First or Second and A Surprise At Fairs!

Here is a group shot.  All the items with their ribbons at Arizona State Fair.

Here is a group shot with all the ribbons from Arizona State Fair and Cochise County Fair.

This shawl got First place at County and Second Place at State.  Yarn:  Alisha Goes Around Panoply of Peacocks Fingering in Mark Anthony.  Pattern:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/jaali-2

Ever year I knit up one of my hand spun yarns into a shawl to enter the next year's Fairs.  This was last years First place winning yarn and I got Best Spinner for it.  I got First place at State and County.  Yarn:  JulieSpins Merino Yak Silk in Colonial.  Pattern:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sunshine-and-shadows-2

I got First place at State and County for this test knit hat.  Yarn:  The Verdant Gryphon Traveller in Hot Pink ELC and  madelinetosh DK Twist in Carnation  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bridge-walker-hat

This was another sort of test knit.  It's was knitted in my hand spun yarn.  It got First at County and Second at State.  Yarn:  Wool Gathering July 2013 Fiber Adventure Club and JulieSpins Targhee in Glacier.  Pattern:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/anemone-hat-2

This won Best in Show at State and First Place.  It was also First place at County.  Into The Whirled 50/30/20 Alpaca/Merino/Silk Blended Top in Sentinel.

This won First place at State and County.  Bee Mice Elf BFL Top in Nile.

This only got First place at County and nothing at State.  It's Loop!

Self Striping Spontaneous Spinning Roving BULLSEYE Bump in Quantum Leap.

Here is my bag of ribbons.  I had to get a bigger bag to put them in.  I've been entering the County Fair since 2013 and Arizona State since 2014.

Wish Me Luck!

It's that time of the year again, County and State Fair!  Since I've won First Place in both fairs, the pressure is on to win again.  Last year I won Best Spinner.  I hope to win that again.  Below are my spinning entries.

On the left is Bee Mice Elf 100% BFL.  In the middle is Into The Whirled 50/30/20 Alpaca/Merino/Silk Blended Top. On the right is Loop! bump  Merino, nylon, and Angelina.

I didn't finish a pair of socks.  I've been just knitting vanilla socks so for the first time I didn't enter socks.  The socks usually win so I'm a bit worried.  I decided to submit some of my test knit hats instead and 2 shawls.  The dark blue green one is huge and took a long time (no rest rows on the back).  I hope to find out the results in November.

Fundraising for Fort McMurray Fire

This fire reminds me of the Monument Fire we had here in 2011.  I know exactly what the residents of Fort McMurray are feeling.  We left as we saw flames on the road and fire fighters coming in as we were driving out.  We also went through that some panic again as the fire moved North towards our friend's house when we thought we were safe.  I need to do something besides donate.  I want to raise funds by donating one of my handspun yarn that won First Place at the county and state fairs in 2014.

It's 316 yards at sports weight (18 WPI).  Details on the yarn are here.   I will mail it to the winner worldwide.  What do you have to do?

Please make a donation to Canadian Red Cross. There is a $10 donation minimum please.

If you are on Ravelry then just forward your email to me (aplanet4creation AT yahoo DOT com)with your RAVELRY name then post on THIS thread. If you aren't on Ravelry forward your donation email (aplanet4creation AT yahoo DOT com) with the subject "Handspun Loop Drawing" and I will post on Ravelry for you.

From the post I will do a random drawing and send the yarn to the winner.

I've done this before for Japan's Earthquake in 2011.  You can find the blog post HERE or the Ravelry thread HERE.

The Many Colors of Mesa Sunset

This is my Loop batt.  The colorway is Mesa Sunset.  I hope to get another batt just as pretty at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

What Have I Been Up To?

I have been trying hard to finish up some projects and almost done spinning a Loop Batt.

The grey shawl just needs to be bind off.  The problem is that in 4 rows, I only bind off 2 stitches (don't ask me how many stitches need to be bind off).  I spent an hour on it and it doesn't look like I did anything to it.   The Double knit shark scarf is SO close to being finished after a year.  I started in Sept 2014 and hubby loves the idea of actually using it this winter!  The colorful one is the Mermaid blanket I started for B.  It's very slow going and I only have like 8" done for the 44" I need.  Good thing its getting cooler so it won't be so bad on my lap.  I don't know if it will be done for Christmas or not.  The brown, yellow and blue is a shawl out of my handspun yarn.  I'm almost done one skein and like 7 more to go.  Here is some picture of the bump I've been spinning.

That's It for Tour De Fleece 2015!

From left to right:

Into The Whirled Odds & Ends 204 yards Sports weight
Woolgathering July 2013 Adventure Club 269 yards Sport weight
Loop! Magic Trick bump 257 yards fingering weight
JulieSpins Great Barrier Reef 328 yards fingering weight

I did the Odds & Ends and Loop! on the spindle but transfer the yarn onto a bobbin to ply on the Mini Spinner (so much easier).  My goal was 5 braids but I only finished 4 into yarns.  I'll try for 5 next year.  I need to work on getting pictures back up on this blog too.

