Lisa Kay Knits... and Quilts!

I plied Two If By Hand "Block Party" last night, washed it, and hung it to dry. It is about 218 yards of worsted. It seems like a happy colorway! I also received a TdF prize from Hello Yarn and Southern Cross Fibre. It is "vintage" Hello Yarn Rambouillet in the colorway "Burrows." Yay! Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

I started my second Ravellenics handspun yarn, Two If By Hand Mixed BFL, "Block Party." It is just one bump. Here are the bobbins, ready to ply. I also started knitting a sock from my Nest Fiber Studio handspun in the color " Analog Girl ." Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

Will the real Spiderman please stand up? Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

Plying yielded 236 yards of worsted, Nest Fiber Studio, "Viola" on Superwash BFL. Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

I continue to be amazed by the colors of Widdershin Woolworks , and I ordered a few more colors. I ordered three more colors, two braids each. The purple braids are Portuguese Merino, something I've never tried before. The teal is Shetland, and blue is BFL/Silk. Wow! Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

I did not get started spinning at the actual start of the Opening Games (3 p.m. local) because I was with Mitchell at the theater seeing "Brave." I did spin during the later-televised-for-prime-time Opening Games, and I finished my second bobbin of "Viola," this morning. This is just one 4-ounce bump, split between two bobbins for a 2-ply. This morning, I also wound my "Analog Girl" Nest Fiber to makes some socks during the games. I'll cast these on later today. Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

British Airways' Olympics advertising has an unusual message: "Don't fly. Support Team GB [Great Britain]." The campaign features a Boeing 777 as it travels -- virtually -- from Heathrow Airport through the streets of London to Stratford's Olympic stadium. The campaign includes a television ad, a virtual teaser and a customizable application that creates personalized edits of the TV spot. See the TV ad. Ravellenics kicks off at 3 p.m. local. Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

As if the TdF was not enough... As you probably know if you read here much, I am a great fan and participant on Ravelry. Well, Ravelry runs an event formerly known as the Ravelympic Games... except they aren't allowed to call it that anymore , so it is called the Ravellenic Games, now. It has several knitting and other fiber categories, including spinning, where participants engage in fibery activities while the Olympic Games are on. The 2012 London Olympics start on Friday, July 27th, at 3pm St. Louis time. I'll be spinning more-or-less daily during the Olympics. Oh, boy, another group spinning event! Yay! I have joined the Nest Fiber Studio team, and I'll be starting with the only unspun Nest roving in my stash, Viola on Superwash BFL. I also ordered some more Nest fiber in the update, today, which is a mad rush where you have to be online at the announced update time, clicking "refresh." Bingo Queen on Mixed BFL and Silk: Desiderata on Mixed...

I spun one last yarn for TdF, today, Southern Cross Fibre "Hawk Dreaming" on Masham, yielding about 440 yards of fingering weight singles. I took a group shot of all my TdF yarns. 1. HY/SCF "Shadows Half Seen" on Shetland, five bumps, 365 yards purple, 546 yards brown, 720 yards green 2. SCF "Longest Night" on Cheviot, six bumps, 1250 yards 3. SCF "Hunter" on Southdown, two bumps, 650 yards 4. SCF "Apprentice" on Southdown, two bumps, 650 yards 5. SCF "Hunter Valley" on Wensleydale, one bump, 345 yards 6. SCF "Carder Food" mixed breeds, ~1.3 bumps, 275 yards 7. SCF "Hawk Dreaming" on Masham, one bump, 440 yards The total weight is a little over 4.5 pounds, and total yardage is 5241. Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

I finished all the singles and the plying for the SCF Carder food. It is about 275 yards, with the last 15 yards just orange, n-plied after I ran out of purple. I seem to have spun the orange a bit finer than the purple. Tomorrow is the last day of the Tour! Happy Spinning,

I took a better-lit picture of Hunter Valley. It shows the colors a little better. Today, I plied both Hunter and Apprentice. There is about 650 yards of each color. I also started my next spin, which is Southern Cross Fibre " Carder Food ." I have 52 grams of the orange and 104 grams of the purple, so it will work out well as a 3-ply... exactly twice as much of one as the other... Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

I finished my Hunter Vally, 345 yards of fingering single-ply. With regard to the "worsted" spinning I mentioned in the previous post, for folks who aren't spinners or who are unfamiliar with Wensleydale, below is a closeup. The Wensleydale fibers are rather thick, and you can see in the photo that they are more or less parallel, which is the "worsted" part. A woolen spin, which I blogged about here , means to have the fibers all different directions going into the yarn. A good way to "jumble" the fibers is to roll the roving into rolags and spin from the tip. Because Wensleydale has long, thick fibers, it tends to make knots when spun woolen. Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

Yesterday was a rest day for the tour, but I finished my second bobbin of Apprentice. Today is the challendge day of the Tour. (It is the hardest day in the bike ride...) So spinners are supposed to do something they consider challenging. I pulled out a dose of Wensleydale from Southern Cross Fibre in the color "Hunter Valley." I know, I know. I just spun "Hunter," but that is not the same thing... Anyway, Wensleydale is a "longwool," which is supposed to be a different process, altogether. I read a few tips on Ravelry (bigger whorl to spin slowly, short forward draw, spin worsted not woolen... to that, I would add my own tip of "tighten the bobbin tension for faster take-up.") Still, it went quite well, and I spun about half the dose. I'll leave it as singles. I've never done that before, either. Cool! After I finish Hunter Valley, I'll ply the two bobbins of Hunter and Apprentice (not together), and that should leave me ...

Not a lot of progress, today. I started my second bobbin of Apprentice. Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

I finished the first of two bobbins of Apprentice. Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

I did not spin much today, even for a Saturday. First, I slept four hours later than my weekday rise time. Then, I spun a bit and had to run to a vision check, where I spent almost two hours. Then, we had a swimming lesson for Mitchell, lunch, "Ice Age - Continental Drift," grocery shopping, and finally home again. I finally got back to spinning in the late afternoon and finished up my second Hunter bobbin. I also prepped "Apprentice," which is also the same fiber as "Hunter," Southdown, from May 2012 clubs. I think these two colors would look great together in a Christmas sweater. Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

I have a bobbin and a half of the "Hunter" spun. Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

I found a new dyer during some poking around on-line today, Widdershin Woolworks . Of course, she is really "new to me," but there were only two stashes listed on Ravelry, so it isn't *just* new to me... I gasped when I saw the stuff. There are many beauties on there, but the four below aren't there any more... I bought them. BFL and silk! Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay

I started spinning eight ounces (two bumps) of Southern Cross Fibre Club, "Hunter" on Southdown. I just got a bit onto the bobbin before I headed out to work... I made the fauxlags, yesterday. I'm using a longdraw and getting about 35 wpi. I also washed my Longest Night. It is much more relaxed after its spa treatment. Happy Spinning, Lisa Kay