The Rest Of The Story

So after a good bit of running around doing the silly sheep dance, Lila settled down to grazing and then she and some of her new buddies came over to check out what I was up to. I was parked over in the shade so I could keep an eye on everyone and decided to carry my wheel.

Hmmm - so this drive band makes everything turn.



And then the yarn comes out here.



Mmm - fresh spun yarn smells good.



Yeah, well, this seems like a lot of work to me. Why don't they just grow their own wool sweaters like we do?



This was actually Wednesday's spinning - Emerin.



And yesterday I plied all of Bluebell (pictures later).



But I know what you REALLY want to see is how the nails are faring. Still holding strong through barn chores, house chores (including opening metal cat food cans) and pool time :-D.

And Now For Something [A Little Bit] Different

And we all hear Ed say "Whew!" ;-).



And Lila say "Wheeeeee!"



Lila got some new buddies last night. She was very excited. She ran and leaped and ran and leaped and ran...



...and tried to get B. Willard to play with her.

"Can't you see I'm EATING!?!"



"Okay, wheeeeeee!" (pant, pant, pant)



Then she ran over to me. (boing, boing, boing)



And ran back. (boing, boing, boing)



And back to me. (boing, boing, boing)



And back. (boing, boing, boing)

And then she and Marcel did a little spinning while B. Willard picked fleece (that had already been processed into roving, thank you very little, Willard ;-).

More later...

Tour de Fleece Day Four Recap

Taking a break from Bluebell to check in with Team Jacob Junkies.



I separated Emerin's white and gray, let OVNF run the white and carded the gray myself. If you remember from the earlier picture, it was pretty mottled...but pretty. I tried to leave it mottled and spin it that way, but in the end just couldn't do it.

It probably would have been really neat, but as each batt was mottled a little bit differently, my 'everything has to be just so' brain couldn't handle it. I divided, paired up different grays and carded it two more times.

No one will ever accuse me of being too colorful :-/.



This is pretty too though.



I just love this basket. I picked it up a couple years ago and can't remember the maker's name or business. Does anyone recognize it?



An an ugly spindle shot just to record how far I'm going to come during the Tour. My goal is to be able to wind a spindle half as neatly as Michelle. We ain't there yet, but we are having fun and learning new things ;-).

Things You Learn In Workshops

You might be thinking I'm going to be talking about wool or learning to use my new Jenkins spindle.

Nope.



Check out my finger nails!

I've been very lucky in most of the workshops I've taken to end up seated next to people who have been a hoot to study with and several who've gone on to become good friends. In a class at the recent Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair I was seated next to a hilarious spinner with the most cool distracting ;-) finger nail polish. Red and white swirls.

How on earth did she do that?

I finally had to ask.

Stick on nail polish.

For real.



She brought me a set the next day and look, "Girl Flower" matches our porch flowers :-). Janbaby and I played beauty spa over the weekend and so far they are holding up great, even doing farm work. Too fun!

So, to update for the Tour:

Day 1 I did learn the basics for the Turkish spindle. I think by the time I get through the small ball of Miss Ewenice, I'll be much more fluent.

Day 2 I started spinning Bluebell on the miniSpinner using a technique I learned in the stick on finger nail polish workshop. See, I really was paying attention ;-).



Day 3 (so far) I finished the first full bobbin of Bluebell and a complete second bobbin as well. Those are big bobbins. I've put a good dent in that bag. I am very pleased.

I love to learn new things!

And They're Off!

Probably in more ways than one ;-).

I've had almost as much fun thinking about what I wanted to spin for the Tour as I'm going to have actually spinning it. Without further delay...



For Team Jacob Junkies...wait for it...some Jacob! Actually not one of mine, but for a good friend who's not a spinner or a knitter, but who would appreciate having something made from one of her sheep. This is Emerin (spelling may be incorrect) who is actually Elizabeth's granddaughter. I'm spinning 4 oz of white (down below) and 2 oz of this pretty gray.



For Team My Favorite Sheep I am spinning some of Grandma, one of another friend's favorite old sheep. Grandma was a Karakul. I'm envisioning a woven piece incorporating some of her unspun locks.



For Team Hopelessly Over Committed...B. Willard's really pretty super dark gray. My goal is 10 oz, but I'd be thrilled to finish the entire fleece. It could happen...in an alternative universe maybe :-/.



For Team Ky Sheep and Fiber Festival - a challenge to learn something new. Michelle spins such pretty yarn with her Turkish spindles. I can't even figure out how to operate the silly thing. I've got 2 oz of Miss Ewenice (the Team Captain) set aside for that.



For the challenge day, I've decided to join Team Russian Underpants (antique wheels) and spin on my Great Wheel. That's 1 oz of Hampton (same flock as Emerin) in the fuzzy front. It's short, soft and hopefully conducive to a beginner spinning long draw. Emerin's almost white is the larger ball behind.



Here's the whole "team" assembled in their wool uniforms. That's Bluebell in the middle, checking in for Team Footloose (the Hansen miniSpinner group).

This is my fourth Tour de Fleece. The first Tour was spinning for the Trinity Vest. Done.



The second Tour was spinning Punkin's yarn for a woven throw. Finally threaded on the loom and soon to be finished. Right?



And last year's Tour, Jester, a Fair Isle sweater. The white is all knitted. Need more brain power to move onto the patterning. It. will. be. finished. this. year.

It's not too late to join in. The Tour de Fleece is open to everyone, all experience levels, anywhere in the world. It's a great motivator and super fun to boot. Here's a link to the main group and a link to Team My Favorite Sheep.

Come on.

You know you want to ;-).