Tour De France & Fleece

It has all kicked off and I've spun more altogether than I've managed since christmas.

I missed the first two days of the tour de fleece, because I was down in Yorkshire watching the tour de france!  It was amazing, all the villages we passed through were lined with bunting, and the local gardens, shops & pubs were all sporting bicycle themed decorations.

To see these little pubs, with their beer & good food, I first had to walk.  This was, indeed, a walking weekend.  It was only a little one, as I actually joined my partners family, who were walking a two week long coast-to-coast shennanigan.  Two weeks! 

Once I returned home, I started the kind of tour I was really looking forward to, the fleecey part. 

New teapot filled, tour fleece bought, sorted and arranged for me to spin, my tour began.   This is what I'll be spinning this week, some cashmere/BFL/silk blend.  I'll spin the darker first & lightest last then ply it to make a lovely soft gradient.  

Perhaps I should mix them together slightly, spin a medium colour before finishing the dark, a light or two before adding in the last medium.   Hmm.  decisions.  

During the walk, we found some gorgeous little spots.  My favourite was this farm, where we were served cream tea.  After a long morning walking, it was very much appreciated.  

Also, there were some tiny doggies.  Tiny doggies!  If I lived here, you'd be hard pushed to stop a herd of tiny dogs appearing.  

Spinning like a fiend, these are the skeins I managed to finish during this first week of the tour.  

The first, 100g of grey gotland fleece.  It was lovely to spin, very easy to draft.  I didn't get as much yardage as I'd expect from 100g at this weight, does spinning gotland use up more fleece per metre?  I'll just have to buy some more to find out...

The second is a gradient blend from Fondant Fibre, merino & silk.  Her punis are always easy to spin, and can practically draft from the twist, pulling the puni away from the wheel.  easy.

The third, a 'peacock' blend of alpaca & shetland from Hilltop Cloud.  Again, these fleece braids are dreamy to spin, and lovely & soft washed up.  

All in all, not difficult spinning, but I'm proud of the meterage :D  All of my spinning is listed in my Ravelry stash - otherwise I forget what it's made of and how many metres I have!

FInally, someone we mustn't forget - grumpy cat.  He waits for me.  He tries to steal my food.  

A Long Forgotten Hobby

It has been over 3 months since I've picked up and finished a new book.  How could I have 'forgotten' to read?!  This is a quaint little number about a little village vicar who discovers a terrible secret... *drumroll*.    Have you read any great books lately?  I need to make a little 'to-read' pile!!

Also, this month, I am imposing an ebay and amazon ban upon myself.  I think I have a shopping problem.  But look at the teeny tiny cute owl dish!!!  Coooote.

The GORGEOUS fluff in the top picture is from Fondant FIbre, silky nommyness.  Would it be too much to ply the green and purple together?  Probably.  Maybe a nice grey jacob...


Rather excited for tomorrow becauuuuse... I'm off to visit Old Maiden Aunt's workshop with Lauren!  Considered taking the picnic basket but thought that was probably a little bit over the top.  I shall still take the contents though.  Train picnic!!!

Old Maiden Aunt has such amazingly glorious yarn I am never going to want to leave.  Apparently she has a woofy dog, so I'll come home smelling of sheep and dog and the guinea pig won't be very fond of me at all.

I've had a very productive couple of days off - my flat is now finally unpacked!  It only took 7 weeks...  You can now officially come to stay, because the second bedroom is no longer a tip and is now a proper room.  Bedclothes and all.

Anyhoo.  I am going to bed.  It is 2 am, and I seem to have developed a habit of not sleeping until far too late then sleeping through 16gazillion alarms.  Never fear, I've figured out a cunning plan;  I've set my phone alarm (thrice), the bedside alarm, the telly alarm in the living  room, and the PC alarm in the second bedroom.  So if I don't wake up for that lot on my own, I'm sure the police will wake me once the neighbours make a noise complaint.

x

From Sheep to Shawl

Not long ago, you may have spotted a post about some lovely purple fleece I bought from Fondant Fiber!

Well, this week I decided I had to actually start using the pile of handspun amassing in the basket on the shelf, and turned it into this simple shawl :)

Thinking about making a cardigan next, which fleece would you recommend?  Would love a breed which spins up lovely and soft.  Not too floofy though!  It'll aaaall go up my nose.

 The pattern is very simple, and can be found free on Ravelry by Orange Flower.    Nice quick telly-watching knit :)

In case you've forgotten, here's what the fleece looked like a few weeks ago:

then to this:

 It still never fails to amaze me that we turn little piles of pretty fluff into garments :)   What's your favourite type of yarn to spin?

Perhaps one day I will live near some sheep and they will donate their wool to a jumpery cause.

Glorious Giveaway with Fondant Fibre

**Please Note:  This Giveaway is now finished! Head on over to the main 'Cuppa & Cake' page to see if there is anything currently going on :)**

This is exciting :p  

Remember the lovely Deborah of Fondant Fibre?  We've teamed up this month to give you something amazing :D  

We have two prizes up for grabs, one spinning and one knitting!

Spinners Prize:

• 100g delicious 'Norboo' from FondantFibre
• "Hand painted Norwegian Wool and bamboo for spinning or felting.  A fabulous colourway of pinks apricot and pistachio for this unique fibre combination "Norboo".  This is light, airy and is very soft and silky....a dream to draft and spin as it has been well blended.  Would be fantastic for sock yarn as the bamboo adds strength and holds natural antibacterial properties."
• Gorgeous Glitsy Handspun yarn by Fondant Fibre

•  Any two sets of stitch markers from my etsy store (including pick'n'mix)

Knitters Prize:

• Skein of brilliant blue 2ply handspun BlueFaced Leicester by Fondant Fibre
• 2ply skein of Pink and Green! by Fondant Fibre

•  Any three sets of stitch markers from my etsy store (including pick'n'mix)

Now the part you're looking for!

How to enter:

Comment below whether you'd like to enter for the 'Spinners' or 'Knitters' prize!!

PLEASE remember to leave me a way to get in contact with you (whether that be your Ravelry username, twitter username, anything which I can mail you on!)

For extra Entries!

Follow the blog here on google+, on Twitter, Facebook & Bloglovin'. 

Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc.  

Each follow / share will get you an additional +1 entry and you should include where you've shared this blog link in your entry post!

If you missed the enjoyable "Cuppa & Cake" interview with Deborah about her creative process, you can find it here :)

**Giveaway will close on 20th June 2013, the two winners will be announced by the 25th**

If you simply cannot wait a month to try the goodies, you can see Deborah's Fondant Fibre shop here, and the stitch markers here :)