Yes its hot, wool and heat aren't pretty. But your spinning is...you make me want to learn that too.

First!

i sure wish i knew how to spin. one of these days i'm gonna learn!

beautiful yarn, even tho it started to felt.

The colors of your rovings are so pretty. I do have to learn to spin one of these days.

I don't even want to think about roving... I just got home from work on my bike and even our usually cooling Atlantic Ocean has slagged off and isn't doing its job. It's 37 with the humidex here in Halifax... and the remote thermometre on my back step says it is 44C in the sun.

Liar. It's more like 100C

I don't even want to think about roving... I just got home from work on my bike and even our usually cooling Atlantic Ocean has slagged off and isn't doing its job. It's 37 with the humidex here in Halifax... and the remote thermometre on my back step says it is 44C in the sun.

Liar. It's more like 100C

drats - not fast enough... I don't spin, but occasionally go deep in to the dark recesses of my yarn stash, and often wonder what the heck I was thinking when I got that! Doesn't look like you have the same issue with the fiber though.

Spin from my stash...what a concept. Though that merino/tencel is pretty.

If I was to dig out something from my stash that was the oldest....um...don't ask how old it is!

I have Roving and I have a Spindle but still havent figured out how to make my hands the spindle and the roving work well together :-) The "poorly" spun yarn looks lovely and I cant wait to see how todays turns out!

will you bring some pretty handspun to show us in London in September??

Can't wait to see you in person!
nina x

Merry Christmas from the stash!

I too have been playing in the fiber stash and it is Christmas like to find something 'new' and wonderful to spin. My baby camel/tussah is proving about as challenging as your 1500g. Damn that stuff is flighty.

So pretty despite the heat.

Aargh! The heat is very miserable to drive a taxi in. I've tried to not use the a/c in my taxi but I have to with the passengers. My apartment is also very hot. I have a window a/c unit which I put in my living room & use fans to try to push the cool air around. Not working too well. My poor cats with their little fur coats are just trying to cool off. I don't run the a/c while I'm at work. I love your spinning! I learned how to spin using a supported spindle. That's a challenge. A cold front is coming through Wisco & will soon be upon you.

You keep your butter in the cupboard???

I was born in GA, lived in FL, did an exchange to Canada and I've never known that it was possible to leave butter in the cupboard. You Canadians are very wily people . . .

I thought the handspun was very pretty.

Aw Steph, this girl in hot ol'Texas totally commiserates with you.

You keep your butter in the cupboard???

I was born in GA, lived in FL, did an exchange to Canada and I've never known that it was possible to leave butter in the cupboard. You Canadians are very wily people . . .

It's 88F here, but it feels like 96F with the 63% humidity (so saith the www.weather.com)

I thought the handspun was very pretty.

To combat the hundred million thousand degrees - I've heard that Wal-Mart has air-conditioners for around $85. (My daughter knows prices for almost anything you need, she's my first go-to when I need to find a deal on something.) If you are able to get there and back, these are pretty simple to put in the window, and then plug them in!

I'm watching the progress on the Tour De Fleece with great interest - I have been nibbled by the spinning bug, bought an Ashford drop spindle in Texas and some Corriedale roving to start with. Now I just need a lesson or two (perhaps when the weather cools I could book a session with Denny of drop-spindle fame) and then it will be my new sport. Ha - now if you could explain warping the time-space thingy it would go a lot better for me.

The yarn is beautiful and the next batch will be equally so - think cools thoughts and keep spinning.

Fans are the way to go. We have them placed through out the house and turn them on. We figure out where the sun is and put the fan in the window door where the sun isn't and there is a bit of coolness. Here in Maryland we go from hot and humid to drop dead heat with indexes over 100 degrees. Nasty stuff. We have even plugged fans outside for a graduation party to keep the air moving. It was surprising how many people just stood by those fans...
life in the states.

I had no idea that Canada could get so hot before I started reading your blog. That must be really uncomfortable since ya'll don't have an A/C. It's hot here, but at least we can go inside and cool off. Have fun with the spinning, maybe I'll learn how one day, but then that would take up precious knitting time.

Oooooooooo - that yarn is gorgeous - love, love, love those colors. I can sympathize with you about the heat. We have window air conditioners (the most practical kind if you have radiator heat) so it's always tricky timing when to put them in (once in we can't open windows). I remember the ferocious heat wave of 1995 in Chicago (when those hundreds of people died). The train is ½ mile from our house & my work location at that time was ½ mile from the other end of the train. I finally settled on freezing bottles of water to take with me in the morning (when it would already be about 90°). They would be about half melted by the time I got to the train (a 15 min ride) & pretty much completely melted by the time I got to work. Even so, I was terribly uncomfortable. Give me -10° F anyday over 95° F.

I'm not a spinner (yet), but that yarn looks lovely to me. Kudos to you for mixing heat/humidity with wool! I'm so loving my cotton right now.

I think the handspun looks gorgeous, as does that cute wee baby willing to sacrifice herself for the knitting cause, wearing a sweater in 97 degree weather. Now that is a true future knitter.

Beautimous fiber. I love fiber. Don't you love fiber. Sometimes I open my closed where my fleeces live and just stand there smelling it. Do you think something's wrong with me?

I love the idea of starting with the oldest things in your stash. I am eagerly keeping track of your progress, since it's hard to spin a double-treadle wheel a broken foot.

As far as the heat goes: ice packs. Sometimes I get super hot and my husband is, of course, freezing, so I put an ice pack on my thighs, or on my wrist, back of my neck, maybe even the top of my head. It'll at least give you a few minutes of relief.

Its 105 F. here on my deck in Washington DC - I was knitting cotton socks today and thinking it is way to hot for even that! Why is that baby wearing a sweater??

