I wasn’t sure if I would have anything for WIP Wednesday this week. I’ve been knitting a shawl, which I finished and blocked today. I do have an update on my Tour de Fleece spinning and I cast on a new project!
Tour de Fleece, Day 5
I really, really, really wanted to finish the cormo today. I didn’t quite make it. I have 0.09 ounces left to spin. That’s not a lot, but at the rate I’m spinning it’ll take at least 1/2 hour and it’s already 1 am. I’m throwing in the towel. I’ll finish it tomorrow.
Miranda Shawl
I cast on and knit the first 4 rows of a new shawl. This one is another test knit. Since it’s knit from the bottom up, I had to cast on 418 stitches!
I didn’t spin yesterday as I was not feeling well. Walking around, even for a short time, made me feel nauseous and dizzy. I spent most of the day either napping or laying in the recliner and knitting. Sitting up to spin was totally out of the question. Chris took a vacation day today. I still wasn’t 100%, so we took it easy. A little hanging around, a few errands, a wee bit of housework. I had time to spin this evening while we watched American Ninja Warrior.
The picture on the left is my bobbin of cormo as of the end of Day 1. The picture on the right is my bobbin of cormo as of the end of Day 3. I spun 0.25 ounces of cormo today. I have just under 0.5 ounces left to spin. That’s just under 2 hours of spinning at the rate I’m going. I’m not sure if I’ll have time to finish all that spinning tomorrow, but certainly by Wednesday!
Saturday, July 4, 2015 is the first day of the Tour de France. This means it is also the first day of the Tour de Fleece. The latter is a (yarn) spinning event that takes place each year on the same days as the famous bicycle race. The bicycle race is obviously a challenging event, full of world-class athletes. In that spirit, participants in the Tour de Fleece set their own challenging goals.
The Tour de France starts on July 4 and ends on July 26 this year. There’s two rest day during which the racers do not ride. This year, those dates are July 13 and July 21. There’s also one day that is particularly challenging. This year, that day is July 23. On that day, the racers will climb 5 mountains. The Tour de Fleece encourages participants to follow a similar schedule. Spinners don’t spin on the Tour de France rest days, and set a particularly difficult personal goal for the most challenging day of the Tour de France.
This is my first year participating in the Tour de Fleece. I only started spinning in late April 2014, six weeks before the Tour de Fleece started. I knew about the Tour de Fleece because I have friends who take part every year, but I didn’t feel ready to participate last year. I’m excited about this year!
Goals
My personal Tour de Fleece will be cut short this year. July 21 to 26 I will be in San Diego for The Knitting Guild Association Conference. I’m not bringing a spinning wheel with me, so won’t be able to spin while I am away. Since I’ll miss those dates, I’m not going to take any rest days for the rest of the tour. I’ll also miss the challenge day. I’m not worried about that though. I think it’s apparent to anyone reading this blog that I tend to challenge myself every day 🙂
My Tour de Fleece goal is to spin at least 30 minutes each day from July 4 through July 20. I hoped to finish the cormo before the Tour started, but I did not. I’ll work on the cormo until I finish it and then I’ll start on 3 Feet of Sheep in Colors of the Capital. I also plan to ride my bike at least 3 miles a day for each day from July 4 through July 20.
Today’s Progress
Since today is the first Saturday of the month, it was the regular meeting day of my local spinning group. I started the day by spinning with them.
Then I came home and spun some more. At the beginning of the day, my bobbin of cormo looked like this:
When I finished spinning for the day, my bobbin looked like this:
I spun for about 7 or 8 hours today, far exceeding my 30 minute goal! I also rode my bike for 3.12 miles this afternoon. Since it’s the summer in Florida, we had our usual afternoon rain showers. Chris and I managed to sneak a bike ride in between two separate storms. Despite the ominous hue of the clouds, we made it through the entire ride ahead of the second wave of storms!
I’m spinning the cormo very fine — it’ll definitely be lace weight 2-ply — which means it takes a long time to spin. In fact, it’s taking 2 hours to spin 0.5 ounces. I have about 0.75 ounces left, and I’m hoping to finish spinning it tomorrow so I can ply on Monday. I can’t wait to see just home much yardage I get. I think it’s going to be ridiculously high! On Tuesday, I’ll start on Three Feet of Sheep.
