Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...the last spin and the recap. Tour de Fleece, 7/27 last day I finished spinning Vineyard Variation [ Ravelry ] that I started yesterday. and close-up: Specs: Started 7/26/2025 Finished 7/27/2025 Falkland (3.8 oz.) from The Yarn Wench  60.4 yds. chain-ply, 10 WPI  Tour de Fleece Recap Stats: Plied 2 sets of singles started before the Tour: 327.1 yds. Spun 12 yarns --Total ounces spun: 48.9 oz. --Total yardage: 1,643.05 yds. Yardage grand total: 1,970.15 yds. Row 1: Pumpkin Spice, Japan, Flahriduh, Sprite Row 2: Grapevine, Peacock Zen Row 3: Spill The Wine, TdF 2024, Sangria Sunset, Alice Row 4: Portsmouth, Jingle Bells, Indigo Ikat, Vineyard Variation

 ...rolling towards the end! This is Indigo Ikat Handspun [ Ravelry ]: and the close-UP Specs: Started and finished 7/26/2025 Merino (3.8 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 54.2 yds., 6 WPI Plied with Bernat Matrix color 02110 and Berroco Opulent TX in 7809

...and another finish. I chain plied Jingle Bells [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started 7/23/2025 Finished 7/25/2025 Merino-Camel-Silk (4.0 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks 233.3 yds. chain-ply, 14 WPI

 ...I keep forgetting to post over here. Tour de Fleece, 7/18 I started spinning Portsmouth Handspun [ Ravelry ], a merino-silk top from Lisa Souza. The Alice Handspun [ Ravelry ] is on hold until I decide how to ply it. Tour de Fleece, 7/19 and 7/20 I finished spinning the singles for Portsmouth [ Ravelry ]. It took longer than expected because my hands were cramping up. Tour de Fleece, 7/21 I plied Alice Handspun [ Ravelry ] with a Facets yarn from the stash. I didn't have quite enough, so I pulled a partial skein of Eros II in green to finish the last few yards. and the close-ups: Specs: Started 7/18/2025 Finished 7/21/2025 Falkland (4.0 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 1) 52 yds. 2-ply, 11 WPI; plied with Eros II in 3263 2) 189 yds. 2-ply, 9 WPI; plied with Facets in Dark Ocean  Tour de Fleece, 7/22 I plied the Portsmouth singles [ Ravelry ]. I love how this one turned out! and the close-up: Specs: Started 7/19/2025 Finished 7/22/2025 Me...

 ...another finish!  This is Sangria Sunset [ Ravelry ], another Falkland from The Yarn Wench. and the close-up: Specs: Started and finished 7/16/2025 Falkland (4.1 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 77.1 yds. 2-ply; Bulky weight 1 ply Falkland and 1 ply Trendsetter Dune in color 95  

...spun on Rest Day anyway.  I finished the TdF 2024 Handspun [Ravelry]: and the close up: Specs: Started 7/11/2025 Finished 7/15/2025 4.0 oz. Merino-Cashmere-Silk from Greenwood Fiberworks 210.4 yds., chain-ply, 13 WPI   WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Mom's cookbook (cooking) Talked to my brothers and clarified the instructions on a recipe. Seaology (cross stitch) Finished mermaid block; started lighthouse block No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]   Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Website (other)  Ready for Finishing: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing) August 1997 Hat-of-the-Month (cross stitch) Happy Pumpkin needleroll (cross stitch) Herding Cats quilt (quilting) La Cat-trina quilt (quilting) Peaceful Night (cross stitch) Road to Chaos (quilting)   Sea Dandelion (cross stitch) IDJ (It's Dead, Jim): ...

 ...too many places that I need to post. It's inevitable that I miss one! Tour de Fleece, 7/11 I started spinning the singles for TdF 2024 [ Ravelry ], a merino-cashmere-silk blend from Greenwood Fiberworks. Tour de Fleece, 7/12 Finished the singles for TdF 2024 [ Ravelry ]. Tour de Fleece, 7/13 Rather than ply the TdF2024 Handspun, I decided to spin another set of singles. This is Spill The Wine Handspun [ Ravelry ]:

 ...it was a plying day.  This is Grapevine 2 [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: > Specs: Started 7/7/2025 Finished 7/10/2025 Merino (4.2 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 95.8 yds. chain-ply, 7 WPI   This is Peacock [ Ravelry ] that I started before the Tour: and the close-up: Specs: Started 6/22/2025 Finished 7/10/2025 4.0 oz. Merino-Bamboo-Silk from Lisa Souza 239.6 yds chain-ply, 14 WPI 

 ...in which spinning seems to be the only thing I can handle.  I plied Flahriduh Zen [ Ravelry ] for my third finish of the tour: and the close-up: Specs: Started 6/28/2025 Finished 7/8/2025 4.0 oz. Merino-Bamboo-Silk from Lisa Souza  214.6 yds. chain-ply, 13 WPI  I have a couple more sets of singles to ply, but I might work on an art yarn instead. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Grapevine 2 Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Finished the singles; ready for plying Seaology (cross stitch) Started 7/5/2025; working on mermaid block  No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]   Japan Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Mom's cookbook (cooking) Peacock Zen Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Website (other)  Ready for Finishing: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing) ...

