final(?) Le Tour update (part 1)

warning: this is going to be a photo-heavy, spinning-themed post...if'n this isn't your cup of tea, you may wish to move along ;-)
warning the second: i apparently have run out of space on my webpage (EEK) for photo storage so i'm using my photobucket account again...please let me know if you have any problems seeing or accessing the pictures...thanks :-)

since i completed my Le Tour de Fleece goal, minimal though it was (all i committed to was spinning at least once a day), i think i qualified to post this :-)



proof:
per usual, click to get full sized photos




the finished "daphne" yarn...it seems that i didn't get a decent shot of this skeined up, so you get the close up version. it turned out very 'barberpole-y' (which doesn't bother me in the least because i like that effect lol), there isn't much of it (maybe 25 yards), it's a bit uneven and over plied, but i'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

relying on the kindness of spinners:

my next spinning project was aided by Michele, who was in my beginners' spinning class, and is a pretty special person. she knows i don't get to attend fiber events, so she always shares the experiences she has with me...sometimes in very dramatic fashion.

i saw her at threadbear on the 1st, where she reminded me about Convergence 2006, a local (well sorta...it was in Grand Rapids, on the west side of the state) event that i'd totally forgotten about. after telling me a bit about it, she handed me a tissue paper-wrapped bundle and told me to look...

and inside was a lovely purpleheart spindle, made by Jim Hokett of Hokett Would Work (no link found...if anyone knows of one, please let me know?), who also made the commemorative wood pieces available at Convergence. i spun it a little (she'd put some practice wool on it for testing purposes)...nice balance, admired it (have i mentioned i love purple? not to mention purpleheart?) and handed it back to her...

or tried to...she wouldn't take it.

she said it was my 'souvenir' of Convergence

isn't it purdy?


it seemed only appropriate to me that i 'christen' it by using the 100s merino top 'souvenir' she brought me from last year's Michigan Fiber Fest (iamnotworthyiamnotworthy!)...


amazingly enough (at least to me!), despite its weight (it's a bit heavier than my other spindles...i haven't weighed it yet but i'm guessing around 2 oz or more) i was spinning laceweight...not only laceweight but nearly FROGHAIR!


i quit counting wraps when i hit 48 and hadn't gotten to an inch yet
would it still be laceweight if i plied it back on itself?

yup *big cheesy grin* 36 wpi (approximately) *happyhappyjoyjoy*





again, there isn't much of this (20-25 yards i think) but the potential is there to be able to replicate it...and i've still got lots of the merino left...thank you Michele!

hmm...call it a hunch...i better split up this post or blogger will have a conniption...to be continued...