When I decided to participate in the Tour de Fleece this year I knew that setting up hard and fast goals would be a recipe for failure. With wedding planning getting intense and everything else going on I just didn’t need the pressure. So instead I just had some ideas of what I’d like to do during the tour. I thought that I would like to get some old stuff off the bobbins (and you’ve already seen that I managed to do that) and my other thought was that I would really like to spin some angora considering how much of the stuff I have around the house. To illustrate:

Those bags and boxes are all full of bunny foof. And there’s at least one more box and possibly another bag not in that picture!

Little did I realize that I would spin an entire fleece!

(Skeins reclining on HWJF’s 30 birthday present, a digital piano that he isn’t allowed to use until his actual birthday next month! Yes I am evil.)

That’s about 700 yards of corriedale from “The Fleece I Did Not Buy at Rhinebeck 2009″. It’s so yummy and fluffy that it’s actually quite difficult to make nice pretty skeins of it! Now this was a small fleece, only around 3 pounds, but still! I spun up the whole thing!

On major conclusion from this: If someone else processes the fleece I actually do spin it. Perhaps it’s time to turn over the 5 or so fleeces that are sitting around here waiting to be processed to the professionals?!? We’ll see what the bank account allows come Rhinebeck….

I do believe that I will be pairing that yarn with the BFL I previously showed you into a sweater like this one for myself. Instead of colorwork I would just use the contrasting yarn for the yoke. Or maybe a Cobblestone with a contrasting yoke. We’ll see.

In between working on spinning up that fleece I did work with some angora. I decided to blend it with some undyed merino top that I have for the shop. I took my drum carder and carded up a batt of merino and a batt of angora. I then divided each batt into quarters. I took one quarter of each fiber and further divided the merino quarter in half again to sandwich the angora in between two layers of merino. This worked out well and kept the angora contained nicely in the yarn while making it a little easier to spin. I didn’t weigh anything and while there was probably more merino per initial batt than angora, you can bet that there is a LOT of angora in this yarn. My final four batts before I would sit down to spin looked like this:

I think each bobbin took 8 of these smaller batts. I made a two ply yarn and ended up with this:

There’s just over 400 yards between all three of these bobbins. As I type, the yarn is getting the spa treatment and I’m trying to decide how I’m going to dye it. The two different fibers will each take the dye differently, the angora being less likely to take up the dye readily, so the final product could be really interesting color wise. And I’m just too happy that I actually came up with enough to do something with! I’m thinking some kind of cowl or maybe fingerless mitts right now.

So how was your Tour de Fleece?

I’ve been doing a bit of dyeing for the shop again.

I’ve had a hard time parting with some of these. I even set one aside for myself but when I took it to SnB with the idea of starting to spin it Nancy decided she had to have it! That was this one:

It’s nice to have your work appreciated! And I always know where to get more.

An actual knitting post is coming soon. Have a great weekend!

I recently spent an entire weekend taking a class at the nearby ashram. We chanted all four books of the Yoga Sutras. It was an amazing class and has really sparked my desire to learn Sanskrit. I took this picture while I was there and have it on my desk at work now to remind me of the incredibly peaceful vibration of this place & the experience that I had there.

Wishing you peace and beauty in your weekend!

I keep meaning to catch up on what’s been happening around these parts with y’all on the blog, but I fear that I still don’t have my act together and if I don’t just put something up here I never will. So, suffice it to say that two big things happened recently.

1. I graduated from yoga teacher training!! Yoga alliance has taken my money but I’m waiting on them to send me my certificate. Otherwise, I have my insurance and I’m all set to teach. I’ll be teaching one class during the first week of August at the studio where I studied. I’m also hatching plans for teaching a weekly class in my home. If you are local and are interested in either of these opportunities, drop me a comment and let me know! Also, I would be very interested in teaching small groups of knitters and spinners yoga that would help them keep their bodies functional while they pursue their crafts. If you would be interested in having me teach your group, get in touch!

2. Wedding planning is in full swing. We are less than three months out and I may loose my mind before then. My first dress fitting is this coming week and there are just a million things to do. I also am incredibly lucky to have had a certain amazing lace knitter complete a shawl for my wedding and I even was lucky enough to have it blocked by another generous soul so I didn’t have to do it! I’ve gone back and forth in my head about whether or not to show it on the blog before the wedding. I’m still trying to decide. Stay tuned. And thank you so very much to Cookie and Joan. I’m a very lucky woman!

