Spinspiration: Roving to Yarn

Good morning!

My summer spin-a-thon has officially begun! I have to spin a minimum of 2 skeins a day just to keep up with my show schedule and online sales. It's a lot of work, but I really do love it- I just drag my wheel around with me where ever I go. You can follow along with my spinning progress on my Instagram or Flickr, I am using hashtag #spinathon and #ontheround.

To help get you in the spinning mood for the Tour de Fleece, I thought I would share some spinspiration! These are all skeins that I have spun in the last couple of weeks. Please note, I spun all of these yarns on my Ashford kiwi, I used the fractal spinning method to prepare my roving, and I spun worsted style. I've included purchasing information for either the yarn or the roving in the caption, just click the link to be taken to my shop.

Hand painted BFL

Roving available available for purchase, here

Hand painted BFL

Roving available for purchase, here.

Hand painted Merino, thread plied

Yarn available for purchase, here. 

Hand painted Merino

Yarn available for purchase, here. 

Hand painted Merino

Yarn available for purchase, here.

Hand painted Merino

Yarn available for purchase, here.

Hand painted BFL

Yarn available for purchase, here. 

Hand painted Merino

Yarn available for purchase, here. 

Happy Spinning!

Tour de Fleece 2013 - Team Nevermore

Tour de Fleece is quickly approaching- just two and a half weeks before it's time to spin our hearts out! I haven't participated in the TdF since 2010 when I was on Team LaiGrai. That year I pushed myself to create art yarns, something I am not known for. You can check out more of my work from that season here, on my Flickr Page.

2010 TdF with Team LaiGrai. 

I don't know why I haven't participated since then, but I'm ready to join in on the fun again this year for sure! I'm going to be spinning along with Team Nevermore hosted by the lovely Xiane Knight of Threeravens. I like how she is going rogue and breaking away from all the rules and regulations on the official Ravelry page. I still have to spin a ton for work (since I am in the heat of show season) so I think the lighter and happier I can make the event- the better! 

TdF 2013 - Team Nevermore!

In the spirit of being a rebel, I'm going to push the envelope a bit on this one in terms of my goals. I am going to spin a sweater lot of yarn and knit it up free style during the tour. This will be a challenge for me since I haven't completed a handspun sweater since I started selling my yarn. I'm going to use the term "sweater" loosely on this one since the design in my head is more of a tank top tunic/dress, but like I said, I'm breaking all the rules! To push myself even further, I'm going to attempt do to a skein of thinly spun art yarn that I will use to embellish part of my sweater with. I'm always drawn to the more traditional spun yarns so I'm going to really push myself to merge the two thoughts of thinly spun balanced yarn with some major art yarn techniques. Should be fun! 

Will you be participating the the Tour this year? If so, now is the time to stock up! This week I am offering 15% off all roving, wool packs, and gradient batts in my shop with coupon code TOURDEFLEECE, offer ends 6/18/2013. Click here to shop now! **offer is not available for custom orders. 

For more information about the Tour de Fleece you can visit the Ravelry Page or on Threeraven's website.