AAww! The mini-future-spinners are so cute. The yarn is beautiful too - I can't tell that it's poorly spun, it just looks nice to me. And I'm very interested in seeing how the second batch turns out - the colors are lovely! The heat here is also 900 thousand degrees, we have no a/c (I really don't like to be cold, I wait all winter to get warm, so I try to enjoy the heat when it hits, even tho this is a bit much...I'm trying to study for a class and it's a little hard to concentrate) but have a lovely fan attempting to send a few little breezes along the way. Your goal sounds doable - "you can do it!"

merry christmas :)

that merino/tencel roving is gorgeous. i can't wait to see it spun up!

we are surviving on mojitos down here in the deep south. you're welcome to join us. the humidity is just charming.

Oh, the horrors of a hot day!! I'm spinning, too.
About the butter- have you tried a French butter keeper? They're great! Google "French butter keeper" for a myriad of options

Mojitos sound lovely. I'd have to avoid the wool and go for cotton and/or bamboo. But then, I don't spin. Yet. I'm getting tempted...

it's all so pretty! It's hot here in so cal too, and we don't have ac either; maybe we can sweat in international solidarity for peace or something. We are blesses with a kind neighbor who says we can use her pool any time, but today I've got one with the flu so we can't go.

I found a spinning group I'm going to watch and perhaps learn something from sometime soon!

I'm in Michigan and the weather here today is evil as well. It sort of feels like someone drenched a heavy bedspread and then threw it on top of me while turning up the temperature.

I keep doing the rain dance, hoping it will cool things off. I look funny doing the rain dance. But I'm willing to humiliate myself for cool air.

Hope you cool off soon. Oh, and by the way? I like the red yarn, looks spun well to me. Keep going! :)

I love that, "Christmas in your own stash". Being a new spinner I don't have anything that goes back to 2004 but the older stuff I tried to work through last year. I was intending to join in with the Tour this year but with a new puppy on the scene it seemed hopelessly optimistic. I'm thinking that my multitasking skills stink if Jen can nurse and spin but I can't wrangle a puppy and spin.

Totally Christmas. I just did a stash reorg yesterday and this morning (prompted by my oldest requesting a hat be knit for him), and it was fun to see what I've got. It's not THAT huge, but it does make an impressive pile when it's all out.

I'm really excited to see what else you come up with. Even if it is poorly spun, the colors in your first two skeins of Tour de Fleece yarn are lovely. I wonder what it will become next?

Your heat 'breaks' at sunset? It was (no lie) 95 degrees F. (I don't know what that is with the humidex) about an hour after sunset here last night...ah, a heat break at sunset--lovely idea!

But the Jr. Spinner's league is off to a grande start and the merino tencel looks like it's going to be gor-geous!

Living in Houston where we had 95 F with an extremely high humidity, I can sympathize. But we have air conditioning, and not those little window ones, either. I guess the amazing thing is that it is that hot up there, in the north, in Canada... Do ya think Texas moved it's borders, again??

I can feel you pain about the heat. Its 107 in the shade and its not even the hottest part of the day. Its almost hot enough to make me rethink my stance on public nudity.

yay! You've inspired me to also join the Tour de Fleece! But in the heat- we're hot here in NYC too- isn't it hard? I feel like I just get wool all over me, the sweat makes it stick everywhere and it's just not so pleasant. I LOVE what you did with that red roving though. It's so pretty!

This is why I prefer winter. You can always put on enough clothing to get warm (especially with the plethora of wool around here) but in summer you CANNOT take off enough clothing to get cool! At least not without provoking public outcry.
Gorgeous fiber, gorgeous spinning. I too am spinning like a madwoman these days...I just never want to get up from the wheel again. Love it love it love it! Go girl, and meet your goal!

I can totally relate to the heat issue ~ it is definitely hotter inside than out. I hadn't considered waiting til evening and knitting outside ~ I must try that tomorrow night since I need to go to bed early tonite. I think the fiber turned out rather nicely from your pic though it was a bear to get it done. ;) Maybe one day I'll be bold enough to learn to spin but for now I'll just read others stories.

Thx for sharing. ;)

Stef, welcome to my new life! Tempterature and humidity have been like that here in San Antonio pretty much since the beginning of May. The difference is that everyone survives by 1) air conditioning all interiors to the point of refrigeration, and 2) spending as much time as possible in water. Fellow knitters welcomed me here by explaining that we are through the looking glass: you wear sweaters indoors in the summer around here. Once I got used to it though, knitting and spinning became possible again. In the air conditioning.

Christmas, yes, but hotter. You can pretend you live in Australia.

It's blazing hot in No. Cal as well... We have AC, but we don't use it, cause we are at work all day (let the company pay for AC). I find Ice Cream is an excellent antidote to hot weather. I want to go home and spin, but alas I have other (less fun) obligations these days...

Beautiful yarn...way to go! Don't let the heat get you down...spin, spin, spin, maybe you will create a breeze!

You can always blame not getting the goal met because Joe didn't install the air conditioner before he left, forcing you to only spin outside when it cools down at night. :)

I somehow bought a drop spindle and a bag of roving the other day. I still don't really know how it happened. I think I need to look at lots of pictures like yours to remind myself that it is possible to make yarn - eventually.

I forgot to mention, the first fleece up there, the orangy stuff -- lovely just lovely! What is it going to be when it grows up?

If that's what you call really poorly spun, I despair of my feeble attempts at spinning.

I love those baby spinners! They look like they were having a grand old time! :)

No suggestions on dealing with the heat. Sounds like you're doing just fine, though.

i got a kick out of seeing all the babies in knitted sweaters and leggings in 37 C degree heat. and they look happy :)

the knitted garment is too hot for baby
set up a sprinkler i live on the west
coast of florida but remember the days
before ac -this summer is one to break
records gatorade and cloth bands like
soldiers use full of ice all kinds
no seeums bite at night chiggers etc
light loose colour garments
stick your feet in a wash tub of water
fans or go to a hotel

See? This is why I almost never complain about the cold weather--my personal feeling is that you can complain about heat or about the cold, but not both (except for the occasional really extreme weather). If you complain during the winter, you can't complain about the heat, and if you complain during the summer (here's me raising my hand), you can't complain about being too cold! In other words, I reserve my complaining for the hot weather, because I absolutely hate hot weather! Especially hot, HUMID weather. Blech.

It may have been tricky spinning but it is a beautiful colorway. Good luck on making your goal.

Yes, it is hot here too-throw in a hot flash and I am pretty miserable! Your homespun looks great! Keep going! You've inspired me to get started on some navy blue merino.

I know that you are super busy and may not have time to answer this biking question, but here goes. My husband and I are coming to Toronto on Friday for a baseball game, but plan to bike in Toronto on Friday afternoon and a chunk of Saturday. I see that there are many biking trails in the metro Toronto area. Can you recommend a trail that we should not miss? Thanks in advance if you have a chance to answer

Cannot decide which I hate more; summer or winter. I am hiding in my basement (it's all good, the yarn lives here), emerging only when forced.

Wow-have never until now thought that I might want to learn about spinning - have my hands full being an uncoordinated knitter - but that yarn you crafted is too pretty!

Isn't stash-diving fun? I've solemnly vowed to only knit/spin from my stash this summer (right, but it's worth a try...) That yarn and fiber is gorgeous. I'm spinning a 3-ply merino that my friend Kristen dyed... She's got fabulous roving on etsy. You can even see how different people have spun it up on her Ravelry forum. Her name in both places is allspunup. :) Happy spinning!

Hmmm. Never tried Navajo plying while rocking and nursing an infant in a sling, but I have spun singles on my drop spindle that way (and shopped for groceries and cooked supper and, and, and...). It is amazing what you learn to do over the course of raising two VERY demanding and one easy-going nurslings, isn't it?

You are tempting me to learn how to spin, you ... you ... HARLOT!!! I suppose it's a harlot's job to tempt people, though, so - fair enough. The yarn looks beautiful on my monitor, anyway, no matter how poorly spun you think it is.

It is wretchedly hot here, too. And I am craving egg salad. If I boil water for eggs, is it possible that the enamel will melt off my stove top? Just wondering.

Yeah, I kind of gave up a little bit on the Tour de Fleece till the humidity breaks. I challenged myself with spindle spinning, and I think I like it about as much as you do. Combine that with trying to spin Soy Silk? Gah! I'm certainly not good enough to do that!! So yeah, I think I'll delve into the *tiny* fibre stash I have and spin something a little easier. Wish me luck...

I was about to comment that we've gotten hotter than that without the humidex already... but really, what counts in my book is the difference in temperatures from winter to summer! Let's face it... you see colder temps than we do in the winter, so a mere 97 with humidex must feel like 100 without the humidex to us! ;-)
I can knit anything in any temperature... but dang.. I can't spin in the extreme heat for two reasons: the fiber sticks too much to my sweaty fingers, AND the fan I've got pointing toward me blows the fiber around too much!
Spin on, sweaty sister... spin on!

I can vouch for the heat! I'm a visitor in your fair city this week, and the heat had me near melting this afternoon. I love Toronto, though, so it won't keep me from exploring!

That's insane. I joined last year but was debating about this year. I've got a ton of projects to get through. I do need to spin through my fiber stash though. I would imagine yours would be chock full of good stuff!

That is seriously pretty yarn and rovings.

I try really hard to be environmentally conscious and all, but I just don't want to live a life without air conditioning. What can I say? I'm a delicate flower. *snort*

So, I have to ask...and I mean this in the most loving of ways...does it ever bother you that we all gather 'round to watch you go crazy and giggle at you when you do?

I win: it is 109 F (42.777777777778 C, thanks Google) outside in Davis, CA and I have no air conditioning. Not even a crappy little wall unit. AND! We have fires all over the state, so the air is full of smoke. It looks like there is a dirty dog all over the central valley of California.

Thank goodness Boyfriend has it. I cannot wait until August 25 when I finally move into my new air conditioned place.

Your yarn is gorgeous, and the rovings you started with are absolutely stunning.

I am dreaming about it being 36 degrees C. In Melbourne Australia right now it is only 16 degrees C in my house, near the heater. Beautiful yarn you've got there.

Regarding your Tour de Fleece objective. Don't ply. Spin singles. Big fat ones if you feel like it.

BEautiful Yarn Shed roving, just wondrous. Like you, I flit from tree to tree when it's hot and go outside in the evening. I am Sooooo happy to be back where the ocean breeze pretty much protects me against evil hot evenings now. Counting my blessings in the Sock Shaped State,

==Marjorie

That Blue Moon Roving is beautiful, and spun-up, it looks lovely. (despite your self-assessment.) Can't wait to see the second roving.

Wow, first off all I'm impressed you've been blogging so consistently. On another note, that poor baby in the sweater.. haha.. lets give you the benefit of the doubt because your baby sure looked comfortable.

Finding stuff you didn't remember you had is like getting it for free. So is frogging.

I love the way that reddish roving spun up. I'd never have expected that yarn from that roving. Spinning always amazes me. (Mine, still mostly in a bad way, but other people's often results in pleasant surprises.)

Oh, and that Jen? Freakin' amazing!

Oh, my, how I wish I could sit next to you for a Navajo plying lesson! I'm just not getting it from online video clips!! I'll bring the brews.

Fiber artists in the making, how cute! I can sympathize with the heat. It's been 97°F here for at least a month. Good luck with the spinning!

I taught grumbling teenagers all day on the second floor of a school with broken air conditioning in a room that inexplicably had the windows screwed shut. I feel ya.

weren't you just complaining about the rain and the snow? how did it get to be summer so fast?

Tuesday. Spinning. Cool.

As someone who grew up in the deep South I can tell you that soaking wet hair is the poor man's substitute for a/c. It's gotten me through many a hot humid scorcher. And spinning/nursing/rocking? The mind boggles, clearly a talented lady!

Your spinning reminds me of sherbet -- now doesn't that make you feel cooler?!

Boy I hear you on the heat problem! We have no a/c whatsoever and when it hits 100 it's awful!

That yarn is gorgeous! Thinking cool thoughts for you!

umm maybe its me, but what is a sheep to shoe? Beautiful yarns and mini-fiber artists you have there as well.

Steph, here is something I learned when I took my spinning class....it is NOT really, really, poorly spun yarn, it is Boutique yarn...the unusual, the unique, the exotic yarn :) And believe me your yarn really LOOKS like yarn compared to some of the stuff I spin!

The storm is coming through now - I hope that it's cooled down as much in your house as it has in mine! And good luck on the spinning! The Tour de Fleece is making me want to pull out my drop spindle, but I've got *way* too many other WIPs to think about it.

I recommend hanging out at the frozen food section of the supermarket when it is impossibly hot.

Beautiful yarn...sigh...

I am so, so sorry to hear about your heat!
Oh - I feel queasy just thinking about it.

How any of you can go near fibre is amazing to me!

I'm so jealous, your heat breaks. Ours just stays on and on. But, we're in Atlanta, it what it does. I'm going to Montana next week, where it's 40 F at night and 72 during the day. MY kind of weather.

The spinning is beautiful. Makes me want to dive into my stash and see what's been marinating for a while.

Spin On!

Is the basement cooler? Can you sit down there with Mr. Washie and put bare feet on a concrete floor? Cause you can stay cool that way, even if it is boring. The other thing I do is to run cold water in the bathtub and go wading. Freeze your feet and the rest of you gets cold very quickly. Kind of the opposite of why you wear wool socks.

Oh. My. GAWD!!!!!!!!!!!! The roving and handspun is GORGEOUS!!!! (And no, not saying that because I'm coveting it... Okay, maybe just a little...)

And I can sympathize on the hotter'n'Hades knitting conditions... My house is also unair-conditioned, and we'd have to put a bit of money into getting even a small window AC unit for upstairs... *dies*

Oh, to Melissa in OK, my folks an I do that as much as possible. It's either Wally World (WalMart), Giant (local supermarket in south central PA), Target or Michael's.

i am still agog at this whole spinning concept! and i am in love with those babies! :)
an unrelated question: if one is away in europe for one month, how much knitting is it reasonable to take along given the amount of time that will be spent sunning on beaches with sand sticking to everything,drinking and eating at sidewalk cafés and visiting various sites of historic interest that may not lend themselves to knitting? but also given that there will be some air time and rail time to fill in too.

Hi Steph,

Last summer, I gave my cat a frozen bottle of water to help keep him cool (like the bunnies at the fair). It took him a while to get the idea, but cozied up to it after he figured it out. Which proves that even a cat will stoop low enough to learn from a human when it's hot.

uh Stephanie - not to cruelly remind you of tempting fate but

"The Toronto summer is so short that being deprived of any one warm and glorious day makes the natives restless, and missing out on a whole week of patios, sundresses and walking in the sun makes us downright irate"

Soooo - on the bright ( no pun intended) side, you can DEFINITELY wear sundresses.

Seriously, I hope this heat breaks for you soon.
Margie
PS as someone who nursed two kids , Jen has my TOTAL admiration!!!!

I've banned myself from buying new until I spin through 1/2 of my stash. Could be 2020 before I set foot in a fiber shop again....

It's so humid here it feels drier when it's raining. No joke.

Stephanie - My Dad spent time in the hospital after WWII- with no a/c. The nurses would wet a face cloth with very cold water and
place on the sternum (breastbone). Lay still and after about 20 min., your body will start cooling down. We did this when we didn't have a/c.

Love your posts.

I am jealous that you can go outside in the evening. Here in sodden Wisconsin (and I mean that in the soggy sense) we don't DARE sit outside in the evening - the mosquitoes would carry you away. Everyone runs from the car to the house, slamming the door as fast as possible. Mosquito repellant is becoming scarce and people are using any suggested alternative that anyone mentions.

Dateline: Tucson. 104 degrees (F). Our AC was out from Friday last 'til the following Tuesday.

Lots of movie theatres, lots of friends' swimming pools.

(Hey! You're Canadian and your blog tells me that "theatres" is misspelled!)

;-)

That merino/tencel is absolutely gorgeous! I really want to learn to spin, but just haven't had the gumption to actually buy the tools necessary to start. Fiberfest is next weekend in Chicago and I'm thinking of purchasing my firt roving and drop spindle and trying to give it a go. I don't want to buy a spinning wheel quite yet, besides which, I can't really afford one either!

You know the definition of a sweater, don't you?

No?

A sweater is a garment that a child wears because it's mother is chilly.

I bought some merino/tencel and haven't spun it yet. It's almost a beautiful as yours. Now I'm going to have to spin it.

Sometimes I melt my butter if I leave it on the counter on top of the dishwasher. My brother (a Toronto dweller, btw) also did that when he visited and was quite amused. He referred to the special pre-melted butter for the whole visit.

But pre-melted butter from the cupboard? That's hard core, dude.

It still astounds me that people do not have air conditioning. It wasn't until I moved to florida, from vegas, that I realized not all people didn't have AC in their houses and it wasn't central. I didn't see a wall unit until I moved into my first apartment.

To make you feel better it is about 5:30pm in Sacramento, CA and it is 109 degrees. So far I can't find a news channel to say what the humidity is. I know it is very high. I think they are afraid to tell us.

Hot dry summer. Crunchy brown lawn. Knitting cotton in recliner in front of fan. Hoping for rainy thunderstorms and an early winter. Oops! Just spilled ice water all over self. It feels real good.

Haha, it's not even 30 C. in Utah. We don't have any oxygen, but we don't need it because it's Not That Hot.

Do you think that mentioning Sheep to Shoe kits on your blog will swamp Tina or do you think she can take it?

Stephanie,

1. gorgeous fiber!
2. 107 F here, and our air is filled with smoke... horendous (No. Calif.)
3. Please keep talking up the benefits of breastfeeding... I have a friend who just had her 2nd baby and chose (again) not to breastfeed... it is such a wonderful, healthy choice for both Mom and Babe... I am sad that she is missing out on it, but I couldn't convince her to change her mind.

I wanted to spin with my drop spindle but the measuring tape I was using to measure the dresser snapped back into itself and caught my right index finger and bruised it so badly I cannot even hold a pen let alone the spindle sooooooooo to make a long story short. I think this was to be as it's too darn hot to do it anyway. You are one persistent and commited person for sure. HOW in the land of all spinners do you keep that fleece from sticking to you like glue ? What you have done is lovely and hopefully it will cool down enough to allow you to enjoy doing more. Good Luck

97 degrees is hot, I agree. It's not fun and no one wants to knit... But when it hits 117...THAT'S STUPID HOT... you suddenly have this urge to find your dpns to gouge out your eyes.... and people say little needles for knitting wool socks have no use in the summer!!

Ok, hang in there. We had that evil weather over the weekend and I cracked when it broke 90F in my condo. (The cats were inertly getting it on with the minimally cooler tile floor. It was scary.) Anyway, a storm blew through last night and today it is perfect - low humidity, temp <80F, breezy, sunny.

And hey - doesn't Rachel H know how to wire up an air conditioner?! Dude.

Stash shopping is so great. I love the renewed joy of re-discovering fiber (in whatever form) that once excited me so.

That is really optimal weather for spinning cotton. Drafts like honey. Need me to send you some?

I wonder who amongst our acquaintances has the oldest stash? Probably someone whose great-grands spun? I have linsey-woolsey blankets spun and woven many generations ago by one of the Sylvias, but no unspun fiber from back then. I think about the oldest thing in my stash is some cashmere from a yard sale and it's Iranian so pre-dates the embargoes, etc. Can't find anything like it anymore.

It's toasty here, too. I rather like it. Crazy, but after Texas the heat just doesn't bother me the way it used to. I have noticed, however, that I cannot do math above 88 degrees F. I am conserving electricity today by eating raw cookie dough instead of cooking it first.

You know, sometimes I envy you. Your city with a yarn store within walking distance (not to mention grocery stores and parks within biking distance) your stash...

Then you tell me that it's 36C there. It's 18C here as a high today. I'm knitting a wool sweater while wearing a wool sweater and wool socks. It's plenty cool enough for wool.

Nee ner neee ner.

Holy Kewpie doll, you Canadians grow beautiful babies!

Can't help you with the heat. That's one of the reasons I moved to California from an Illinois river town where the humidity destroyed me. Another reason to move was the white stuff in the winter. Think cool thoughts, drink cool liquids, non-alcoholic, eat icy treats.

It is a cruel joke that Mother Nature plays on us Northeners--in the dead of a snow ridden, extremely cold winter we swear we will never again complain about the heat--and then the heat arrives and we swear we will never complain about the cold again.
I think I might be able to stand the heat if Michigan(surrounded by water) did not throw in 99% humidity as a topper. And even though I sweat out buckets,why do I not lose an ounce?????

The spinning is beautiful and Jen is freaking amazing! I was content when I could breathe and nurse at the same time. She is supermom to the max.

I'll trade you some of that heat for our rain and bugs. Seriously. It's July and I'm in a light sweater. I've been wearing it all day.

It's so humid here that the smoothie my daughter spilled on the keyboard months ago (that I thought we had thoroughly cleaned)causes the B key and the spacebar to stick every time I hit them. It's too hot to even think about knitting, and were I to spin (assuming I *could* spin) the yarn would felt itself coming off my fingers. The sky this morning was that high hazy blue that you only see on the truly hot days. It's 10:20 at night, 79F (that's 26 C). Low tonight is predicted to be 75/25. Balmy.

Dear Steph,

I'm so loving watching your roving turn into yarn! It's better than Rumpelstiltskin! Because that would be just some very boring gold. I love the lovely colors!

Hope that Christmas in your stash helps keep you cool;-) The important thing is being able to sleep at night.

Shameless plug for breastfeeding - babies all over the world thank you!

My mum leaves Thursday for a holiday in Wales and Durham. It is currently 64 degrees F there and doesn't look to get much warmer.

While in Durham, she and my sister (and sister's family) are renting a "self-catering" cottage on a sheep farm. Mum can't understand why I'm so jealous. "Why would you want to stay on a sheep farm in the middle of nowhere when it's 64 degrees?" DUH. It's a sheeeeeep farm. I wish I was going too.

110 degrees Farenheit today and more of the same tomorrow. Coolest it gets at night is 80 degrees. Miserable. Fans on horses, fans on sheep, fans on us...plus smokey air from all the fires. Sometimes I think I am living in Hades-where's Zeus when we need him? Needless to say, not a bit of knitting going on here. Do love seeing the spinning! Hope it cools off for you soon.

Jen is one amazing mama!! Spinning, rocking, and nursing. Stephanie please continue to plug breastfeeding, babywearing, and showing off those beautiful babies!

Your rovings are beautiful. Good luck on meeting the challenge. Mine to spin a little each day and tonight it was about two minutes. My wheel and I weren't getting along.

It's no cooler up here, north of you....
Do you at least have a fan moving the hot air about?

you know, weather like this really makes you love, honour and respect, not to mention value, TREES!!! we are lucky enough to have a large shady yard, and boy! does it make all the difference in the world! you can almost always catch a breeze under their shelter while those just a ways down the highway in the city are stifling!

Oh Harlot it is blazing hot in NY as well so I feel your pain. And I have to tell you, the subway smells really bad in the heat.

I know there were words under the pictures of Fenner, but...were they supposed to be read? If so, don't distract me with pictures of beautiful girl babies! something about being hot?..... oh! and yarn, right?

Hey, it is exactly one hundred million thousand degrees in my house too! What a coincidence!
Luckily I have a pool right at the end of my street. You're all welcome to come for a dip!

Ooooo, pretty! And yay Jen!

Good luck with the laundry-doing fairy princesses. (I hope at least Lettuce Knit has a/c. I have my wheel conveniently placed in front of mine.)

I know what that color is! I love The Sheep Shed's merino/tencel blend,, just gorgeous! I've got that colorway on my Lendrum right now,,, it really looks like what I'm spinning now anyway,,, the Bermuda colorway. They've had it the past few years. I bought what I thought was more than one skein of the roving at Rhinebeck and when I realized,, was duly depressed. Lucky me, when I went to Connecticut Sheep and Wool Fest this past spring,, who should be there!!! How did I first spot them there,, by their Merino/Tencel table,,,, it caught my eye first! Just lovely, lovely stuff to spin!

I say you call over that studly brother of yours. Wouldn't he help with the a/c unit for a few beers and sisterly adoration? Or do you have a a/c competition like your annual winter heating competition?

Are there different ways to spin or is it always done on a spinning wheel...not trying to be a smart a@@, just new to the world of yarn!

It amazes me how roving that looks all weird and ugly (to my untutored eye) turns into beautiful plied yarn. Just add skill!

Hats off to Jen! Mothers can do anything. The rose yarn is soooo beautiful! I'm sure you can steam set it-when the weather cools off, or just knit something that is structured to hold it together. Way to go. As for the heat, back in Texas in the summer I used to put my clothes on straight out of the washer. The fabric felt cool on my skin and the clothes dried quickly. We drank lots of sweetened iced tea, too.

You may think it is bad yarn, but I think it is beautiful and would be happy to take it off your hands ;-)

We may not have any air, but here in the Denver area, we have terrific cool evenings, perfect for spinning or whatever...... I would be happy to take you in during your heat spell!

I love summer when it warms up enough that I can complain about the heat which is a nice break from complaining about the cold in winter.

I live in California, so you can imagine the hellish temperatures I have to suffer through.

I understand it is really muggy in Ontario. We get heat here - up to 45 celsius - but mercifully we are much drier. And I do hope you get a breeze in the evening - you need some relief! If you spin really fast, does it act like a fan? Probably not great for the yarn.

38 here today (37 tomorrow) but it isn't humid, thank heavens, just smoky! Can't imagine hot and humid. We have a pathetic little air con unit but using the fan works a lot better, along with opening everything up at night (had to shut the front door - next apartment along was using their drier!!! Stinky drier sheets!). Air moving helps quite a lot, and a face washer/flannel/washcloth wiped over with the fan running? Bliss!

I rather like the new yarn. The only thing that I'd worry about is that it might be scratchy when knitted up because it seems slightly felted or something. Ionno. I don't spin so I wouldn't know.

If it's any consolation, it's 38C (101F) here and it's smoky and humid-ish at the same time. X_X

Have been spinning outside in the evenings for the last couple days too, as it's currently 82F inside at 12:30 AM (too hot to sleep). Wool is no problem to spin during the heat of the summer. But the one fiber from my stash that I have no interest in working with right now is an angora/wool blend. I'm having enough problems with my own hair sticking to me; angora would be ten times worse!

I remember your blog post about the mammoth snow storms you had a while back, was it really that long ago? It snowed here yesterday, we're having some lovely cold weather down here at the bottom of Australia.

RE: Jen the wonder nurser/spinner......I sewed a dinosaur costume while my 3rd child nursed- he was walking so I just leaned over and he nursed Romulus and Remus/ style. And the costume came out pretty good, too....

"It's like it's Christmas in your own stash."

Isn't it great!

Oh, good heavens - that's weather for down here (Washington, D.C.), not Up There! I'd worry that I'd melt in the cupboard right along with the butter. (Although being on a far-too-crowded train in the evenings due to High Gas Prices and Lots of Tourists almost does the trick. I don't recommend it.)

I don't spin (yet), but I'm having vicarious fun watching your lovely fiber-to-yarn adventures!

I just love those reddish shades. Gorgeous! 300m is enough for, a hat? Gloves? Clogs? What do you think you will make with it? You are keeping up so far with your goal, against the heat index too!

Wanna come to my house?

Perhaps the insulating properties of yarn aren't to your advantage in this heat? :)

I am SO buying a wheel at Rhinebeck this year! I've tried drop-spindle spinning, but I really think that the wheel will be more my thing. Your fibre stash is as lovely and inspiring to me as your yarn stash.

awwww, man. i was looking at your bobbins and thinking, "hey, i really am getting better at spinning... mine looks just about like hers" and then read your "poorly spun" descriptor and thought, "oh well, maybe not so much." :)

"It's like it's Christmas in your own stash."

Sometimes my inner 14-yr-old boy comes out - this made me laugh out loud.

I'll go now.

Such beautiful little babies -- little cutie pies.

I learned a trick from my husband about how to cool down your body when it is very hot and you have no air conditioning. Take something cold (a soda bottle/can, a baggie with ice in it, etc.) and hold it against the inside of either wrist. It is amazing how refreshing it is, and how it does start cooling the body down. Of course, it would be difficult to knit or spin while holding something there, but you could refresh yourself from time to time.

Good luck with the Tour.

Best,
firefly

Lovely fiber. I don't really understand spinning or have the space to add another thing in my life right now, but I applaud your efforts and can see how turning a pile of fluff into some surprising yarn might get just a little addictive.

Good luck with the air conditioning! (It's required south of the Mason Dixon line here.)

I've been giving my cats water from the pitcher in the refrigerator just to keep them from getting too limp! We had the butter dish on the kitchen counter in Boston when I was growing up, until Mom found cat tongue prints on it.

The spinning thing is so intriguing, and I'd love to learn it, but then there's that whole -more gear in less apartment- thing to deal with. Your yarn is so lovely, though, that spinning calls to me ...

Pretty yarn! Just don't spin laceweight and you should be good to go. :)

Butter in the cupboard? Who ever heard of such a thing! You can't leave it out on the counter in Florida.

No offense, but I have to laugh that a humidex of 97 is like a "hundred million thousand degrees." A few weeks ago, it was around 104 BEFORE the humidex. And though many in my town have a/c, many don't - including me. I don't even have a window unit. So I sweated and suffered and didn't sleep much. It didn't even get below 90 at night that week.

But - when I lived in Canada, I remember with awe people breaking out the shorts once it got above 40 degrees (F) or so. And calling it "brisk" or "fresh" when it was like a hundred million gajillion degrees below zero - so cold that your eyeballs freeze in your skull the second you go outside.

To stay cool in Alabama, I use a fan and either a damp rag up and down the arms and legs, across the chest and back of the neck, or a fan and a spray bottle of cool water.

Evaporation is a wonderful thing!

Wow, two comments in a row from Alabama! :o)

You must not have the bloodsuckers we have. 14 minutes is my personal best before being driven inside, or face being eaten alive. If I must be loved by insects, why can't it be butterflies?

In Philly over the last few weeks we've hit between 85 and 100 Fahrenheit, then you add 10 more degrees for the humidity which I swear was imported from Louisiana. And it wasn't even officially summer yet! A trip to the bookstore always works -- they're air conditioned, and as long as you buy an occasional drink they're tolerant of your presence.

And as for spinning wool -- I'm knitting my replacement NaCraga and an alpaca hoodie during this heat, so I'm definitely crazier than you are!

I really *love* watching you post about spinning, since I absolutely will never consider doing it in this lifetime. Then you add the part about humidity, and I just have to lie down.

My favorite heat-beating tip (aside from total immersion which works but makes it hard to knit) is to sit in front of a fan with a spray-bottle of water. Keep all the bare skin kind of semi-damp and the fan will force enough evaporation to keep you from keeling over.

Though if I get really desperate, I'm so going to try the homemade A/C trick:
http://lifehacker.com/software/diy/make-your-own-air-conditioner-181510.php

Also- try soaking your feet in cold water. If your feet are cool, the rest of you won't feel nearly so bad.

For the love of wool sweaters! I beg you, from HH&FnH NYC, buy a cheap a/c unit for at least one room.

No A/C?!? Poor you!
Your "poorly spun" Blue Moon is better than anything I've ever done, and the color certainly makes up for any imperfections you may see in the structure.
I can't wait to see more!

And now you know why those of us in the south knit with cotton and bamboo and linen and all those other wonderful fibers.

And that's WITH working A/C.

Ugh-just the thought of handling wool in that kind of heat made my palms sweaty! I'm glad you are finding some relief in the evenings. If you have MetroMint water in your area, I highly recommend it-it contains mint essence and comes in several varieties. I love the peppermint out of the fridge. It is so cooling in hot weather. Also recommended-Mentha Body Vitamin body wash from Bath & Body Works. Also very cooling. My local shop is having a spinning demo on Sunday and I'm excited to go-I've watched spinners before, but I'm hoping we might get to try it ourselves. Spinning is one of those things that I believe I would love, but I'm trying to repress that for now. I think your 'poorly spun' yarn is quite lovely!

The riders in the other Tour (de France rather than de Fleece)don't sprint all the time, surely?
So give yourself an easy day or two when you spin - do some bulky stuff - quick, satisfying and it will keep your average per day up.

Do you take requsts? May I request a post on what you use to spin, how long it took you to learn, etc.??

Chiming in re French butter keeper - wonderful little invention, that! Here in Philadelphia, I can only knit on the perpetual Manos when I'm in an a/c'd environment. I may abandon it for something cotton-y if I can get the right gauge for the Eileen tank from No Sheep For You ... 20 sts per 4" on US size 2 needles, she's gotta be KIDDING me! I'm up to US size 4s now but don't have a big enough swatch to measure yet.

I will take your word for it. If you say the yarn is poorly spun, so be it. I'll do you a huge favor and take it off your hands. Nice of me, eh?
Feel free to poorly spin more yarn and I'll take that stuff, too!

Even your poorly spun yarn looks gorgeous!

I feel like the spinning thang (Tour de Fleece) really should be a winter sport. I imagine that I would look like I was covered in fur if I tried to spin on a sticky hot day.

http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/babiesgonewild0607.jpg

That is possibly the cutest baby photo you've ever posted. (AND THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING.)

Note to Sandy: 40 F at night in Montana and 72 during the day? Depends on which part of Montana you're headed for. Where I live it's 50s at night and high 80s daytime. But still entirely pleasant!!

I hear ya on the heat, it was 39C/103F here in Novato, CA. I am knitting only in the morning. Now this morning unless we turn off as much electricity as possible and are not allowed to use appliances before 7pm, we could face rolling black outs. I say the movie theater looks very inviting, or shopping for summer dresses?

Didn't you just finish a stash toss? Have you forgotten already what you unearthed during the toss, or did you only toss the yarn about, not the fiber? Of course, in this IMPOSSIBLE heat, my brain forgets everything immediately, so I can sympathize if you forgot you had all that gorgeous fiber.

Which reminds me, what's your take on tiger tail ice cream? My parents (American, as am I) have a cottage on Sharbot Lake in Ontario and when I visit, I swoon over tiger tail ice cream. I may need to go visit soon, with a slight detour or 12 to fiber dens here and there.

I understand about the heat, the A/C went out in my office yesterday (because someone demolished our unit and stole the copper)...and it became too hot for me to knit! I was miserable until they let me go home early. I mean, down-time without knitting just isn't right!

The yarn looks beautiful! You're making me want to work on some spinning.

I loooove the merino/tencel blend. I bought some of that myself, and it's my favorite thing in all the world, even beating alpaca. I want to buy some for my business and start dyeing my own.

First and foremost the rose yarn is to die for, secondly thank you all very much for making me feel so much better about the weather here in Alaska. Yesterday and today we are expecting rain (cold rain) and the current temp is 55F/13c. The other night I got out of bed to put wool socks on, my feet were so cold. I have been cursing the heavens for not giving me any sunshine or heat, but all of a sudden I am very grateful for the rain and the cool temps! Good luck to all that are suffering in the heat!

When you think about it, being able to spin and nurse a baby is probably something that is hard-wired into our system. There's most likely a DNA molecule or whatever for that function (not a scientist, can you tell?) Anyway, not that many generations ago women nursed while they did just about everything. Even now Jen has shown us that the skill is still there.

"She just does the sheep to shoe." -- What does that mean?? I'm not a spinner yet, so I am utterly clueless on this one!
Goegeous babies, gorgeous merino/tencel. Love it all.
If you freeze the roving, does that make it cooler for your fingers to spin? Hope you cool off soon!

2 ideas, FB or FW . . .

(1) DH & I live in 1903 townhouse in historic Newark (NJ) neighborhood. Lovely but HOT HOT HOT and central air not financially or technically feasible. After traveling in Africa got idea to put in remote compressor room-sized Panasonic AC unit in our bedroom on 3rd fl. Cost 3K US (paid over time) but with windows closed and internal doors open it actually cools entire house (of course in summer I cook w/ crock pot and/or outdoors). Realize that in Toronto HOT HOT HOT may not be more than a few-day issue, but here in NJ it's a bigtime concern.

(2) Your fellow Canadian artist Lynn Johnston is about to marry off her dear daughter in comic strip *FB or FW*. Don't us knitters need to do something (smile) maybe as a gift to Knitters w/out Borders in Lynn's comic-strip-daughter's honor (you've noted tht she is a fellow knitter)?

Yours in purls,
NewarkKnitter

Dude, the squirrel probably doesn't even want your wool. This is right about when I pull out the old needlepoint and enjoy it for a while before it gets crammed back in the bag for the fall. My house becomes a pit right now because I don't want to do anything but sit still and read. And I live in Oregon!

As we say in central PA, "it's not the heat; it's the humidity." Yeah, right. If it weren't so frikkin' hot, we'd only have to deal with clammy. Clammy is not life-threatening!

I'm lucky enough to have a Victorian house with high ceilings and central stacked staircases. I keep the front of my house shut in the morning because the sun beats in onto the porch until noon - even the porch ceiling is high! I have one window open upstairs on the north, permanently shady, side of the house, and I have a big fan in that room to suck air from the basement up and out of the house. It feels air conditioned even though it isn't! Okay, I do have a window unit in my bedroom, but once the night temperature drops below 65F (maybe 17C?), it will stay off and I'll open the two other windows for cross-ventilation and cat entertainment. They like sitting on the window sills watching the birds and squirrels outside, but they also enjoy the cool air for sleeping!

When my mom spun old roving that had started to felt she tore it into thin strips and was amazed at how much better it spun. the thinner the strips the less drafting. Yes it did affect how big the color sections were but the recipient liked it that way.
Best of luck with the tour de fleece. I might jump in late, if not I promise myself I will do it next year.

OMFG, that pink/red/peach Blue Moon roving that you spun up is gorgeous! I'm totally seeing an Unoriginal Hat. Nevermind that I live in Tucson where it is hotter than your house and my head might melt off if I even tried to knit a wool hat right now but...if I had extra change these days I would offer to take it off your hands. I am totally in love with it. Me encanta!

Canadian babies must be some of the cutest babies in the universe. Must be all the wooly love they are constantly marinating in, because my nephew (New Englander by birth) is just as cute and surrounded constantly by fibery goodness.

What a shame you can't figure out a knitted air conditioner...

I'm not surprised Jen could manage that!

Then again, I'm told it's unusual to be able to knit and read at the same time. Both go a little slower but /shrug :D

You and one of the girls could totally install that AC. AC's look and sound much heavier than they are. TVs are much heavier than ACs. I'm not techie, but when it got hot I learned those little tidbits.

Hope it's in by now.

Way to go Jen!

The fiber looks absolutely amazing by the way.

I am a non-techinical spinner as well but I always overspin slightly when plying, then stand several feet away from the bobbin when I am winding the yarn into a skein. The bit of excess twist evens out as I wind, and that makes a big difference in the finished look and feel. If I had to count treadles, spinning would be boring, but I am very mindful as to how it feels and looks coming out of my fingers.

If it helps, I do a long draw when plying.

This would be easier to show you than to describe.

I don't set the twist with steam. I wet-smack it and hang it to dry. To wet-smack: wash and rinse finsihed skein, roll in towel, press out excess water. Grab one end, smack firmly against back wall of shower or any other hard, smooth surface. Grab the other end, smack firmly. Hang to dry. The best spinner I know showed me that years ago when I was frustrated with trying to steam it and I have never had bad results, at least with animal fibers. It doesn't seem to do a tinker's damn to soy or cotton.

Forgot to add -- we were at 96F today without the humnidex. This is what we call, "stinkin' hot."

This is why we invented mint juleps, honeychile. Want me to make one for you?