Week 2 of Tour de Fleece

After 2 weeks of spinning everyday I can see my wpi consistency increasing.  That's my goal for this race - to be able to make at least 150 yards of even yarn.  Well not commercially even but enough to satisfy me.

Right now I am spinning some boring undyed merino at 24-28 wpi and doing a good job.  I will see later today when I ply it with this if I have come close to goal.

This being a Novelty Batt.  When I make Pixie Batts I need to clean out the brushing cloth every few batts to make room in there and to change colors.  The gleanings are saved until they weigh about 2 ounces and then put through the carder again resulting in a multi color, multi fiber, very sparkly batt.  Since the fibers change and there are some neps and lots of angelina the diameter of the single varies but I am allowing myself leeway with this one since it should look novelty-ish. I will probably make a Basketweave beret with the yarn.  

My attempt at spinning fingering weight was only partially successful.  The resulting yarn (baby alpaca, merino and unspecified wool) is mostly fingering but it varies way too much for entering into the Troy Fair Show as I had hoped.

I was also hoping to make something out of it for my sister but, alas, the unspecified wool makes it a bit itchy.  DARN!

There are also now 2 skeins of Blymey (376 and 352 yards) in heavy fingering weight yarn.  Still not sure what I am going to do with it.  My thoughts go from a sweater to part of a sweater to learning to weave to forgetting it all for a while.  And then my knitting ADD takes over and I am ready to start something totally new from more recently spun yarn, like the beret.

Tour de Fleece 2011

It's July and that means it's Tour de Fleece time again - self challenge time with spindles, wheels and fiber.  Plus daily random prizes on the general thread.  There are also general teams for rookies and spindlers and such.  I love this spinning spinning spinning with all its interchanges with other fiber enthusiasts.
For the past 3 years I have sponsored a Team Spinning Bunny.  For the past 2 years we have had a special exclusive Tour colorway.  Last year it was Bistro and this year it is Blymey.  In order to get the current color the spinner must join our group and then be sent the 'secret' page link.  Blymey comes in Woody, Polwarth and bfl/silk plus a matching but lime-less pixie batt option.  There are also weekly random prizes in our team.

We are now 6 days into the 'Race" which parallels the Tour de France in that we start and end on the same days, have suggested break days when they do and challenge ourselves a bit more on any day they climb steep hills.

So far my spinning has been thus.

*

*

Repeat from * to * until all fiber is turned into yarn.

July 4th afternoon

Back when Jim and I got married in November of 2008, we were given a gift certificate to the Sherwood Inn in Skaneateles (skinny atlas).  We had a great weekend stay there and came away with credit still on the GC.  We thought we'd use it for our first anniversary but alas something came up, probably weather, and the GC just sat on the fridge all these months (years).

During the summer we like to take day trips around the state.  Jim has a gps in his head and loves to just turn off a main road and meander around the countryside always coming out where we need to be. Summer is so lush, our state so pretty, almost anywhere is beautiful.  So for July 4th we decided to drive up to Skaneateles Lake, have a nice lunch on the 'porch' and then meander on home.  We saw lots of wildflowers, fields of corn and wheat and folks out enjoying themselves.

While we enjoyed our meal, folks were strolling by across the street by the lake, walking dogs, pushing carriages, flying balloons, paddling and in general relaxing on a nice sunny July 4th day.

It all reminded me of a Seurat painting "The Picnic",  minus the cars of course.

The food was excellent and the service way above average leaving us feeling sated and happy. I hardly ever drink but felt this was a special occasion so ordered a Blue Moon draft.  I may never drink it bottled again.  It was delicious.  Not as fizzy as normal bottled beer, not filtered either.  The orange slice on the glass was a perfect accompaniment.   I actually almost finished a whole glass.

 Jim decided he wanted to head home by going west on route 20 and then cut down route 89 on the west side of Cayuga Lake.  I joked that we were almost at 89 as we were going to cross 90.  He said, hmmmnnnn and turned left on 90.  We followed it for a while and it surprisingly led us down to Lock #1 at the top of Cayuga Lake.

