Knitterguy

Crossed the Finish Line

Here's my spinning for the Tour de Fleece 2010.

A couple of small skeins from Cormo X roving.

 

Now the plan was to spin that and knit something, but when I finished it I reread The Rules, and it turns out that during the Tour you're supposed to be spinning, not knitting. (Makes sense; it's about the wheels.)

So I went stash diving, and found some merino/silk from Louet in 2 colours. I'd bought this with the intention that I'd spin singles of each and ply together, so that's what I did.  It was, for me, a very full spindle.  (Colour is most accurate in the first picture.)  Approx 2 ounces; calculations say it about 650 yards. 

 
 
 

I wound it into a skein yesterday, which meant my spindles were empty, so I went stash diving again, and turned up this

Merino top, dyed by Karen Emry at Royale Hare at Santa Rosa, California. Colourway is called "Pacific Amber". I've had it for longer than I can remember. It's very fine fibre, and drafting like butter: lovely to work with. Karen's website doesn't give any indication whether she is still dyeing fiber (she had silk (bombyx, tussah, bombyx hankies), merino top and mohair locks in really lovely colourways.

In Other News

• We have closed our office in town, and I have been transferred to an office about 1 hour's drive away. Since I could walk to work in less than 20 minutes, this is a very big change for me. At least 3 people said to me this past week: "Migawd....do you know what the driving is like on those roads in the winter!!??" Um...yes, I do, thank you.
  My job has changed as well; it will take a bit for things to get settled in.

• I am considering a trip to British Columbia in Feb/March 2011. I suspect I will be in Vancouver, maybe get to Victoria, possibly up to Sechelt. If anyone can recommend good printed tour guides (I'll see what CAA has), maps, online resources for planning a trip out there, any sights I should definitely see, anything that is overhyped and could be missed, places to eat, inexpensive lodgings, tips for managing the ferry system, etc, I'm open to all suggestions. (You were all tremendously helpful in planning my trip to New York, so let's do it again. Thank you.)

See you later, and thanks again in advance for suggestions about the trip out west.

Tour de Fleece 2010

I was hunting around Ravelry the other day and saw that the knitting world is gearing up for the annual Tour de Fleece.

For the handful of readers who aren't knitters/spinners, the Tour de Fleece runs at the same time as the Tour de France, the insane bike ride that runs through the countryside in France. The exact origins of the Tour de Fleece are a bit muddy, it seems, but I think it all started because K. decided to join in with the cyclists in some way, and set herself a spinning/knitting challenge that she would accomplish in the same 3 weeks that the cyclists are splitting their guts open on the road.  She posted about it on her blog and invited anyone who wanted to join in to do so. That was back in 2006, and K. hosted a Tour de Fleece in '07, '08, and 09. Along the way, others started their own Tour de Fleece, and now it has been picked up on Ravelry, the amazing online community for fiber workers. The idea remains the same: you set yourself a spinning/knitting challenge that you can accomplish within the 3 weeks of the Tour de France. (I think there is supposed to be spinning involved: it's about the wheels, after all.)

Now, given the level of complexity and uncertainty in my life right now, I'm not entirely certain why I decided to join Team MenWhoKnit. (Perhaps I should have joined Team HopelesslyOvercommitted.) Anyway, I did. I went stash diving to find suitable fiber, and then I decided I needed to knit it up into something. So the general idea is to spin up some of roving I had made from the cormo-X fleece I inherited from QueerJoe several years ago. Then there'll be a lacey something knitted from it: a scarf, likely.

Now, stash diving was interesting, because it got me thinking about other projects I want to make. But I'm a bit of a magpie ("Look!! Shiny!! Pretty!!") and get distracted easily. So I decided to write up a list of projects, just to keep me on track. It went through a couple of rewrites as I reorganized and reprioritized. And now it is posted on my fridge.

(Graphologists have just gasped and started writing up a full psychological profile of me.) 

The Tour de Fleece starts on July 3. Wish me luck!