In the meantime, I’m going to follow a very smart mantra and “start where I am”.

I am participating in the Tour de Fleece although somewhat quietly because my brain is otherwise occupied most of the time. Here’s what I accomplished so far:

In the bobbin clearing department:

If I remember correctly this is an angora and polworth blend. The fiber was given to me for my birthday by Chris in 2008. I spun in up ages ago but just got around to plying it.

I think it might become a smoke ring or something like that.

Next up, I purchased this fiber from Fiber Optic at Rhinebeck 2009.

Mostly spun up before the TdF began. Plied during the TdF.

The colors made this one I couldn’t leave behind. Not sure what it will grow up to be.

After my bobbin clearing mission was complete (and also, how the heck did I end up with 15 bobbins?!?! O.o) I decided to spin up some of my own dye work:

This is my “Study in Blues” colorway on BFL. I spun up all 8 oz. the first day of the tour and plied it yesterday. I decided to work on spinning a softer yarn with this fiber because I hope this will become the yoke of a sweater some day.

With just over three hundred yards, that shouldn’t be a problem! And what I’m spinning next may just end up being the body of said futuristic sweater. But time will tell.

What are you doing for TdF this year?

Because there is nothing like the sky as the sun goes down over the NC mountains.

Have a great weekend!

Which also means Happy First Day of the Summer of Socks 2010!!!

So what did you cast on today??

We had another fantastic trip to bassoon camp this year. I can’t even begin to tell y’all how much it’s like coming home every time we drive into camp. Seeing old friends, making new ones and revisiting that very special place where we met is a priceless yearly event. This year was extra special in that we were able to get the quartet of special friends that will be playing at our wedding together for the first time to rehearse and perform a bit and it literally brought tears to my eyes. And I never thought a bassoon quartet version of the baby elephant walk could do that to me. Yes, to say we’re going to be having a slightly non-traditional bit of music played in the time before our also non-traditional ceremony begins would be a bit of an understatement (March to the Scaffold anyone?! ) and I love it so much!!

Another unique thing this year was that I got to teach yoga during camp! I offered classes at 6:45am and 8pm on the mat and an 11am chair yoga class for the less mobile. It was a fantastic experience for me all the way around and from the feedback I got it was a great experience for those that took the classes as well. To my great shock, the 6:45am class was more popular than the 8pm which I’m going to assume was because that later class fell during masterclass time, something that was pretty much impossible to avoid with the very tight camp schedule.

My own personal transformation as a teacher during the week was tangible. I started the first class full of butterflies in my stomach and by the end of the week things were coming easily and flowing well. It was hard to come up with a new dharma talk every day and I had to work at keeping things varied and interesting but I think I accomplished that goal. Part of that may have had something to do with being bolstered mid session by flying back to NJ for my Teacher Training graduation (which I’ll talk about more in another post), but either way it was good to feel progress.

Most of all, the feeling of making a difference with my work is something I’m trying to hold close as I’ve come back to “reality” this week. The 4 beautiful ladies that took the chair yoga class were so enthusiastic and such and inspiration and such great teachers to me that I decided to give them all a little token at the end of the week. There are several rock shops in that area, so I went to one and picked out some pretty little polished stones. I let them each choose one and told them to keep it in their pocket as a reminder to breathe each day. As we were preparing to leave and I said goodbye to one of these wonderful souls, guess what she pulled out of her pocket to show me? I’m glad I was able to excuse myself to keep packing fast enough so she couldn’t see me cry.

Of course, there’s always the silly stuff that happens at camp. Some of it isn’t fit for public consumption, but you’ve got to love the “Wildacres Bobsled Team”

And the “Drunk-a-coaster”

There’s also a silent auction throughout the course of camp and we won several things this year. One was this beautiful handmade wooden cutting board:

And then there was this collection of handmade baskets by our friend Cathy (who will also be playing at our wedding)

The middle one is a lazy susan!!

We also had the great fortune to bring back some of our first wedding presents. We had made a registry with Sarah last year and some of my family had gotten together and paid for some of what we asked for already. So to avoid shipping we brought them home ourselves.

The picture really doesn’t do them justice, but aren’t they beautiful? We’ve got ten of each of these and a large serving bowl and we love them so much!

Before we knew it, it was time to go. We took our time on the way home and did something we’ve been meaning to do for a long time. Go to the Virginia Safari Park!

