Hello everyone, It’s that time of year again! This year Tour de Fleece is happening from the 29th June – 21st July.
Last year I made myself a to-do list for TDF and found it really helped to keep me organised and more productive, so I’m making one again this year. I was going to pick a couple of fleeces from my stash to work my way through, but I was fortunate enough last month to obtain some gorgeous Zwartbles fleeces from a local farmer whom I promised some knitted hats as part payment. Since I want to make sure he has them before it turns cold again, I will be focusing on processing Zwartbles this TDF so I can knit some hats over the summer. For a bit of fun, this year I’ll also be completing 4 challenges set by friends and family, so look out for those every Sunday.
As per usual, I’m going to aim to spend at least 1 hour per day on my challenge, but won’t be too strict about it, some days I may spend more time, some days less. I’m also including fibre prep (carding/combing) within my challenge, but I have done some prep beforehand, so I’m hoping to remain spinning focused. This years’ to-do list is:
- Zwartbles – carding/combing, spinning & plying 1 whole fleece (I also want to experiment with spinning in the grease using this fleece too).
- BFL/Camel Roving from Yarntings – I bought this at EAYF with the intention of spinning it on my Turkish spindle. This should make a good travel project from when I’m away from my wheel.
- Shetland Sample – Spin and ply on my other spindle – this will form another portable project.
- Spinning Challenge Sunday’s – Each week I will attempt a new challenge using yarn and wool already on my wheel/spindle.
Hopefully these projects should give some variety to TDF this year, even though my focus will be on one breed and should also give me some flexibility should I be away from my wheel. As usual, I’ll be posting daily updates on my instagram and weekly updates here (the first update will be on Sunday 7th July).
If you are also joining in with Tour de Fleece (whether part of a group or going it alone like me) I’d love to hear how you get on – feel free to share your progress/goals in the comments section and if you want to find out what I got up to last year I’ve included links to my wrap-up’s below.
Happy Spinning!
Loose Ends 