Making Progress

 I got the all clear to resume normal activity at my post op appointment today.  So the first things I did was start a load of laundry and the dishwasher.  The dishwasher got emptied. The laundry is still waiting for me in the dryer.  It apparently was not the day to fold 2 loads of laundry.  

I also did a 5 minute Zenning project in the kitchen.  I pared down my measuring cups.  I have lost a lot of measuring cups over the years.  So I kept 1 metal and 1 plastic set of measuring cups.  The excess cups are headed to Goodwill.  I also have a set of glass bowls that have not been used for at least 10 years.  I had to face the fact that I just don’t bake as much as I use too. This might have something to do with kids growing up and moving out. So why waste the space.  My husband immediately put extra tea and coffee cups in the space.  So this is a massive win for 5 minutes of work.  The extra cups are no longer on the counter and the measuring cups are not falling down when I open the cupboard.  

The last of my Tour de Fleece yarn from Hilltop Clouds was washed and thwack.  It is now drying in the garage.  It will take a couple of days to dry due to high humidity.  My current plan for the yarn includes 3 different shawls.  One shawl for each stage.  Pictures once the yarn is dry.  

One Week Out

 I am 1 week out from surgery last Friday and am being to feel better.  I am taking less Tylenol. I am sleeping better.  My daily numbers are down.  Apparently pain and the stress that the pain causes make all numbers go up.  I feel like my old self joking around with my husband.  I am getting faster with my zingers. 

So as much as the first week after surgery was difficult for me, in the end run it was very good to get the repair work done.  Yes, I do for the most part consider surgery repair work.  I still have 1 week of resting to do.  And my 1st post op next week.  I am hoping that things are healing to plan.  

Today I managed to finish plying the last third of my Tour de Fleece yarn.  I even managed to work out chain plying on my Hanson e-spinner, I just wish my arms were longer.  I am almost finished with the brim on the hat that I started yesterday. This one will be a planed scrappy hat.  

At this time blogger is having trouble uploading pictures. I will post the hat to instagram.

Tour De Fleece Part 2

 My spin for the second third of the Tour de Fleece is complete.  I finished plying and skeining the last 3 skeins tonight.  The last skein is chain plyed.  I am still not very good at chain plying.  I do however feel that it is passable.  In case you are wondering the chain plyed skein is the one on the left   I used a 1 yard knitty noddy on it   

Tomorrow I start the last section of the spinning.  With the daily spins compressed. This means that I will open more than one packet a day.  

Without further ado here is the second section of spun yarn.  I am getting a little more finished yarn than I thought that I would do so a shawl might be out of the question.  Or maybe multiple shawls is the best answer.  

My First Plying

 Ok I have the first 3 plys done for Tour de Fleece 2024.  As you can tell by the 3 skeins of yarn the first plying attempt was not as good as the second or third.  I find that’s the great thing about being an artist, everything is not set in stone except marble sculptures.  

So instead of going from the top down on a shawl with my Tour de Fleece spinning, I have a new game plan.  The first skein of yarn will go into a one of a kind scarf for a child who utilizes the Flowing Well’s School District Clothing Bank. Since the yarn is way too bumpy to knit.  The yarn will add a unique texture to the scarf.  Nothing goes to waste.  Everything in art has a purpose.  

I will continue with my Tour de Fleece spin and come up with a game plan for the rest of the yarn.  The pictures below are pre snd post washing and thwacking.  

This and That

 As I write this blog post we have had over an inch of rain since dinner time.  There were a lot of micro bursts that broke a lot of power poles.  This time we feel very lucky not to be in the red or pink zones without power.  This storm came in hard and fast  enough to trigger a weather related headache. It is supposed to rain for 2 more hours. I hope that by dawns early light the storm damage will be minimal.

I am almost done with the first  of 3 sections of my Tour de Fleece spin.  Hopefully that will be finished soon.  

I got overheated last Wednesday morning and my body just ground to a halt.  So most of the week has be spent resting.  I use to find the summer heat energizing because I hurt less.  Somehow this summer even dashing between the store and my car is very draining.  I just can’t figure it out yet.  I hope it is only temporary. Only time will tell.  

Testing My Limits

 As a spinner, I always like to test my limits on how full I can fill a bobbin or drop spindle.  My new Hansen mini pro e-spinner is no exception.  While plying my first bobbin of Tour de Fleece 2024 I got to within 1/8 of an inch of the flyer.  I was plying a worsted weight yarn.  I had o problem at all getting the bobbin filled with my first 7 stages plus a coordinating color.  I am spinning up the rest of the coordinating color to use as a break between the stages for knitting my new shawl.

I am still experimenting on where I want the bobbins that I am plying to be. I think I have ruled out having the bobbins adjacent To the e- Spinner, it is just too awkward to pull the yarn out smoothly from the bobbins. Right now I am experimenting with having the bobbins on a step stool which is about 12 inches off the floor. This seems to be working because I am not using my spinning chair. I am using a regular office chair. This seems to be a good distance and an easier plying experience. I also think the yarn looks better. I will have a better idea after washing the yarn to set the twist. 

