TdF Stage 1 & 2

So, yesterday saw the start of the Tour de Fleece.  I had to work, then volunteered for a few hours at Heritage Farm, so ended up doing Stage 1 on one of my drop spindles, spinning some Jacob roving I got a few years ago at MDSW.  I got the spindle mostly full, so am happy with it:

Today, for Stage 2, I started on the main project I have planned for the tour.  I have ~5 lbs of a Leicester Longwool x, also purchased at MDSW, and will be playing with it for the next several, using different preps and drafting to see which I prefer.  Once I decide which I like best, I will be spinning the rest in that style and (hopefully) knitting a sweater out of it.  

So, I split the fleece into 1 ozes and spun them each on a bobbin.  Two ozes were spun long draw and will be plyed tomorrow.  The other bobbin was spun short draw and I still have the other bobbin to spin tomorrow, then it will be plyed with the one from today on Tuesday.

I am really looking forward to seeing the differences that the prep and drafting will have on the fiber and the yarn that I end up with.  I'll be flick carding them on Wednesday and again drafting both LD and SD.   Then I'll card them on my hand cards, then comb with a dog brush.  I don't own wool combs, but hope to be able to buy a pair before the end of the tour.

Tour de Fleece

In less than a week the Tour de France is due to start (next Saturday to be exact) and as I have the past few years, I intend to spin in the Tour de Fleece.  The TdF was started several years ago by a member of Ravelry and has since become something of a spinning sensation.  I plan to spin a fleece I got two years ago at MDSW.  It is a Leicester Longwool cross and it is gorgeous!  I washed and scoured it myself, but I need to rewash the first two batches that I did.  There is still a lot of lanolin in them and they feel sticky.  The second two batches are much nicer.  I keep thinking that I have to finish them before the tour, but then remember that I have three weeks of the tour and about 2 lbs already washed and ready to go.  I don't know how I am going to spin all of it yet; I plan to try several different drafting and plying techniques to see what I prefer.  My goal is to spin thirty minutes each day.  I hope to have enough at the end of the tour to make a sweater during the Ravelry games in August, but how well that will work with my school schedule remains to be seen.  Here is my fleece, the bag on the right is the one that needs rewashed:

Early this year, I began bullet journaling and really like how it (somewhat) keeps me on track of things that need to be done.  If I am still having problems, it is my fault, not the journal.  I belong to a group on Ravelry that is all about planners of all kinds and after reading through the threads for most of last night at work, I decided to liven and invigorate my journal a little bit with some doodles.  I went looking for washi tape with a 4th of July theme at the local craft stores, but none had any.  I'll check again closer to the holiday.  Anyway, after all the reading I did, I got really into journaling and decided to do my July spreads a little early.  I also changed something, in that I did all my July weekly spread at once, though not with out a few mistakes (I should know better to do anything like that at the end of a 12 hour night shift.  Thank Bob for White Out!)

So, here is my July log and tasks list:

and my July habit tracker.

Also, I have been making these cool looking socks for my friend Jane, owner and operator of Loomyladi Handwovens.  She is teaching me to weave and I am making her handknit socks, its a win-win for both of us!  That will be another post, I should be finishing threading the heddles and tying on tomorrow.

Also, in an earlier post I mentioned that I was participating in the the 2016 Book Challenge and wanted to update my list:

A book based on a fairy tale
A National Book Award winner
A YA bestseller-The Hunger Games
A book you haven’t read since high school
A book set in your home state (province)
A book translated to English
A romance set in the future
A book set in Europe
A book that is under 150 pages
A New York Times bestsellers
A book that is becoming a movie this year-Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (haven't read yet)
A book recommended by someone you just met
A self improvement book
A book you can finish in a day-Charlotte's Web
A book written by a celebrity
A political memoir
A book at least 100 years older than you-Jane Eyre
A book that is more than 600 pages (will need to figure out the audiobook equivalent, thinking 45 hours).
A book from Oprah’s Book Club
A science fiction novel
A book recommended by a family member
A graphic novel
A book published in 2016
A book that has a protagonist with your occupation.
A book that takes place during summer
A book and its prequel
A murder mystery
A book written by a comedian
A dystopian novel
A book with a blue cover
A book of peotry
The first book you see in a bookstore
A classic from the 20th century
An autobiography
A book about a road trip
A book about a culture you are unfamiliar with
A satirical book
A book that takes place on an island
A book that is guaranteed to bring you joya book recommended by your local librarian or bookseller-One Thousand White Women
a book you should have read in school
a book that was banned at some point
a book you previously abandoned-Oliver Twist
a book that intimidates you
a book you have already read at least once

