The Tour de Fleece is over .....................................

It's been over for about a week now and, unfortunately, I wasn't able to do any more spinning than I did at the start. Thanks to a change in my work schedule, I wasn't able to finish anything ( it's hard to spin when you work 7 straight night shifts in a row, with 3 of them being 12 hours long and the rest being 8 hours ) it doesn't make for much time but sleep a few ( maybe 4-5 per day ) and work and somehow eat in between all this.

Chloe and Stylle were not at all impressed with this work schedule and they will like next weeks even less. As of Monday 8/4 I will be working 8 days in a row. I normally don't do things like this but I'm transitioning from a 13 week contract to per diem until another contract becomes available. That is, if I live thru this. * sigh *

I finally got my sheep shears from Premier One and they look HUGE. I haven't tried them yet, but I will, probably after Labor Day when I'll have some time ( I'm taking a well earned vacation during the week of the big coonhound show on Labor Day weekend ). I don't have a dog in it,but I'm going to be looking for a new puppy so Chloe can be a " big sister ". If I find the pup I want, I'll be bringing her home with me ( yes, I said " her " because I want a little girl-pup to go with my big Girl-Pup ). Stylle was heard the other day to be muttering something about another one of those damned loud-mouthed coonhounds coming to live in her house - I don't think she's too happy with the prospect of having another pup around since Chloe will be 3 in Oct. Poor Stylle, I guess I just upset her apple cart.

Well, as usual, Chloe is quiet and that ain't good so I'd better see what she's into.

Come back and see the new baby ( hopefully ) after Labor Day.

Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy

Sorry for the fuzziness of the picture but the camera is having a " bad hair day ".

This is the first part of the first single of Baron's roving that I've spun for the Tour De Fleece. It's a little finer than I wanted so I'll have to spin the other singles a bit thicker to make it the weight I want. It did spin up easily, I just didn't have much time to work on it and haven't done anything since Monday because of work ( I keep trying to convince the dogs and the sheep that if they wouldn't eat then I could stay home with them and get more done. For some reason they don't like that idea. Silly animals. )

I have been knitting with this yarn for about 10 days and I love it. It's Noro Taiyo yarn and it's made up of 40% cotton, 30% silk, 15 % wool and 15 % nylon. It has a nice soft handle and stripes it self into some of the prettiest fabric I've ever worked with. I was going to make a sweater of my own design but decided 1/2 way thru the back that I wanted it made into a cardigan. So, I will continue to knit it as if it were a sweater but when I'm finished I will cut the front ( I plan on putting steeks in the front ) and knitting on button bands. I think I will get more use out of it as a cardigan than a sweater.

This is what the yarn looks like knit up so far. The colors from my camera don't show up as pretty as in person. The fabric has a lot of green in it but it also has some very pretty blues, peachy oranges, purples ( from a lilac/lavender to a rich deep royal purple ) and blacks. It's interesting to see the progression of the colors within the stripes because almost all of the colors found in the yarn are seen in the stripes as they're knit. It's a very entertaining yarn. I normally only wear striped socks but with this yarn I'll make an exception ( besides I figure if others don't like it , then they don't have to look. ).

More later.

Le Tour De Fleece

Here is the roving I plan to spin into a 3-ply worsted weight yarn for my cardigan. It's from my favorite wether, Baron, who I lost 1 year ago this past March.

Baron was one of the few Perendales in the States. He started out as a very dark chocolate moorit when I got him. After his 1st shearing with me, his fleece started to lighten with the increase in grey fibers. He continued to lighten til his death, when he was the color of coffee with a lit of cream in it . His fleece has always had a very soft handle and is springy when spun into yarn. I have spun some of his darker fleece into yarn that will go to make an aran sweater.

This is the cardigan I plan on making out of Baron's wool that I will be spinning in the Tour De Fleece. It's called Oblique and calls for 19 balls of yarn that have 72 yds/ 40 gm ball ( which figures out to 1368 yds needed - I like my cardigans to be big enough that I can wear another sweater beneath it ). I'm gonna try my best to get at least a good bit of it done during these next 3 weeks and I will be posting daily, or as close to daily as my job and sleep schedule will allow, so you can see how things are coming along.

Well, it's time to get off the computer, dust off the wheel and get started on this yarn. Will post more soon. Good luck to all who participate.

Well, I just signed up for Le Tour De Fleece 2008.!!!

I will be spinning Baron's tweedy roving into a 3-ply worsted weight yarn so I can make the oblique cardigan this fall/winter ( it's just a tad too hot to really work with wool yarn right now - it's supposed to get up to the mid to upper 90's today ). I like the way his wool looks after it was turned into roving - it should work well in oblique.

Have just about enough energy left ( after working a 12-hour boring night shift ) to finish this post and crawl into bed.

Will post more later ... stay tuned for pix of the roving ( if I can get thsat *&^%$# digital camera to work, that is).