Friday 22 July 2011

Tour de fleece day 21

Today was the tour de fleece challenge day. the challenge is optional (of course, it is all optional) and each spinner sets their own challenge.

I decided I would try dealing with some Wensleydale locks. I had some in one of my fleece samples and thought it would be a bit different.


Unfortunately they were not the lovely individual locks I had envisaged (note to self- check supplies before deciding challenge), they were in rather a tangled mass.

I used a dog comb to create smooth, combed fibre for spinning, but it also created a lot of waste. The pile on the left is waste, the right is for spinning, a lot more waste than spinning fibre.


I used a drop spindle to spin the pile of combed fibre, there was really not a lot so it did not take very long, I am not sure what I will use this for as it is such a small amount.


Since the Wensleydale was dealt with fairly quickly it did not seem sufficient for the toughest day of the tour so I decided to add some extra challenges. I wanted to do something for each of the teams I am in. The Wensleydale counts for Team Spindlers.

For the Team of Wonder (the alpaca lovin team) and Team UK I had a go at carding some British alpaca. This is some beautiful Hucaya that I bought at a country show from a local alpaca. I thought it was prepped and was going to make the challenge threading some beads, but on opening I found it was clean but not carded. 


I used hand carders, it was so much easier than carding sheep fleece.


And made something roughly approximating roving. It is beautifully soft, I am really looking forward to spinning this.


For Team Kromski and Team Hopelessly Overcommitted I plied the superwash merino singles from earlier in the week. I was going to do these tomorrow, but decided it would be a good challenge project.


I started after the evening takeaway was ordered and just managed to beat the delivery to the finish. I am really pleased with this yarn, although I still think it is underspun for socks, I think it may be a shawl. This is not a great picture as it was taken in the dark with a flash.


Finally just for fun I thought this would count for Team Spindlers and Team Hopelessly Overcommitted. Drop spindling on a balance board. I only did a little for the picture, but it is possible!


This board arrived a few days before the start of the tour, it is supplies for a scout camp next month. I hopped on to give it a go and fell right off, very nearly taking myself out of the tour completely as only my ample bum hitting the ground first stopped me from breaking my wrist!

A very busy challenge day, I have managed to finish my tour goals (as long as I do 15 minutes each day over the weekend) so am going to enjoy spindling some more of the bonus fibre I started last weekend and maybe prep some more of that beautiful alpaca.

4 comments:

  1. Awesome!!

    I love the photo of you spindling. You look like a Busker. :-)

    The blue yarn is beautiful!

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  2. Congrats on doing so well on your tour de fleece goals. I'm really impressed by the shot of you spindling on the balance board. I'm pretty sure I'd break my neck if I attempted something like that.

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  3. drop spindling on a balance board? Talk about mult-tasking! The blue yarn is just beautiful!!

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  4. You are a rock star! I love the balance board photo and the fact that you kept up challenges for multiple teams. I have really enjoyed all of your TdF updates this year and super happy that you were a part of my team.

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