I am projecting that I will not finish all the stages on time.  This is my current priority spin so I can get the shawl knit up.  I am not sure if I will use an existing pattern or design a new one.  It all depends on the yarn and what it wants to be.  

Tour de Fleece Spinning

 The picture of the bobbins tell the next chapter in my spinning journey.  I have gotten much more comfortable with my new Hansen mini pro e-spinner.  I still occasionally turn the speed dial to off when changing to the next bobbin. Then wondering why it won’t start. I am getting much better at remembering to put the break back on after changing the bobbins.  I have found that with my arthritis using pearl cotton as the leader is much easier to see and for my hands to get the fiber settled into than sewing thread.  I might be sacrificing a few inches of yarn, but that’s OK with me. 

In the past 2 weeks, I have upped my spinning skills with the e-spinner.  The bobbin in the front left is the first bag of pencil roving for my older sister.  This bobbin is just shy of 8 ounces.  So the bobbins hold a lot of fiber.  There is one more bag of that color to be spun on a second bobbin.  I will ply them onto a third bobbin until full and then refill the bobbin until I run out of yarn. 

 The bobbin in the front right is the second third ( stages 8 to 14),of the Tour de Fleece spin from Hilltop Cloud in Mallwyd, Wales. Katie is a fabulous curator and dyer of fiber.  It is also faster to get something from Wales than from some parts of the United States. The bobbin in back is the first third of the spin of Tour de Fleece.  Stages 1 to 7. Today I received the extra fiber I ordered from the first day of the spin for the purpose of plying with stages 1 to 7.  I will show that off when I am finished plying it.  Yes, I must spin it first and fast, as I am running out of bobbins. 

For all those who are curious about my other spinning wheels, I still have not gotten the clearance from the doctor to start using them again.  I am hopeful that it will be soon; however, I am prepared to pivot if necessary. So change might be necessary. I really did not think that would happen at all. I have bought and tried 2 e-spinners that did not work well with me.  This time I tried before I bought it. E-spinners are like drop spindles and spinning wheels. There are many different types and there is a right one for each person.  You just might have to try a few to get the right fit.  

It was a wonderful way to spend part of the day. Even though it was cooler with a high of only 107 Fahrenheit or 41.66 Celsius.  Verses yesterday’s 112 Fahrenheit or 44.44 degrees Celsius. This is summer in Tucson.  Although as the population grows, I think Tucson is turning into a heat island with too many paved surfaces and buildings. With not enough desert landscape. The nights are not cooling down much either and I worry about our cactus. That is my personal opinion and as of yet has not been back up by the science people. 

Another Sunday in Summer

 Apparently it was not hot enough today for my freshly washed and thwacked yarn to dry in the garage.  At 108F or about 42C the yarn that was put out before lunch was not quite dry by bedtime. Maybe a high humidity of 18% is to blame.  It should be dry by morning.  

I almost caught up on my Tour de Fleece spin.  Instead of being 2 days behind, I am only 1/2 a day behind.  That is until tomorrow when I wake up to being 1 1/2 days behind.  Even with the e-spinner I have found that when I am having a difficult body day no matter how hard I try the yarn may just turn out a bit wonky.  Also I must remember to put the breaking cord on each time I change the bobbin.  Otherwise it really wonky things happen and it takes me a few minutes to figure it out.  With all that being said. I have had the e-spinner less than a month and overall it is going very well.   

I would love a change of scenery for some knitting.  However with the high at 109F I really don’t think outdoor knitting is really going to happen. It will be in the low 80’s at sunrise. Sighs.  So it will either be my audio book or watching the last episode of Geek Girl and finding another show to watch.  I really hope that they renew Geek Girl, it is cute and light television watching.   

TTFN

The Boomerang Effect

 Yesterday morning was very successful for me in getting some deep cleaning done.   Getting stuff ready to leave the house. All the while working on less is more.  Leavening the work space cleaner and more organized than I found it. I do strongly believe that in retrospect I used too many units of personal energy.  

All the work was done before breakfast.  After breakfast I took a very long nap, just because I had no energy left to move.  I spent the rest of yesterday dragging.  Not getting anything but resting done.  

Fast forward to today.  I woke up tired.  I had no energy for most of the day. My major accomplishment today was returning a mail order item that was too big.  John drove me across town while I napped.  I also completed stage 2 of the Tour de Fleece. I must say that the color way is working for my plan to keep adding 1 parcel a day until I an either halfway through the parcels or the bobbin is full.  Then start the next bobbin.  

I also started watching a light comedy on Netflix called Geek Girl.  The show is definitely binge worthy.  It is definitely chick lit so the guys might not want to watch it with you.  That is perfectly ok.  It is a very good show.  I really hope that we get another season or 6 more. 

I am enjoying the book Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson.  I am finding the characters interesting.  With just enough twist and turns to make it a page turner.  It is also a very good book to listen to while spinning yarn.  No pun intended.

As usual I paid for the fiber for the Tour de Fleece myself. All opinions are my own. There are no sponsorships for any of my recommendations .  TTFN.

The fiber from this Tour de Fleece spin is from Hilltop Cloud in Wales.  Today’s fiber is Cambrian, a mix of Welsh Mountain crossed with BFL.  It is a very nice spin.