life...and the Tour de Fleece

i know i've been absent from my blog for some time now. in truth, my marriage has been in trouble for the last few months, and i think it's finally come to the point where it's falling apart for good. obviously as a result i've been a bit preoccupied as of late. but i'm at the point now where i think i just need to stop worrying all the time and start trying to live my life and be productive as best i can. therefore, in an effort to stave off madness and occupy my mind with better things, i'm challenging myself to blog every day for 1 month, starting today.

todays installment is all about the "Tour de Fleece." for those of you who don't spin, or just don't know about the TdF, it's a little friendly competition where we spin every day of the Tour de France. we all try to set goals for ourselves and challenge ourselves to try out new techniques, or do some stashbusting etc. but the best part of all is that i've been able to "multitask" by spinning these yarns as homework assignments for the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup competition ^.^

Days 1-5:

{Tropical Breeze handspun - 75% BFL 25% Tussah Silk}

i started the tour off by spinning this gorgeous BFL/Silk blend roving from Woolie Bullie. this roving was utterly decadent to spin with. i'm of the opinion that BFL is one of the softest wool breeds, and the silk in it gives such a lovely drape.

{my History of Magic assignment for July}

it took me the first 5 days of tour to finish off that Tropical Breeze, and then i moved on to one of my fav rovings i've worked with so far; "A Beautiful Butterfly" handdyed Corriedale Cross roving from Color Bug Yarns.

Days 6-7

{A Beautiful Butterfly - all spun up into a sport weight single}

{Potions Homework for July}

this was my first time working with a Corriedale breed wool and i have to say that i enjoyed it thoroughly. while it's not quite as soft as Merino or BFL, i found it very easy to work with and draft. not to mention these colors are just so gorgeous. Color Bug Yarns has some of the deepest richest color saturation i've seen out there for the price (it's very affordable stuff.) i managed to spin this up in just 2 days, although i was trying for a lace single and i ended up with a sport weight single. i guess i've still got a long way to go to perfecting my spinning technique!

Days 7-9

{Azlan - 100% Merino roving}

for the past few days i've been plodding along at my most recent spinning WIP. since i wasn't able to pull off a laceweight yarn with the Beautiful Butterfly roving, i decided to give it another go with this Azlan roving. for those of you who don't spin, laceweight yarn takes FOREVER to spin, especially on a spindle as opposed to a wheel. but i did chose this fibre because it's only 3oz (the other two were 4oz) so i'm hoping to be able to get this done in the next few days. this will be my assignment for Charms.

well that's all for today folks. i'll be back tomorrow to post some updates of some of my knitting WIP's as well as this lovely-but-ever-so-time-consuming lace handspun. today is day 9 of the tour so i'm off to spin ^^/