches when trying to start the heel.

 On our afternoon dog walk yesterday, Finley, Ava and I stopped to admire the neighbor's new calf.  The mama kept giving me the stink eye.  So rude!

If I could have jumped the fence and stole the calf I would have!

After this morning's walk, Finley decided to relax with a little doggie yoga and I cast on a bracelet with leftover handspun.

I love me some Finley!

Friday cuteness coming your way!

 Ava is so much cuter than any yarny goodness I can show you today.

We spent the day playing (with some knitting thrown in too) and enjoying icee pops in the backyard.  Ava enjoyed the coconut best.  I think she must be a Pina Colada girl at heart.

Look, I made more yarn!

 I FINALLY finished plying up my roving.  I have decided plying is my least favorite part, blah.  This was a Two if by hand braid in the Go Square Go color.

 I had 4 ounces of BFL and I did a 2 ply from my 2 bobbins....this was a true pleasure to spin!

I ended up with approximately 228 yards.

  I haven't whipped out the WPI tool to figure out what weight, but I do love the end product....yarn!

Now the tough part is what to make with this gorgeous yarn....

eta:  finally checked WPI and have 14 to 15...guessing fingering?  So not sure what a 220 some yard fingering will be, suggestions?  I wanted to do another 198 yards of Heaven shawl, but that requires worsted....will have to research this.  I do love the end colors :)  Don't you love spinning???!!!

Grrrrrrr monster

 Just finished a little Baldwin the bathroom monster for a coworkers little girl.  I made her from my pink/purple Punta fiber and love the fact that I have enough left to make another.  Score!

Thus, someone else will be getting a little Grrrr too!

Mother's Day includes mommies of 4 legged babies :)

 My mommy day present to myself, because I deserve it and because Ava and Finley are my little babies.  Now, I'm not discounting the kitties in my life....I love them dearly!! 

Kitties are not like doggies, they don't need mothering.  Ava and Finley need mommy love and they make my heart sing with joy...because they need my mommy love.

 

Now back to mother's day.....His Majesty surprised me, actually shocked me!  He made a trip to a yarn store and bought me a present :)  And while there he entered me into a raffle....and I won something.  I never win anything, but this time I did.

The Black Mountain Yarn Shop called me and left a message that I won.

Shocker....I won this sock box from Spud and Chloe

 

I thought they had lost their minds...but they didn't.  I won!!!  The box had a pattern, set of size 5 Lantern Moon dpns....

 

and these GORGEOUS sock yarns.  :)  I LOVE them.  They are so freakin awesome!!!!!

 And on top of winning this prize was my actual Mother's day gift.....the watermelon yarn I wanted so badly on my bday.

He went and got it for me!!!!!!!  I was weepy! 

While I slobbered all over my new fancy yarns I did manage to finish a monster.

I'm not crazy about it.  I wanted to use some stash acrylic, since it is for a baby gift.  Bad choice, because it just didn't knit as I had in my mind.

I think I will try a different yarn....

Let the dying commence.....

Okay, didn't dye this one, but did finish plying approx. 172 yards of this pink/purple punta fiber.  No clue my WPI because I am too lazy to dig out my tool.....LAZY!

 I decided to try some dying with acid dye this weekend.  I have a reason....I am dying 3 yard silk veils for the bellydance troupe I belong to and I needed to practice using acid dye. 

 Soooooo I tried dying some "blank" sock yarn first.  I love the vibrant colors.
I know my stripes are not even close to being the same, but I don't care!

  I did dig out a sock blank that I bought about 4 years ago and went to town on that puppy.  I think this one is my favorite!  It is kind of like an evil candy corn :)

  And then I tried dying the silk.  I started with a skinny silk veil and a little tie dying magic....then went to a 3 yard veil....

I need to take a full pic of the large veil, but there is that lazy thing again.   Anyway, the real veils will be dyed this coming week and they will be turquoise and royal blue. 

I must say I got the inspiration to tackle this project from CoggieTM over at The High Fiber Diet.  She is so awesome and inspiring and has really helped me in my knitting and spinning and you need to go check her out....right now!