Coincidentally, while we were meandering, my sister sent me a NYT story link about a photographer who recently paddled part of the Erie Canal.  She was way east of us and our lock is in much better repair but the story is interesting.

They are dredging this lock and doing some repairs.  It looks freshly painted too.

view looking north to canal

Years ago I paddled this end of the lake with some friends.  It's rather shallow so does not resemble the southern end where Ithaca is at all.

view looking south to lake

We drove through some lakeside towns down past Aurora where Wells College resides and south to Ithaca.

Such a lovely lovely day which was only made better by some spinning in the evening.

More details on this Tour de Fleece project tomorrow.  

Quick Update

We are packed and doing last minute stuff (like personal packing, watering the plants, cutting Baz' toenails, washing my hair, etc) and then off to the CNY Fiber Festival to set up our booth in Tent D.

This morning was our regular sunrise practice in the C4.  We averaged 4.2 mph (4 last week) and got up to 6.6 (5.3 last week) at some point.  We also turned the boat in about 2/3 the width of the inlet.  All this is such good progress without any forcing or pain.  Definite fun.

I also noticed last night that items that used to seem fairly heavy while packing up the shop into the Uhaul now seem just fine.


While getting ready for the show I finished the Baby Kick bag (WITH car seat strap hole) and matching hat I pledged for the Joining Forces baby shower that Knitters for Obama committed to.

Also here is one of the logos we are using for Team Spinning Bunny in the Tour de Fleece.  There are 3 to choose from.  Join our team and play.   Special colorway and mystery scarf KAL.

OK - back to getting ready to leave.  Hope to see some of you there this weekend.

C-4

 Years ago Jim and I used to do a bit of canoe racing here and there. I enjoyed it but Jim really got into the racing spirit by competing in the Adirondack Classic 90 miler 13 times, winning in his class thrice.  Eventually his body got the best of him and he had to give it up.  That was so hard.

Last year our friend DJ (of sled dog fame) asked Jim to coach her and Sabrina in order to compete in the Classic in the Recreational C-2 Women's Class.  Sabrina had barely been in a canoe while DJ was quite experienced.  Jim went out with them, he in his solo canoe, them in a nice Bell, twice a week for 4 - 5 months and then along as part of their pit crew for the 3 day staged race in September.  They did well for a rookie team, placing in the middle of the pack in a year that many boats did not finish.

I have never seen this race.  Huh?  Jim did it for how many years and you never went?  Sigh, yes.  The race was always the first week of teaching.  Go up on Thursday and race, Friday - Sunday?  During the first week back?  Not a very good idea or way to get the year started.   So I never did.   Then after I retired into the Spinning Bunny business Jim was no longer racing plus our biggest show of the year, Fingerlakes Fiber Festival in Hemlock, NY happens the 3rd weekend of September so getting ready for that took precedence.

Then DJ decided she wanted a bigger boat. And more paddlers. And to race with Jim.  Two years ago Jim had shoulder surgery and then last winter spinal surgery.  His shoulder now works great and he is out of back pain. And she wanted to experience the high of passing lots of boats in the race.  All that boils down to a 23 foot, 64 pound, 39" wide,  4 person canoe.  DJ wrangled an excellent deal on one this past winter and brought it home early April.

So Jim, DJ, Anne (DJ's partner who cried last year when she could not be in the pit crew because she had a vending that weekend, but no longer) and Sabrina were the desired paddlers.  Then Sabrina needed to have shoulder surgery reducing the team to only 3.  I was recruited to be the designated pinch hit paddler.

At first I played but was not really dedicated. However I grew to like the practice and even committed to getting a lot of the dyeing for Hemlock done in August rather than Sept.  I would be the person who filled in if one of them got sick or hurt and also be in the pit crew. And I'd get to see the race finally. After a month or so of practice I am feeling more serious about this C-4 Team.