Oooppsss!!

Sorry for the lack of pictures here.  I deleted the albums on my google account and that is where all my blog pictures are kept.  I will try to put some back up.  Meanwhile, I'm still spinning but I did finish one shawl.

Needles:  Size 5 circular
Yarn:  Fulcrum Wool Company Limited Staywise Wool Cashmere in Red
Pattern:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sabrina-8

This is JulieSpins 80% Merino 20% Silk in the color Great Barrier Reef.  There was lots of blue and now its got some yellow and green.

 

 

On the spindle is Loop! bump called Magic Trick.

 

 



More of the Same

I've been quiet due to spending most of my free time spinning.  I have 2 yarns done and starting another 2.

 

This is my Woolgathering July 2013 Adventure Club fiber.  I got 269 yards of 16 WPI (about sport weight).

 



 

This was a Into The Whirled bag of Odds and Ends bag.  I got 204 yards of 18 WPI (sport weight).

I started my Magic Trick Loop! bump on the spindle.  I'm into the pink now.

On the Minispinner is my JulieSpins 80% Merino & 20% Silk Great Barrier Reef fiber.  I hope to spin one more JulieSpins fiber before the end of Tour De Fleece on Jul 26th.  Wish me luck!

Tour De Fleece 2015!

Here is a picture of 3 of the braids I hope to spin.  It's a Loop Batt and then 2 JulieSpins braids.  The other two were already to go on the Mini Spinner and on the spindle.  Tour De Fleece will run Jul 4 to Jul 26.  I hope to spin at least 2 hours a day between the spindle and the spinner.

 

 



 

This was Day 1, Jul 4th.  I took my spindle with me when we went out of town to watch fireworks.  I got a couple of the little bundles of odds and ends done.  I plan to ply it with the Mini Spinner when its all spun up.  It's harder to ply on the spindle.  This is Into The Whirled bag of Odds and Ends.



 





 





 

This is my Day 2 Jul 5 so far.  I started my Woolgather July 2013 Adventure Club fiber.  I got a good start.  Back to spinning!

 

 

 





What does 1231 yards of handspun look like?

 

I finally finished.  I have some left overs of the edge and border (on the left side).  The rest got used up.  It's big enough to be a lap blanket.  It's so nice to see my lovely handspun turned into a shawl though.  I really loved how this came out and the pattern is pretty easy.

Needles:  Size 7 circulars
Yarn:  Loop! BULLSEYE Bump in Indigo Inspiration, Pigeonroof Studios handcarded mixed fibre batts in Darkside,  PS merino/cashmere/nylon roving in TLS DARK GARDEN, PS Merino/Silk Roving 80/20 in Tidewater, JulieSpins JulieSpins Roving: 50% Alpaca, 30% Merino, 20% Silk in Prairie Calico and  Loop! BULLSEYE Bump in Smoke + Mirror
Pattern:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/duane-park-triangle

My Next Handspun Shawl

Needles:  Size 7 circulars

Yarn:  Loop! BULLSEYE Bump in Indigo Inspiration, Pigeonroof Studios handcarded mixed fibre batts in Darkside,  PS merino/cashmere/nylon roving in TLS DARK GARDEN, PS Merino/Silk Roving 80/20 in Tidewater, JulieSpins JulieSpins Roving: 50% Alpaca, 30% Merino, 20% Silk in Prairie Calico and  Loop! BULLSEYE Bump in Smoke + Mirror

Pattern:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/duane-park-triangle

Of course after I finished my handspun shawl, I had to start another one.  I can't wait till the color starts changing.

Fiber, Yarn and Future Yarn

 



I had my eye on this fiber for a while and decided to get it.  It's from Bee Mice Elf.  It's 4oz of Targhee in the colorway Winterberry.

It took me the weekend to finish plying this yarn.  It's Loop! Kaleidoscope Eyes Sparkle 10.8oz which I managed to get 870 yards of light fingering.  It took a while just to get it off the bobbin!

On the Minispinner is Cloudlover M/SWM/Silk Tesla Coil (that is merino, superwash merino & silk).  It's only 4 oz.  I have another 8oz of JulieSpin fiber I want to spin up but I'll wait a bit before tackling that much fiber at once.

Almost Done

This is over 10 ounces of fiber (Loop Kaleidoscope Eyes Sparkle).  I think I'm about half way through n-plying the single.  I can't wait to see how much yarn I will end up with.  The next braid will be 4 ounces though!

Just Keep Spinning!

 



I can almost see the end of this over 10 oz of Loop! Kaleidoscope Eyes Sparkle fiber (Merino (approx. 95%), nylon, and silver Angelina)  I'm getting a pretty fine single and I hope for lots of yards in fingering weight.

Spinning

 

 

 

What is on the Minispinner right now:  Loop! Self Striping Spontaneous Spinning Roving BULLSEYE Bump in colorway Kaleidoscope Eyes WITH sparkle

 



What is finish and resting before being n-ply:  Into The Whirled 80/10/10 Superwash Merino/Cashmere/Nylon Blended Top in the colorway Captain Tightpants