 ...and I'm getting into the rhythm of it. TdF, 7/6: I finished the singles for Flahriduh Zen [ Ravelry ], a merino-bamboo-silk from Lisa Souza: TdF, 7/7: Rather than ply the singles for Flahriduh Zen, I spun the singles for Grapevine 2 [ Ravelry ], a merino braid from The Yarn Wench. This makes the 3rd set of singles that I have ready to ply: Flahriduh Zen, Grapevine 2, and Peacock Zen [ Ravelry ]. I'll swap to the plying head and ply them one after the other. And maybe follow them by an art yarn. I'm trying not to swap between the regular and plying heads too often because it's a pain and it slows me down. 😉

 ...first day of the Tour! As I have in previous Tours, I started with an art yarn. This is Pumpkin Spice [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started and finished 7/5/2025 Falkland (4.4 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 45.8 yds. 3-ply, Bulky weight Plied with purple variegated thread and Blue Heron Rayon Metallic 88/12 (copper)  I had time, so I also plied the Falkland singles that I spun last week. This is Japan [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started 6/18/2025 Finished 7/5/2025 Falkland (4.1 oz) from the Yarn Wench 112.5 yds., chain-plied; 9 WPI 

 ...whew!  As my last yarn for the tour, I pulled Glo-Girl 1 [ Ravelry ], a Falkland from The Yarn Wench. and the close-up: Specs: Started and finished 7/21/2024 4.0 oz. Falkland from Yarn Wench 66.7 yds. chain-ply, 9 WPI Tour de Fleece Recap Overall, it felt great to get back into the TdF mindset. I was able to spin every day of the Tour, including the rest days. I didn't want to miss out on any spinning time! Finished 12 yarns Yardage total 1,441.8 yds. of various weights Tried out spinning beehives/coils 👎 Tried spinning with a different color. 👌for the color; 👎 for the fiber.

 ...nearing the end of the Tour! Tour de Fleece, 7/19: I chain plied Horizon Handspun [ Ravelry and the close-up: Specs: Started 7/16/2024 Finished 7/19/2024 Organic Polworth-silk from Greenwood Fiberworks 254.2 yds. chain-ply, 15 WPI Tour de Fleece, 7/20: I spun two singles for Agate 2, a merino from Yarn Wench. Plied the singles with Charming from Trensetter Yarns: and the close-up: Specs: Started and finished 7/20/2024 4.2 oz. Merino from Yarn Wench 47.9 yds 3-ply, Super bulky 2 singles plied with Charming in 1001P from Trendsetter

 ...AKA F.O. Friday. Tour de Fleece, 7/17: I continued spinning the singles for Horizon Handspun [ Ravelry ] that I started 7/16. Tour de Fleece, 7/18: I finished spinning the singles for Horizon Handspun [ Ravelry ]. I'll let it rest overnight before plying. I spun an art yarn during the remainder of the day. This is Storm’s a Brewing [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started and finished 7/18/2024 3.9 oz. Merino 56.25 yds. 3 ply Plied with Stacy Charles Mariah and blue variegated quilting thread  

 ...Tour de Fleece style. Yesterday, I participated in a challenge for one of my TdF teams. The challenge was to spin in a different or new color. After doing a deep dive in my stash, I found a ProVerbial club installment from April 2014: California Poppy Party. This club installment had two color variations in two fibers. I used the red-orange merino and started spinning it. This is California Red Poppy [ Ravelry ]: Ugh! It was a struggle drafting the fiber and was not a pleasant spin. I stopped after about 3 hours and switched over to something more pleasant to spin. This is Horizon [ Ravelry ], a Polworth-silk from Greenwood Fiberworks: WIPs Roll Call Worked On: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Started 7/16/2024 Crystal Heart mini (cross stitch) Finished the cross stitch portion; working on the specialty stitches Horizon Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Started 7/16/2024 No Work This Week: ...

 ...I blasted through the two handspuns in process. I finished the core spinning Plumpine [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started 7/14/2024 Finished 7/15/2024 3.9 oz Falkland from Yarn Wench 37.5 yds 2-ply, coreless corespun, autowrappped with green and purple variegated rayon thread I plied Stanley [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started 7/12/2024 Finished 7/15/2024 4.0 Merino-bamboo-silk from Greenwood Fiberworks 300 yds, chain-ply, 16 WPI