It’s Tour de Fleece time again from the 5th – 27th July!
This year I’m in a position to hopefully spend a bit more time spinning, and having put fibre processing on hold while university deadlines were looming, I’ve decided to use TDF to dive right back in, tackle my stash and do a few experiments and challenges along the way. That being said, I’m still going to make a list to help give me some focus. As per usual, I’m including fibre prep within my challenge so without further ado, this years’ to-do list incudes:
- Castlemilk Moorit – Long term followers may remember my fibre prep post for this fleece – I wasn’t happy with the way it was hand carding so put it to the side. Since then I’ve acquired a drum carder and after experimenting, I think I prefer it in batts. This is quite a small fleece and I have a project in mind, so I’m hoping to get it all carded and spun.
- Black Welsh Mountain – This was one of my early fleece purchases from an online marketplace that arrived damp (the hazards of buying a fleece without seeing it). I washed and dried it thoroughly before storing, but some of the fibres are breaking as a consequence of it being damp for so long. Rather than discarding it, I’m going to comb it which should remove broken fibres; then I can spin the combed nests and use the combing waste at a later date for felting. Combing takes a bit longer than carding, so I’ll have to see how much of the fleece I can process.
- Cotton – A few years ago I bought some cotton fibre second hand. I’ve never spun cotton before, but it has a short staple which I’m hoping will make it a good spindle project.
- Challenges – I’ve had a few different challenges suggested this year which should test both my skill and technique. I’ll tackle one per week to attempt in the hope it will be entertaining while also improving my spinning.
As usual I’ll be doing weekly updates on the blog and daily updates on my Instagram, but I’ve also decided to try and film snippets of my week too, including the TDF tasks I don’t normally show on the blog (such as skeining, washing and winding), which although not part of my progress, are important. Providing technology doesn’t play up, I’m aiming to get the videos edited and released weekly too.
If you are also joining in with Tour de Fleece feel free to share your goals and progress in the comments section and if you want to find out what I got up to last year I’ve included links below.
Happy Spinning!
Loose Ends 
Agreed. And I already had to alter my plan a bit as yesterday was super busy, and I was not at home for a good part of the day. I grabbed a drop spindle and some fiber to bring along. I am not very good at spinning on a drop spindle so I figured practicing with that was a good thing and counts. Also, I think we can skip a day or days if necessary. No one is keeping track!
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Absolutely – TDF isn’t a competition unless you want it to be or have joined a team, so can be as flexible as you need. It is surprising how much progress you can make even if you only spend 5 minutes spinning each day (and taking a drop spindle out and about can be an excellent conversation starter!)
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I look forward to following your progress during the Tour de Fleece. I have never participated before as July is always a very busy month at my house with houseguests, trips, and our annual family reunion at the cabin near us. I am going to make it happen this year. I have a goal of working through some samples using various spinning and plying techniques in an online class offered by the School of Sweet Georgia called “Spinning Up a Level”. https://www.schoolofsweetgeorgia.com/courses/spinning-up-a-level/ I have assembled 4 different preparations of fiber to use for samples. And I want to actually spin every day, even if it is only for a few minutes.
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I look forward to hearing how you get on! Setting time aside to spin everyday feels challenging to begin with (particularly if you have to factor in bringing spinning with you), but definitely gets easier throughout the month!
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