For the past week, I’ve been crafting like it’s my job. I also had an unusually high number of fun activities. I had lunch in Diagon Alley with Ravelry friends who were in Orlando on vacation from Massachusetts.
Of all the items listed for sale here, I most want the never-tangle wool.
I went to my first ever professional soccer game. It was my cousin’s wife’s birthday and that’s what she wanted to do.
My husband and I bought tickets to view last Sunday’s SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from the NASA causeway. We didn’t want to get up at the crack of dawn and drive over, so we drove over Saturday night and stayed in a hotel.
If you look closely, you can see Launch Pad 40 and maybe the rocket on the pad. There’s 4 objects that look like buildings. Pad 40 is between the two right hand buildings. There’s 4 lightning towers surrounding the pad; the rocket is in the middle. It’s a slightly thicker line than the 4 surrounding towers.
Here’s the video I took of the launch. The vehicle failed 139 seconds after launch. I stopped recording two seconds before that because I was using my phone to record video and could barely see anything at that point. It looked like a beautiful, perfect launch with nothing more to see. And then the Liquid Oxygen tank exploded.
I still managed to get quite a bit of crafting done! Let’s review the ridiculously ambitious list of goals I wrote:
Goals for June 21 to 30, 2015
Finish Raindrops on Roses Shawl (Headmistress Challenge)
Finish Grisou Scarf (homework, but which class?)
Finish Solid / 1×1 Scarf (OWL)
Three more color and weave scarves to meet OWL 50% (highly unlikely to finish)
Finish current Heart Illusion Dishcloth, plus 4 more (COMC?)
Tier Scarf (Charms or Potions)
Crochet Dishcloths (Transfiguration)
MHK1 swatches (Divination and / or Charms)
Small stuffed bird (DADA)
Cast on Sweet Summer Shawl (Quidditch Round 3; due July 8)
Liquid Silver Swatch (OOTP; due July 19)
Cast on Begonia Swirl Shawl (Headmistress Challenge; due July 28)
Fully Accomplished Goals
I finished the Raindrops on Roses Shawl. I absolutely love it. I test knit this for Assorted Musings (Ravelry, blog); the pattern will be released on July 15. I plan to publish a detailed blog post for FO Friday on July 3.
I finished the Grisou Scarf. I test knit this for Sasoolero (Ravelry, blog) and I’m not sure when she plans to release the pattern. I will publish a blog post on this project for FO Friday on July 3.
Partially Accomplished Goals
I started the Solid / 1×1 Scarf. I’ve woven somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of it. I have the hardest time taking pictures of weaving in progress. Since the finished work gets wound onto the cloth beam, it’s difficult to see progress!
I finished the Heart Illusion Dishcloth that I had in progress, plus two more.
I started the tier scarf and knit about 1/3 of it.
Knitting while waiting for the rocket launch.
I crocheted one dishcloth. In my goal, I didn’t say how many I wanted to knit. I need 18 for the Dishcloth Advent Calendar, but didn’t expect to get them all done this month. I was hoping for 9. I learned how to single crochet increase, single crochet decrease, and crochet through the back loop.
I knit the first 3 swatches for MHK1. I still need to weave in the ends and block them. I also wrote answers to several more questions.
Unaccomplished Goals
As expected, I did not weave the 3 additional scarves for my OWL. I did not make the stuffed bird. I decided to submit the Grisou scarf for DADA instead, and didn’t need the bird for anything else. I have not cast on the Sweet Summer Shawl. I will be doing that today. I have not swatched for Liquid Silver. I will be doing that today. I have not cast on Begonia Swirl Shawl. I think I’m going to wait a couple of weeks and cast on before I go to TKGA in San Diego. It will make excellent travel knitting.
Other Projects
I made a felted cat bed for Tiger. I managed to knit 1,047 yards worth of garter stitch in less than 3 days, felt it, and stitch it together! It wasn’t on my goal list because I hadn’t decided to do it until after I wrote that list. Tiger’s been sleeping on an alpaca blanket my father bought me when he was in Peru and I didn’t want it ruined. I needed a quick replacement.
Goals for July 1 to 5, 2015
Knit at least 1/2 of the Sweet Summer Shawl
Cast on Miranda Shawl
Swatch and Cast on Bubbles Baby Blanket
Swatch and Cast on Liquid Silver Shawl
Finish spinning and plying the Cormo I’ve been working on since February
Start spinning the 3 Feet of Sheep (8 ounces BFL) on July 4 for Tour de Fleece
I’m tempted to write more, but I think this is more than enough. My husband is off on Friday and Monday for the July 4 holiday. I will have less crafting time than usual because I’ll be hanging out with him, and we’re going to the beach for at least one day!
I just stumbled across the Year of Projects group on Ravelry. This is a blog-along group. Participants make a list of crafting goals for the year and post weekly updates on their progress. The Year of Projects runs from July 1 through June 30, so we are almost at the end of the year. Some participants run on an annual schedule, however. I decided that I will participate on an annual schedule. I already made a list for 2015, but I haven’t been reviewing it or updating it. Now you’ll get an update post every Sunday. Since I already post a WIP Wednesday post, I think the Sunday post will probably just be a list with completed items crossed off, but that may change!
Previous Posts
Since it’s been awhile since I’ve written about my goals — and I haven’t really reviewed them myself since I wrote them — I thought I’d link to the posts I wrote back in January.
Apparently, I never wrote a post about my Stashdown plans. I thought I had!
Current Status
Stashdown
I set the goal of knitting from stash. I would not buy new yarn, except for weaving yarn. Uh, yeah. turns pink That hasn’t happened. There’s been much acquisition of stash, and not all of it is for weaving.
UFOs
Here’s the list again. If I’ve finished or frogged the project, it’s linked to the relevant blog post. If it’s not linked, I haven’t finished it.
After I made this list, I found another project. I need to stuff and assemble a Baby Blue Monster.
2015 Goals and Plans
Knitting
Knit myself a sweater
Improve my finishing techniques
I haven’t done a sweater yet, but I never intended to make one until the fall, so that’s okay. In July, I’m attending The Knitting Guild Association meeting in San Diego, and I’m taking a two-day Finishing class with Arenda Holladay!
Crocheting
Learn to read crochet patterns
Learn all the basic crochet stitches.
Make at least one non-granny square crochet project
The Cotton Candy Corriedale was a breed-specific fiber, but I haven’t been thinking of it as part of that project and I did not write a separate blog post about it. The Cormo that I’m currently spinning is the first fiber that I’m counting as part of the breed specific spinning project. The updated Breed Specific Inventory is no longer correct. I never received the fiber from Little Barn. I ended up filing a complaint with PayPal to get my money back. I’ve also bought some fiber from other sources since. I’m no longer sure that I want to process the Mystery Fleece. I’ve brought it to demos and it’s nice to have an unprocessed fleece for that purpose.
Weaving
Continue playing with color and weave drafts
Learn pick up stick drafts
I finished the Ravenclaw and Slytherin Houndstooth Scarves this year, which goes to the color and weave goal. My OWL proposal for the current term of HPKCHC was to weave 8 scarves using 8 different color and weave patterns. I haven’t started that yet, but plan to start this week. If I complete the 8 scarves, that will pretty much fulfill the color and weave goal. I have not started on pick up stick drafts.
Dyeing
Finish dyeing the MAPLE LEAF Shawls
pH / water source experiment
None of this has happened.
Projects
I only had a few project goals for this year.
Dishcloth Advent Calendars
I need to complete 18 copies of 25 different patterns.
I started another pair on the trip to India, but haven’t worked on them since I got back.
Layette
I haven’t done anything with this project.
Other Finished Projects
This is a list of all the projects I’ve finished so far this year. I’m omitting anything already listed above. These projects don’t necessarily fit into any of the goals I wrote in January. I was surprised that there’s so few! I guess I’ve been more on target than I realized 🙂
I’m collating the above list into one so that I can more easily post on Sundays. I’m also adding some goals. I’ve taken on additional projects and I’ve acquired a floor loom! I’m not including a stash-related goal. I don’t plan to acquire more yarn this year, but who do I think I’m kidding?