It is very hard to get 4 folks with busy lives to mesh twice a week, especially since one works late 3 nights.  The solution is to go out early, and I mean early, like meet at 5:30 A. M. in the Treman Marina boat launch parking lot. The first time we did this it started to rain as soon as we left the dock and did not stop until we returned and got out of the boat.

The lake is at 6" below flood level.     L->R: Jim, Anne, DJ

 On top of that my rain gear failed.  Sheesh.  I was a wet puppy but grateful for the warmish temps and that Jim took me out for a nice breakfast afterwards.

My body rythmns hate getting up at 4 so I have limited my early morning participation to once a week. Otherwise my day is really skewed.  Like right now I think it should be late afternoon and it is just noon.  This means I have missed a few practices due to that and the fact that sometimes I am out of town.

DJ also put together a special exercise class at our favorite Fitness center for anyone she knew who paddled and wanted to get into shape.  12 of us meet once a week for an hour with a coach.  Its a fast hour but a great workout too with half a dozen stations that we rotate around.  We are even thinking of extending this class past the planned 6 weeks.

This morning the air was a crisp 44 degrees but with only a mild breeze and the sun coming up bright and shiny.  Being on the water early in the day in good weather is a treat. We saw a merganser with babies, lots of Canadian geese but only one with babies as we think the high water might have drowned a bunch of nests, lots of yellow flags just coming into bloom, a deer that was curious enough to keep watching us from onshore, small dark bird chasing a crow and a Great Blue Heron after we got back to the dock.  We also passed several single rowing shells and took turns peeling off layers as our workout warmed us up.

We averaged 4 miles per hour with a high speed of 5.3.  That's counting stopping to rest for a few minutes at the 2 mile mark and starting out.  Excellent speed. DJ has a neat gps type thingy that can measure our speed and distance in a fancy waterproof clear bag.  Of course we were only out for an hour but still, it was invigorating and faster than we had ever done together plus the furthest we had paddled as well.  We also managed to turn the boat in the width of the inlet channel.  That sucker really wants to go in a straight line.  We are going up to the Adirondacks in a couple of weeks to practice portaging on Lakes 5 to 6 on Saturday and S-curvy Raquette River on Sunday.

Alternative Weaving Project

Adirondack Interlude

Baz, Jim and I managed to get up into the north country for 2 days last weekend.  The weather report for up there was about the same as here, rain and maybe rain but a few degrees cooler.  We decided we could stay dry or wet as well up there and at the same time get a bit of change for 48 hours.

We got most of the stuff unloaded and into the cottage before this deluge hit.

These pics were taken in full color.

It didn't rain all the time, just felt like it was going to.  We managed to attend the Mountain Man Canoe and Kayak Festival and take a nice walk in the woods.

The rain has produced the most wonderful shades of green and since it hasn't been hot much yet, the wildflowers are still blooming.

foam flower

blooming spring viburnum

violets and trout lily

tiny white violets

 star flower

 red trillium

Oh and some knitting, of course.

 

toe up socks with a cableless cable in Bistro Woody.

 

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden are putting together baby showers for military wives all over the country, Joining Forces.  Each woman receives a very nice layette for her expected little bundle Pajamas, Baby Gown, Blanket-swaddle or sleep sack, Blanket-lovie, Blanket-Large for stroller or floor, Onsies, Baby Outfits, Socks-2pr., Hats-2, Shoes-Pre Walker. 

I belong to Knitters for Obama online in Ravelry, where we do service knitting along with political support.  We have committed to making 100 pairs of baby socks plus 100 swaddle/sacks and as many blankets as we can.  If you are interested in helping you needn't be a member, just send the item to me and I will mail it along with mine.

The kick sack started above is meant to use up leftover sock (washable) yarn on size 4 needles.  Easy knit so I did most of what you see on the drive up and back (only 8 more inches to go).  We need to have our items in to our Missouri rep by the end of August.  I hope we meet the challenge.

And- since I am counting this as my May knitting present project, it should be done soon.