Happy Fiber Friday!

This is shaping up to be the best Fiber Friday yet! I found out Jacey Boggs aka Insubordiknit was coming to do a workshop in Florida. Better yet, in Sarasota, FL which is right next to my hometown of Bradenton. My family still lives there so I have plenty of places to stay for free and Grandma to entertain the kiddos. A friend of mine came over a few days before I found out about the workshop to have me spin up some trash bags and some t-shirt strips. She's into recycling whatever she can into hand knit and crocheted items. Well when she was here we were thumbing through Intertwined (an art yarn spinning book) and I was talking about how much I wish either Jacey or Lexi Boeger (author of Intertwined aka Pluckyfluff) would come to Florida. It seems as though people assume Floridians don't knit/crochet/spin much because of the warm weather. Well imagine my surprise when less than a week later I see Jacey post about a Sarasota workshop. I couldn't believe it! So I reserved a spot as soon as it opened up and decided to drop a note of thanks to Picasso's Moon, the yarn shop in Sarasota that is sponsoring the workshop. Turns out Debra is very nice and we ended up exchanging a few emails about the workshop and the upcoming Florida Fiber-In that is being held in Sarasota in September. Well imagine my surprise when I got an order of two skeins of sock yarn from Debra herself. This woman has a yarn shop ... is surrounded by all the yarn and fiber she could ever want ... and she buys two skeins of my hand dyed sock yarn. This is such a great day! :)

A Sneak Peak ...

... at things to come. A new sock yarn dyeing method I came up with and am loving, "space junk" Astrobatts (for artyarn) and some tie-dyed fiber. More on all three of these things soon. :)

Group on Ravelry

For those of you on Ravelry, I started a group for Rocket Yarn. Come join us!

40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

July 16, 2009

NASA PLAYS AUDIO "TIME CAPSULE" OF HISTORIC APOLLO 11 MISSION

NASA will provide a unique audio "time capsule" in observance of the 40th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon. Audio from the entire Apollo 11 mission will be replayed and streamed on the Internet at exactly the same time and date it was broadcast in 1969.

The audio retrospective will begin at 7:32 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 16, two hours before the spacecraft launched. The audio will continue through splashdown of the mission at 12:51 p.m. EDT Friday, July 24, and recovery of the crew shortly afterward. The Web stream will feature the communications between the astronauts and ground teams, and commentary from Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

To listen to the replay, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/apollo11_radio

For historical information about Apollo 11, visit: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo11

NASA's Apollo 40th anniversary Web site provides easy access to various agency resources and multimedia about the program and the history of human spaceflight, including a gallery of Apollo multimedia features. The site is online at: http://www.nasa.gov/apollo40th

************************************

The following is a link to a short video created by KSC Public Affairs in honor of the Apollo 11 40^th anniversary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub-38qoq1_0

***********************************

For a list of Apollo 40th anniversary events and more information about the anniversary, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/40th/events.html and http://www.nasa.gov/apollo

Go Endeavor!

The crew of Space Shuttle Endeavor is once again suited up and ready for launch. Let's hope they get to launch this time. This site has lots of great info as well as a launch countdown clock. Go check it out!

Tour de Fleece Yarn #3

Mmmmmmmohair!!! :)
Fiber: 100% Texas Yearling Mohair top
Colors: earthy greens and blues
Spun single, about DK weight, 197 yards
This was my first experience spinning 100% mohair and boy was it fun. I think I'm going to spin more of this on the Tour. I love the way it handles and spins. I have some listed in the shop if you're interested.

Tour de Fleece Days 3 & 4

I made a space inspired batt. Spun it slightly thick and then and then plied it with metallic needle punch thread. Spun with a twist and a few coils here and there.

Tour de Fleece Yarn #2
Space Batt: sw merino in black, dk navy, denim blue, light gray
Add-ins: blips of silk, angelina and firestar








Tour de Fleece Yarn #3
hand dyed mohair top
spun at about a dk weight single, i think

Tour de Fleece Day 2

I completed my first yarn of the tour.
Fiber: Punta Wool (dyed by me)
Yards: 106 yds
Method: coils with some funk between the coils (different plying angles)

Tour de Fleece Day 1

Hand dyed Punta wool in "condiments". I finished the second single and started plying with some coils to make an artsy yarn.

Tour de Fleece Starts Today

As the Tour de France begins … so does the Tour de Fleece. They spin, we spin. They have goals and so do we. I’ve had a lot of art yarn ideas lately so I joined Team Breakaway (art yarn spinners). Here are my yarn goals for the tour:

Coiled Yarn – “Space”

- 4 oz hand dyed deep blue Romney

- Silver metallic thread

- Plied together with coils

Coiled Yarn – “Sky”

- 2 oz hand dyed white & light blue Merino

-2 oz hand dyed grey & blue Merino

- Plied together with lots of coils

Corespun – “Deep Space”

- Astrobatt corespun around crochet thread or fingering weight wool

- Merino/Bamboo or Merino/Nylon

- Deep purple, blue and black with angelina and firestar

Add-Ins – “Bejeweled”

- Jewel colored batt with firestar and Angelina

- Plied with metallic thread and multi-colored beads