Catching Up pt 1

     So, I finally got back to the blog again.  I've decided to play catch up on the things I am working on and see how I am doing so far this year.  I am actually quite happy with my knitting right now.  I have two projects that I am concentrating on at the moment, and hope to have one finished tomorrow.
     That project is my Something Wicked In Green, a sweater that I have been working on, on and off, since September.  It is my first time knitting a raglan sweater and I really like the style (in large part because I don't have to worry about setting in the shoulder seams!)  I had to do quite a bit of redoing on it, because it was a little too short and the collar was too tight.  I frogged the collar and reknit it with more stitches and a looser cast off, but redoing the bottom to make it fit took a bit of work.  I had to put in an afterthought lifeline, which was a first, and add on about an inch and a half of stockinette stitch to improve the length.  I am now almost finished with the ribbing, then just need to weave in the ends.  Here is what it looks like:

     The top picture is the spider on the shoulder, the middle picture is the spiderweb on the front and the last picture is a spider on a purled background that I added for the fun of it.  It is connected by a spiderweb running from the shoulder down the sleeve to just above the cuff.  I will probably finish the ribbing and bind off tomorrow.

     Another project that I am working on is a pair of colorwork socks, called Dark Isle Socks.  I cast these on on Jan 29th, but work on them has been a bit sporadic, due to wanting to finish the sweater above and also having to frog a few times due to size issues (namely that they were too small.)  I am still on the first sock and doubt that I will finish them this month.  The top picture is the yarn used, Cascade Heritage Sock in 5686 China Blue and 9786.  The other two are obviously in progress shots.

     I have also been doing a little spinning (a very little!) on Sumi, my Golding Tsunami laceweight spindle.  I only have about 40 yds, but it is very nice anyway.  I plan to finish spinning at and knit Pretty Thing by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee with it:

     That's all the knitting stuff; I'll post again tomorrow with the non-knitting stuff.

Walking From Hobbiton to Rivendell

No pictures of WIPs yet, I was asleep most of the day, but just wanted to mention that I have decided to join the Hobbiton to Rivendell walking challenge.  Some very dedicated Tolkien fans have figured out that it is 458 miles from Hobbiton to Rivendell and even where you would approximately be after a certain number of miles.  For example, yesterday I walked a little over three miles and that put me over the plank bridge over the water.  I am including general walking and not just planned walks, so haven't figured out where I would be yet today.

2016 Reading Challenge

This year, I have decided to join the 2016 Reading Challenge.  I haven't started yet, because I don't want to reread anything and I don't have any new books to read in the house.  Here is the list and I will hopefully be updating it as I go:

A book based on a fairy tale 
A National Book Award winner 
A YA bestseller 
A book you haven’t read since high school 
A book set in your home state (province) 
A book translated to English 
A romance set in the future 
A book set in Europe 
A book that is under 150 pages 
A New York Times bestsellers 
A book that is becoming a movie this year 
A book recommended by someone you just met 
A self improvement book 
A book you can finish in a day 
A book written by a celebrity 
A political memoir 
A book at least 100 years older than you 
A book that is more than 600 pages (will need to figure out the audiobook equivalent, thinking 45 hours). 
A book from Oprah’s Book Club 
A science fiction novel 
A book recommended by a family member 
A graphic novel 
A book published in 2016 
A book that has a protagonist with your occupation. 
A book that takes place during summer 
A book and its prequel 
A murder mystery 
A book written by a comedian 
A dystopian novel 
A book with a blue cover 
A book of peotry 
The first book you see in a bookstore 
A classic from the 20th century 
An autobiography 
A book about a road trip 
A book about a culture you are unfamiliar with 
A satirical book 
A book that takes place on an island 
A book that is guaranteed to bring you joy

I think the first book will be an audiobook of The Hunger Games, since I can listen to the audiobook on YouTube.  I plan to post again tomorrow of my current knitting WIPs.