Fibre Fun!

The start of July marked the start of Tour de Fleece - on online spin-along that happens every year during Tour de France. This was my fourth year participating and the time of the year when I get most of my yarn spun.

The before picture of my cleaned and oiled wheel, plus the fibre all ready to start.

This is the finished result - 18 skeins (plus a couple of little leftover skeins), 1.5kg (3.3lbs) of fibre spun, over 3km (over 3,000yds) of yarn! I did 2 sweater spins this year, as well as some sock yarn, and lace weight yarn for a cowl, plus a few extra skeins.

I usually don't start any knitting during the spin-along, but I did finish knitting a couple of projects, both with hand spun yarn -

The first is the Ribwarmer Vest by Elizabeth Zimmermann. This is the second project I have knit with this yarn - I didn't wear the other piece and liked the yarn too much to let is go to waste. This should be more practical. Like all Elizabeth Zimmermann's patterns this was really interesting to knit.

The second is a pair of socks. I find spinning for socks the most challenging, but this pair came out really nice. They were knit toe-up, two-at-a-time on a long circular needle, I tried out a different toe, and a regular flap and gusset heel.

Before the Tour de Fleece started I tried out some needle felting for the first time.

This sleeping mouse was made after watching a great YouTube tutorial - Needle Felted Sleepy Mice by Sara Renzulli. Everything was so well explained, and the mouse was easy to make (the only change I made was that I added some front paws). I nestled the mouse in a mug (a pottery one that I made a long time ago) with some little leftover balls of hand spun yarn.

Since the first one was so much fun, I made another mouse on a wire frame so that it could stand. I knitted this one a little scarf using hand spun yarn.

They are so cute, and fun to make, I know I will be making more

After the Tour de Fleece it is always exciting to get back to knitting. I started a Close to You shawl by Justyna Lorkowska (a free pattern on Ravelry), using a skein of cashmere and silk yarn, that I had blended, spun and then dyed earlier in the year. I love garter stitch scarves - they are reversible, and so squishy, and this yarn is incredibly soft. The pattern is very simple and easy to memorize.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥︎