That’s all folks! The final week of TDF has flown by and I haven’t really had time to process what I’ve spun. Much of this week was spent working on the zwartbles and finishing one of my spindle projects. The hot weather hasn’t helped my productivity, but I did manage to get all my spins washed and dry to set the twist and the zwartbles is looking beautiful after washing. Below are the final weeks photos and links to the final two challenges on Youtube.
Reflections
This is my fourth TDF and this year I’ve managed to spin for 3.5km (that’s the length x3 to account for spinning two singles and plying) which is not too far off last year’s 4.8km. In previous years, I’ve used TDF to finish off a previously started project, so this year is the first time that all my TDF projects have been started during the challenge. It’s also been the first year when I’ve simultaneously been working on important non-fibre related projects, so I haven’t had as much time to spin, although I have still made good progress overall. I set myself a to-do list at the start of the challenge, so let’s see how I got on:
- Zwartbles – Although I had hoped to process a whole fleece from scratch, I think it was slightly wishful thinking! The fleece was still drying on day 1 but had retained quite a lot of it’s lanolin, so I did get to experiment a little with spinning in the grease (I was quite pleased with how it turned out, my hands are now very soft, but it does mean all my spinning equipment is now sticky with lanolin!). The zwartbles has been a real pleasure to spin – it’s so fluffy and has fulled nicely after washing. I have a commission project to work on with this yarn before it turns cold again here in the UK, so although I haven’t yet spun the whole fleece, I have enough yarn to get started on that (and I’m already thinking of all the other things I can make with it!)
- BFL/Camel Roving from Yarntings – I got halfway through this roving on days when I was away from my wheel and it spins beautifully, the different tones of mustard yellow where the dye hasn’t taken all the way through are really pretty. I’m going to save the rest to take whenever I need a portable project over the rest of the summer.
- Shetland Sample – This was the one project I completed. I combed and spindle spun the sample, while the combing waste was carded and used in my third spinning challenge.
- Spinning Challenge Sunday’s – A new element of my challenge for this year and something I had a lot of fun with – I hope they were enjoyable to watch (all videos will remain available on YouTube via their links). All were very silly but made good technical challenges, although editing the videos did take up quite a bit of my spinning time on Sunday’s. I really enjoyed doing these though, so will definitely consider bringing them back next year (perhaps with some follower set challenges next time? – if you have any ideas let me know and I’ll make a note of them).
Overall I’m happy with the progress I made over TDF this year and it shows how much spinning can be done even with limited time. Before TDF I completed several projects and am in the process of writing up and editing the videos for these, so although my non-fibre projects will keep me very occupied over the next couple of months, there will be more fibre adventures forthcoming!
If you’ve been joining in with TDF I’d love to hear how you got on – feel free to let me know in the comments below. Happy Spinning!
For more information about this years tour de fleece challenge my introductory blog post is here and you can find Weeks 1 & 2 by clicking the links.
Loose Ends 
I had to look up what Zwartbles are. A kind of sheep…OK! I am impressed by how much spinning you got done. And I may have to try spinning blindfolded some time. We always have a very busy time in the summer, so I have not been able to do the Tour de Fleece, but maybe some day. We just got back from a trip to the UK. The main reason for going was because my husband got tickets to the final round of the British Open golf tournament in Troon. I am not a golfer but I was very up for a trip to Scotland. We spent a few days in Glasgow, and a few days in Edinburgh, and then ended up with 1 1/2 days in London. Wish we had had more time for me to explore weaving and textiles in Scotland. Guess I will have to go back.
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I believe they come from the Netherlands (although I’m never quite sure how to pronounce it – I think it’s zwart-bles?!) Spinning blindfolded was good fun and easier than I thought it would be since so much spinning is done by feel anyway. Let me know how you get on if you try it! I didn’t have as much time to fit TDF in this year, but saw some fibre lovers on instagram were committing to 10-15 minutes of spinning per day as that was more manageable. There’s no ‘official’ rules, so a lot of people (including me!) just design our challenges to suit what time we think we’ll have – my diary just ended up all over the place, so fitting everything in was harder than I anticipated! Glad you enjoyed your trip to the UK, I have yet to explore Scotland’s textiles, but Shetland Wool Week is on my want to visit list sometime in the future, so I may have to make an itinerary to explore as many textile places as possible as I travel North when I’m finally able to go!
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A fabulous achievement and successful TDF. I’ve not measured what I spun but the fact I finished my breeds that’s a win for me.
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Well done for finishing your breed study – it’s always satisfying to complete a long project! I usually have a basket to put my completed skeins in, but this year I forgot so didn’t really see my progress until yesterday. I decided to try out my yardage counter this year rather than counting by hand although it doesn’t have a base for the yarn to thread through under tension, so I improvised and clamped it to a box with a upturned mug either side so I could thread the yarn through the handles – it’s not the most aesthetic option, but it seems to have worked for now!
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