It’s Tour de Fleece time again! This year’s challenge runs from 4th – 26th July
My Tour de Fleece challenge this year will focus around getting on top of my fleece stash after a busy few months where time for spinning has been in short supply. Once again, I’m counting fibre-prep as part of my challenge since it gives me some variety and means I haven’t had to fit in lots of prep ahead of time. Usually I set myself the goal of spinning for a minimum of 1 hour a day, however this year I’m planning to spend much longer than that. That said, I feel it’s important to say my goals this year are very ambitious; I am fortunate to try and go more wool crazy, but everyone has different commitments and life can often throw a spanner in the works. The internet makes it very easy for crafters to compare themselves to others and while there can be a competitive side to TDF, the purpose is to have fun, challenge yourself and maybe learn some new things – whatever your available time, goals and energy.
So, without further ado, what am I actually planning to get up to?
Zwartbles ‘Rug’ Wool – I’ve been skirting lots of these gorgeous fleeces and have recently washed the coarser wool from around the sides and rear of the fleeces in the suint bath. Many handspinners would discard this, but I hate waste and since it’s still very soft, I’ve decided to run it through the wool picker and spin it as chunky singles to weave rugs from at a later date.
Alpaca – I was recently asked if I could spin the fleece of a young alpaca that passed away shortly after shearing, and of course I agreed straight away. This is an absolutely gorgeous fleece and I’ve decided to hand card it to treat it with the reverence it deserves before spinning it as a standard 2-ply suitable for either knitting or weaving.
Angora Goat – During my early days of buying fleeces from online market places I purchased this curly Angora goat fleece. What I did not see in the picture was how much sawdust was caught up in the fibres (and how little would fall out after vigourous shaking and several rounds of washing). I bought the fleece to use the curls, but have come to the conclusion that the only way I’m going to get that pesky sawdust out and detangle the fibres is by putting it through my wool combs. I did a test of this a couple of years ago with my combs hand-held before I made the base and it was quite tough on my wrists, but I’m hoping it will be an easier process if they’re clamped to a table. If I can get it to comb then I plan to spin this as more of lace weight on my spindle so I have a travelling project – if it doesn’t want to play ball I’ll think of something else to use it for as it’s been sitting in a corner of shame for too long now!
Return of The Challenges – I’ve got some more challenges lined up this year to test my skills and have some fun. Like last year I’m aiming for 1 per week and we’ll see what happens. While I have a rough plan for this year’s challenges, if you have any suggestions do feel free to leave them in the comments – If I don’t get round to them this year, I can always save them up for 2027!
As per previous years, I’ll be doing weekly updates on the blog every Sunday (starting from 12th July) and daily updates on my Instagram to hold myself accountable. I’m not sure how much of my list I’ll get through, and as those of you who’ve followed along my challenges before will know, I often have to adapt my challenge as things arise!
If you are also joining in with Tour de Fleece this year feel free to share your goals and progress in the comments section throughout. For anyone interested in seeing what I got up to in previous years you can search posts from July since 2021 in the archives below!
Happy Spinning!
Loose Ends 