TDF…And For My Next Trick…

Tour de Fleece wrapped up on Sunday and, to be honest, I was kind of relieved. I had a good Tour but, man, it was intense! Trying to finish things under deadline, posting everyday on Rav—it was like a part-time job!

I did complete two more projects before the Tour finished. First, I finished up the Cocoa Latte singles.

Baby alpaca, cashmere and tussah silk

Definitely my most successful singles to date. Only very slightly off balance, no kinky-crimpy-rollbackey things going on, super soft and no breakage. I rule.

Nicely textured and substantial singles

Plus, I ended up with 826 yards worth, and it bloomed in the wash into a nice light fingering weight: Perfect for a nice, drapey, lacy something or other.

Second, I finished the superwash merino/bamboo two-ply laceweight. A very wise woman reminded me that black lace is for crazy people…

Photos just can’t capture this correctly…it swirls with turquoise and amethyst and it’s super shiny

…and she’s right. Plying all 871 yards of this was an exercise in patience the likes of which I haven’t experienced since The Great Soy Silk Disaster of 2010. Thankfully, I was smart enough to do this on the wheel. Even with Evelyn humming away, this still seemed to take forever to ply.

The dyer called this colorway, “Milky Way.” I think it works.

Because of an unfortunate incident with a ball winder (Have you ever seen a ball of singles literally jump off the winder mid-winding? I have…it predated the The Infamous Pomegranate Tea Incident by mere moments.) I lost a whole mess of singles off the first bobbin.

Which necessitated a couple Andean bracelets while plying to make up for the difference in yardage on the two bobbins while plying.

Which led to a tangled mess on the second Andean bracelet and me finally uttering a crass expletive as I broke the single, threw away the tangle and declared the skein done.

Which also means there’s a whole mess of knots in the hank, since superwash doesn’t spit-splice too well.

Which means no Rhinebeck for this one. But that’s ok. When I finally decide to be completely crazy and knit something with this, it’ll still be really beautiful.

So, that’s it. Three Tour de Fleece skeins completed and a whole bunch other washed and finished. And, on the very last day of the Tour, I started a new project on Evelyn: My first true three-ply out of this top.

Four ounces of punta wool top from Fiber Fancy in “Vivid Rainbow”

The first two plies are done and waiting on their bobbins. The third ply is two full color repeats away from finished. I’m hauling ass on this one because I decided to take on another intense challenge right away—the 4! Ounce! Challenge (Rav link).  And since I’m technically on stashdown, and because she’s a super awesome person and is my official stashdown partner, Jenni gave me some Spunky Eclectic four-ounce put-ups of shetland and organic merino.

Of course, I’ve never actually designed a pattern…well, a pattern that I intended to share with other people. And I’ll have from August 1 to September 30 to spin, finish yarn, design, knit and publish. So, yeah…intense challenge….should be fun….maybe…

I’m thinking fingering weight two-ply out of the shetland, triangular lacy thing, very rustic and autumnal based on the colorway (pics to come of that)…no way I’m attempting to spindle spin, though. I figure if I crank away at it on Evelyn, I can probably spin and ply the four ounces in a little more than a week. Famous last words…

So, yeah…the “Vivid” three-ply needs to get on and off my bobbins right quick. We’re working on that.