Thursday, June 30, 2011

Getting ready for the Tour

That's right. I'm doing the Tour de Fleece this year! Can you tell I'm excited? Life got in the way the last couple of years but this year I'm really going to do it. My realistic goal: spin every day of the Tour (7/2 through 7/24, with resting days on 7/11 and 7/18). My completely delusional goal: spin all of this


30.5 ounces of assorted lovelies from Briar Rose Fibers, a birthday present from my mom (thanks, mom!).

That breaks down into 11.5 ounces of Polwarth,



9 ounces of BFL,



6.5 ounces of Wensleydale,


and 3.5 ounces of cormo.



That's doable, right?

And I don't just want to spin. I'm also looking forward to learning more about these different fibers and the sheep they come from. To help with that, I got this with my latest Amazon order


What an amazing resource! Take a look at the entry on Finnsheep:


Breed info; a description of the fleece; and tips for spinning, knitting, and weaving. Plus samples of the fiber spun, knitted, and woven. This book is worth its weight in gold (and a steal at the $23 or so it costs on Amazon).

Don't think I've neglected my knitting needles in my excitement for the Tour. Rock Island continues to grow.


It's the perfect project for this week. We're doing sleep training with Ms. Tadpole and sometimes all I can do is work the simple garter stitch of this shawl. On the plus side, I have some extra time to knit. I may actually finish this one soon!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a gorgeous shawl!!! I love it! And frankly, the rest makes me want to try my hand at spinning. Yikes!

Gale Bulkley said...

Good luck with the spinning. I've never heard of sleep training and am going to look that up right now.
Love the new background. Is that Rock Island?

Jacey said...

Wow, ambitious! I bet you can do it, though. You've got determination, my friend! Your new fiber is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

My jaw LITERALLY dropped when I read that you plan to spin all that, and I am bursting with excitement to see the progress/results. To be honest I will be living a bit vicariously through this segment of yours, dreaming of the day when I too, can spin! Best, KO

Anonymous said...

Darn, I am doing my best to resist spinning! When I think of all my past "arts" and the residual supplies filling my house, it scares me to think of collecting raw sheep, too!
However, when I see your wonderful things I can feel the urge coming on!
Teresa