It was well worth the price of admission just for the laughs. I’m not sure what part was funnier, but the camel that stole the food bucket from me is right up there with the emu that charged the car and the zebra that wiped its nose on the window! Here’s a small selection of the pictures we took:

In case you couldn’t guess, I love the piglets!!

You can find the rest in this flickr set.

Overall a fantastic time! There’s much more that’s gone on since then that I want to talk about but you’ll just have to be patient with me as I do a little catch-up. For now we’re looking toward our next vacation — OUR HONEYMOON!!

On our way for our annual trip to bassoon camp!!

See y’all in about two weeks.

Thanks so much for all the kind comments about this year’s SOS on the last post! I’m very gratified to see that many of you feel that the lack of prizes and complexity is actually for the good. Of course, I’m guessing that those that feel otherwise just didn’t comment, and that’s ok too. You might also want to go back and read those comments for an idea for a theme this year. BethH had a fabulous wedding related idea that I’ve posted about in the Ravelry group. Feel free to use it to guide your selections for the summer. Or not. It’s all good!

Last weekend was another very productive weekend of wedding planning. Or rehearsal dinner has been booked and my future in-laws came down to see the area. We also had a meeting with the leader of the band we’ve hired, who is an old family friend, so that was a great time as well. Most of all, I’m happy to report that the invitations went out on Monday and we are already hearing reports of them being received in various places. Since I did the calligraphy by hand, it’s a huge relief to have those out and on their way.

In knitting news, the purple socks I was working on are done but since they are a surprise gift, I’ll be posting about them after they are gifted. In the meantime, I decided I needed a quick project that would not only be satisfying but a change of pace. I received this beautiful organic cotton yarn in a recent swap:

And decided it needed to move to the front of the queue. Our Angie had suggested that it might be good for a washcloth, so I went in search of a pattern and decided on this one. I had my doubts while I was knitting it, but I think the end result worked out just fine!

There’s plenty of yarn left over, so I think I’ll probably knit something with a textural stitch pattern to use it up. More on that in the future no doubt.

In other news, I did finish the 1st of the bridesmaids shawls, but since these are also going to be gifts I won’t be posting FO pics until after the wedding. Here’s a final in progress shot on the first one though:

2nd one is under way. With 130 or so days left to go, that’s a good thing!

Yes friends it’s that time again! Time to get ready for the Summer of Socks!!

What is the Summer of Socks? Just a little knit along we do around these parts every summer. We knit socks together while sharing patterns, yarns, tips, tricks and a whole lot of fun in the process. And just maybe, we even end the summer with a pair of socks to show for it.

In the past there have been contests of many sorts and stripes and fabulous prizes from fabulous sponsors. While these things were a great addition to SOS in the past, I wanted to do something very different for this, the 5th anniversary of the knitalong.

And what is it that we’ll be doing instead you ask?

We’ll just be knitting socks.

I know that there are some of you that will be disappointed or confused by this, but I think it’s time to go back to the original spirit of the thing. When I started SOS in 2006 it was because I loved knitting socks and I knew that there were many others like me. I also knew that there was much to learn about this specific area of the craft of knitting and that there were others out there that knew so much more about it than I did and would be willing to share what they knew. Since then I’ve learned a lot and hopefully I’ve also taught a lot and helped out other people on this journey through sock knitting. So being the 5 year anniversary, I hope you’ll go back to find that fantastic spirit of sharing and community with me and just take pleasure in the simple joy of knitting a garment that can make such a difference in the day of the person who wears them.

I’m also sure that others of you are thinking “You’re just doing this because of the wedding” and to some degree, you would be absolutely correct. I’m staring down the barrel of 130 days until the most important celebration of my life to date and I know I’m going to be busy putting the finishing touches on that event. I simply don’t have the time to invest in the coordination of prizes as I have in the past. I’ve had offers from others to do the leg work on that, but I honestly feel that prizes have shifted the focus of the event in a way that is not in keeping with the original spirit of the knitalong. This year we’re going to change that. Next year may be different or it may not. Only time will tell. But you can be sure that there will be some fun and there may even be a surprise or two along the way!

With all that said, are you ready to join up? Then here’s what you need to do:

1. Go join the Summer of Socks 2010 Ravelry group. All activities and discussions will happen there.

2. The knitalong will officially run from June 21st – September 1st, 2010. You’ve got just under a month to make your sock knitting goals and plans!

3. Expect to have some FUN!

That’s pretty much it!! Hope to see you there for another fun summer of sock knitting!!

And if anyone would like to make us a blog button this year, please let me know! See you on Ravelry!!