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 a Tour de Fleece update. First the eye candy. Our yard is in and in-between state. There are only a few things blooming. In the courtyard, the hibiscus is blooming again: < and the purple calibrachoa is going strong. Tour de Fleece, 7/23 I started spinning Jingle Bells [ Ravelry ], a merino-camel-silk blend from Greenwood Fiberworks. Tour de Fleece, 7/24 I finished spinning the singles for Jingle Bells [ Ravelry ]:

 ...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 

 ...and finished objects! I've been spinning singles for a couple of weeks for 3 different tops. My go-to is always Falkland from The Yarn Wench. This is Simplicity [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: < Specs: Started 5/24/2025 Finished 6/4/2025 Falkland (4.0 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 81.25 yds., Bulky  I found a few pencil rovings in my stash. This one caught my eye because it's the color of the primroses in our backyard and it's name. This is Primroses [ Ravelry ]:  and the close-up: Specs: Started 5/26/2025 Finished 6/5/2025 Corriedale pencil roving (8.0 oz.) from Crown Mountain Farms Skein 1) 114.6 yds. Skein 2) 106.25 yds. 10 WPI  In the garden, the Love-in-the-Mist is popping up everywhere: And the chocolate sunflowers are blooming: We have a bunch of fruit ripening on our trees, like the Blenheim apricots. (Can't wait for these!)  Here's hoping that the squirrels and birds let us have some!

 ...and a finished object. I finished spinning Red Alder [ Ravelry ], another top from Greenwood Fiberworks. I really love their fiber!  and the close-up: Specs: Started 4/28/2025 Finished 5/7/2025 4.0 oz. Merino-Tencel from Greenwood Fiberworks 235.4 yds chain-ply, 14 WPI Our garden path is looking more lush: The Husband has planted more petunias: The Marc Chagall rose is going crazy.  The peonies are now blooming:

 ...and a finished object. I finished spinning Critical Hit [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started 4/7/2025 Finished 4/22/2025 4.0 oz. Merino-Stellina from Greenwood Fiberworks 267 yds. chain-ply, 14 WPI  WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Brighter Day quilt (quilting) Still rearranging blocks. Sea Merchant's Wife (cross stitch) Finished the back stitching. Washed the mermaid and some of the colors ran. Working on removing the stains. Website (other) Continuing replacing embedded photos with links; combined weaving pages into fewer pages; deleted unused photos from Media Library. No Work This Week: Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Mom's cookbook (cooking)  Teal No-Noro Hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ]   Ready for Finishing: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing) Happy Pumpkin needleroll (cross stitch) Herding Cats quilt (quilting) Mom's cookbook (cooking) Peaceful Night (cross stitch) Sea Dandelion (cro...