The goal of the Tour de Fleece is to spin yarn on each of the days that the Tour de France races. If you're really good, I think the goal would be to spin a yarn that is representative to the type of stage planned for the day. A difficult yarn for a difficult stage or a fast yarn for a sprint. The tour started Saturday, July 3rd (yesterday) and runs through Sunday, July 25th.
I compared my schedule to the tour schedule. I am home during most of the tour which means I will be able to use my lovely Louet S10 for most of the tour.
Spin every day the Tour races. I signed up for the Tour de Fleece last year, but with everything that was going on, I didn't participate. So this year I compared the race schedule against my schedule and believe I can meet this goal. Of course, I joined up with the awesome ladies of the Team of Wonder who are certain to keep me on task. ;-)
Make the yarn required for my BFF Hat. I've talked about this bamboo-merino roving and planned hat here. My goal is to spin the entire bump (~ 4 oz) at a worsted weight during the tour.
... but I think I'm spinning it lighter than worsted so my real goal is to spin a consistent weight throughout.
Spin with my drop spindle for 4 days. My biggest concern with joining the tour was what to do while traveling. I can not bring my wheel with me, and I haven't used a drop spindle since I first learned to spin. Not that I'm an expert spinner, but I really sucked something awesome on the drop spindle. I have since figured out the drafting part of spinning and I really want to be able to use the drop spindle on some of my stashed roving. I will make sure I'm set up before my trip, so those 4 days can be successful.
I will be posting my progress on my regular Fiber Arts Friday blog posts here, as well as daily at the Team of Wonder thread on Ravelry.
I can't wait to see that roving spun up...it's so beautiful. My challenge day will be my drop spindle because I'm not as good at that. I literally drop the spindle because I don't get the twist set. I'm so glad you joined the team...what better way to challenge yourself than with friends.
ReplyDeleteThe experts opinions aren't always right for everyone. I actually couldn't use the spindle for love nor money until after I got proficient on my wheel. It was too much stuff to think about and worry about, but once I had a solid grasp of drafting the spindle became quite natural. Oh, and one trick is to be using the right weight spindle for the size yarn you are spinning. That can make all the difference in the world! You'll do great!
ReplyDeleteKristi - you are always a source for wisdom. :-) I've wondered why some people have so many drop spindles. The different weight makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteFiguring out the draft was the key for me too. I remember it happened over Thanksgiving and then I couldn't not make yarn. :-)
The bamboo/merino roving is really nice to spin. It seems like bamboo makes everything nicer. ;-)