Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2015 - part 1

For the first few years that I participated in the Tour de Fleece, I was travelling a lot for work.  I managed to spin at the office, in my hotel room, at a friend's house, in the gate area at the airport, on the airplane and while waiting for the airport shuttle, but usually I was just trying to spin every day and mostly not being successful.

Last year, I was between jobs and had my most productive run.  Since I was home for most of the tour, my wheel had lots of attention.

This year, I commute to a Day Job most days.  I started spindling over the noon-ish hour right after Memorial Day, so my goal for this tour will be to spin for at least 10 minutes every day.  It would be great if I am able to complete everything I have prepared, but really that is not a firm goal.

The Team of Wonder is on hiatus this year, so I found Team Chiengora... and with a few Tibetan Mastiffs, I have more than enough chiengora to keep me busy.  ;-)

For my drop spindle I have a cloud of undercoat that was collected from Gunnar either at or in preparation for his conformation shows over the last year or so.  I've already spun a little of this as a demonstration.  The spindle and spun fiber weigh 0.75 oz.  The cloud behind it also weighs 0.75 oz.

At home I have a large amount of gold undercoat collected by Gunnar and Miles' breeder that I have turned into roving and plan to spin on my wheel.  ~9.75 oz of washed Timberline TM carded and pulled into roving.

This should be enough to keep me busy for the next three weeks, but I have plenty of more if needed.  ;-)

Saturday, July 4th - Day 1
My goal with this fiber is to end up with a 3-ply, lace weight yarn that is suitable for this scarf, so I do have some flexibility.

I need to remember to spin this tighter than normal since I plan to ply rather than leave as a single. 

After spinning cotton the day before, it took a bit to get into the groove, but I had a productive first day.

Sunday, July 5th - Day 2
A little more than 1 oz spun do far.

Monday, July 6th - Day 3

15 minutes over lunch today and my first day with the drop spindle for this Tour.  My goal here is a consistent single-ply.

This is really nice to spin.  It's single sourced from Gunnar, and I'm spinning more slowly than on my wheel but also getting a more rustic yarn.

I also spun for about 30 minutes on my wheel before retiring for the evening.

Tuesday, July 7th - Day 4

Another 15 minutes at lunch with my spindle.

Wednesday, July 8th - Day 5

A really full day today. No time for spinning at lunch and didn't feel that I had time for spinning this evening. So I made myself sit down for 5 minutes.  At 4 minutes I felt myself relax and ended up spinning for a total of 15 minutes.

Thursday, July 9th - Day 6
Again, not a lot of time for spinning today, but I do find it relaxing, even if I am really tired.

My week ends up with 1 1/8 ounces spun on my wheel and 1/8 ounces spindled on my drop spindle.  Pretty good week as far as the Tour de Fleece, er Fur goes.

Happy Spinning and Happy Fiber Arts Friday.