Tour de Fleece – Finish!

For three weeks, I’ve been spinning a lot in the Tour de Fleece, in several teams at once. Of course I was a member of the good old Team Karma, and apart from that, I also participated in Team Jenkins, Team Turk, Team Supported Spinning, and the team of the DWD group. Lucky me that double dipping was allowed!

The last day of the Tour was actually last Sunday, and I was invited to a finish party at the house of my good friend Snorrepot, but I had to decline the invitation because I was not feeling well. For more than two weeks it had been quite warm here (close to 30 degrees Celsius), and our house is just not isolated well enough to withstand it. Therefore, it’s hotter inside than outside, and opening windows or the balcony door has no effect at all. I don’t sleep so well, and I get grumpy, cannot focus and start avoiding people altogether.

However, part of that malaise could have been some kind of virus, because on Sunday my intestines were upset, and I had to stay home from work on Monday and Tuesday because of that and a massive headache… which I’m still recovering from. That’s why this post is kind of late.

Anyway, let’s get to the good bit: the finishing pics! I managed to spin a nice amount of yarn, taken into account that I didn’t have a lot of time to spin. I did manage to spin a bit every day, and I finished spinning my swap yarn. Also, I spun pure silk for the very first time, and I practiced supported spinning.

From left to right you see: the yarn from the Tour le Karma swap (a 3-ply, 150 grams/666 meters), a yarn made from DutchWoolDiva Finnsheep (100 grams/123 meters), a small sample that came with my TwistedGrain Contingency spindle (11 grams/72 meters), two Turks with pure silk on them, a Phil Powell spindle with a Nunoco minibatt on it, and a MirkwoodArts Eowyn with another Nunoco minibatt on it. Not everything is completely finished, obviously, but that doesn’t matter. I’m still proud of what I managed to do.

I’m most happy with the swap yarn. It/s the most even spun yarn I’ve made so far, and the colours are amazing. It’s a slow gradient, with some random colour highlights on the way. On this pic it’s easier to see how the yarn develops:

I could hardly wait to start knitting this! I looked for a nice shawl pattern, not too busy, which would really showcase this yarn. I think I’ve found it in the Lilac Wish Lace Shawl, a beautiful mostly stockinette body with subtle purled stripes, and with a beautiful lace edging. I actually cast it on already. I love knitting with this yarn!