It’s Getting to Be a Habit

 This seems like a very good trend to me.  I have finally finished another project.  Gee, didn’t I mention that yesterday too?   My first completed project of Tour de Fleece this year. Well this was a spinning project.  I spun 8 ounces of 75% BFL and 25% silk dyed by Twisty Desert Dames and sold exclusively at Grandmas Spinning Wheel in Tucson Arizona.  This was plyed with ITO 100% silk in the color Persimmon.  I used one  464 yard cone for the largest skein. I had varying amounts of the ITO silk on other cones and managed to empty 3 more cones.  This is why the 4 skeins are 4 different sizes.  The raw silk also adds a unique texture to the finished yarn that I would not have been able to create with silk or cotton thread.  This is why bespoke yarn is so expensive   

I was originally thinking of knitting fingerless gloves with this yarn.  However, now that the yarn has been hot soaked to set the ply and dried, the yarn is just screaming make me into a shawl.  This is my most expensive spinning project in a very long time, with the cost of supplies coming in at about $100.  So unless someone is willing to fork over $500 for the 4 skeins. I plan to make a bespoke shawl with the yarn.  If you want less expensive yarn, I would suggest going to Grandmas Spinning Wheel in Tucson Arizona or any other Local Yarn store.  

Now for a picture of the yarn.  

Getting a Head Start on Christmas projects for 2027

 I am getting a head start for next’s year’s Old Pueblo Knitting Guild Navajo scarf project.  The team already has enough scarfs for this year’s delivery. So, since the scarf is too warm for my local project, it will be put away for next year’s event. I am very happy that another project is completed.  

Very Great Full to My Friends

 Thursday at the Tucson Old Pueblo Knitting Guild my fellow knitting guild members donated five larger carrier bags and three grocery bags full of socks, and hand knit hats. All the items are going to my favorite School District Clothing Bank next week.  

If you would like to join a great group of people check out our website at Tucson Old Pueblo Knitting Guild. If you would like to join us our members knit, crochet, do machine knitting and weaving, any fiber artist are welcome.  

Lost, Found and Spinning

Today was a very mixed day.  I had a very slow start, I meant to get to the grocery store before lunch. That did not happen. 

Before I went grocery shopping, I had to find a couple lost things. Of course, one of those were my earbuds that are always getting lost. Luckily, I have a tracker on my phone to help find my earbuds. Although it did get complicated because it showed the location as the couch. So I looked under the couch and did not find them. I looked behind the couch and did not find them. I looked in the cupholders and the storage container. I removed all my blankets and shawls from the couch. They were still missing, but I was close. So then I started looking through knitting bags, of course my earbuds were hiding in a knitting bag. Where else would they be playing hide and seek from?

Then it was off to find the microwave popcorn maker. I looked in all the usual storage spaces, not once but twice. I looked possible storage places. Then, as a last ditch effort I thought why not look where the pots and pans are  stored . Of course it was hiding behind a pile of pots. 

Then it was off to the grocery store to get everything. Between coupons and gift cards I saved over $70 today. I’m really happy with that. I had thought that after I had gone grocery shopping, I would spend some time spinning, boy was I wrong. It was nap time. I was too tired to do anything.

We had a simple dinner at home. Then it was time for spinning. Well, actually plying the yarn I finished spinning yesterday. I must be really out of shape, because after plying one skein of yarn I was exhausted and needed a rest.  I guess I will have to build up to plying more than one skein of yarn on the drop spindle at a time. It was a lot more work than I remembered.maybe I will try to get Peyton a couple of times a day to get the project finished sooner.

After that, I watched some television and worked on a simple Tunisian crochet scarf.  I am on the last skein. 

TTFN. It has been a very long day and tomorrow is over packed.  

Tour de Fleece 2026

 On this the second day of the Tour de Fleece, I would like to say that I am doing it a little different this year. As I have been doing since January, I am trying to finish my UFOs, that includes hands-spun yarn. I have a lot of projects that did not get finished when I got sick two years ago. So those are first on the agenda for this year‘s tour. Since I’m not going for any prizes except for maybe a cleaner knitting  and spinning room I’m totally fine with this. 

I cleared the yarn off of 12 spindles today. There were 11 from a 3.9 ounce braid from www.edgewoodgardenstudio.com in the color Dusty Plain 1 in Stricken Lonk Wool which I had never spun before this. If you have never spun with Stricken Lonk wool I would highly recommend it. This wool is amazing, I used very tiny light weight spindles weighing in at about 18 grams all the way up to 1.5 ounces and got the same fine spin with all of them. 

On the Hansen electric wheel I have a braid that I am currently plying. The skein was bought at Grandmas Spinning Wheel her in Tucson. The braid is an in house dyed line by Cassie and Jessica. The braid is a merino and silk blend that I am plying with ITO raw silk. The yarn feels amazing. I am hoping that I have enough to knit a pair of fingerless mittens for myself. 

When I get caught up, I will bring out two batts with wool I have never worked with before. It’s a European wool that is raised on a small farm, locally processed near the farm.  The business the process this wool has been in business with the same family since 1800s. And then I bought the batts from a  company that specializes in small batch fibers from Europe.  

I am going to mainly concentrate on my drop spindles, Turkish Spindles and see if I can do a little bit of supported spinning.  My personal feeling on the subject is that I can spin on a Navajo spindle, supported spindles are very similar.  Although in the future I would like to trade my big company Navajo type spindle for a Dine made spindle.  I understand the balance is much better. The craftsmanship is usually better too. 

Below is a picture of my 11 spindles of Stricken Lonk Wool.  You can see what I mean by the different size spindles.  

Updated with the picture of the spindles loaded with Stricken Loch yarn   

Fun Things May Be Coming

 I have been playing with a new to me yarn called Coastal Cotton Ocean Mist by the Queensland Collection.  The yarn is 100% Cotton, the label says it is Pure Soft Cotton.  I must wholeheartedly agree with that statement.  By the way it is carried by both of Tucson’s Local Yarn Shops, Birdhouse Yarns and Grandma’s Spinning Wheel.

I chose this yarn because I am currently knitting items for a higher end charity event.  I wanted my yarn to reflect this. So far with the first skein I have made one 8” x 8” washcloth.  I have enough yarn to make a second washcloth which I started tonight.  If I have enough to make 3 washcloths I will add an addendum to the bottom of this post. 

I am really rocking geometric shapes in the patterns that I am designing. The yarn seems to be holding up well to this fun style of knitting.  I am also pleased with the yarn definition as I’m changing between knitting and pearling. I am also not using a pattern or sketches of any kind. I am just going with the flow. 

For full disclosure. I purchased all the yarn for the charity auction work, replacing yarn in current patterns and for the new patterns in the works. I purchased half the yarn from each of my locally owned yarn shops. If this yarn is not available locally to you both shops will take phone orders and mail out the yarn and anything else that they carry.

Knitting Accessories

 It has been determined that my husband’s car has a preference to what knitting accessories it likes to eat. It’s number one choice is the expensive Chibi darning needles. Once one falls I will never get it back.  I have tried flashlights and magnets to no avail. 

The car however, does not like stitch markers which is a huge surprise to me because I loose so many. The car practically spits them back at me. My guess is the car just does not know what to do with stitch markers.  

Does your car have a preference to what knitting accessories it likes to eat?  I am just curious.