Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2026 - part 4

For the fourth and final week of the Men's Tour, my progress is below:

Day 19: Friday, July 24 – 15 minutes

Day 20: Saturday, July 25 – 15 minutes

Day 21: Sunday, July 26 – 15 minutes

At this time, I have one of my original prepared rovings remaining... I plan to make more for the Women's race.

Week 4 Status -TdFH

• Spin Duration:  91 + 0 + 75 + 45 = 211 minutes (~3.5 hours)
• Spin Days:  6 of 6 + 0 of 6 + 5 of 6 + 3 of 3 = 14 of 21 days
• Bobbin/Skein Status: nothing finished yet

This is the end of the Men's race.  The women's race begins tomorrow.

I plan to continue working on the single and then to ply over the last few days of the Women's race.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2026 - part 3

My progress slowed considerably since I was in a Silent and then Writing Retreat for all of Week Two.  Week Three progress is below:

Day 7: Friday, July 10 – Day 12: Thursday, July 16th

Was mostly off line due to retreats.  So no spinning was accomplished by me for week two.

Day 13: Friday, July 17 – 15 minutes

Its fun to be back at my wheel.

Day 14: Saturday, July 18 – 15 minutes

Day 15: Sunday, July 19 – Challenge Day

No spinning today

 

Monday, July 20 – Rest Day

I did spin today, 15 minutes.

Day 16: Tuesday, July 21 – 15 minutes

Day 17: Wednesday, July 22 –

No spinning today.

 

Day 18: Thursday, July 23 – 15 minutes

Week 3 Status -TdFH

• Spin Duration:  91 + 0 + 75 = 166 minutes thus far
• Spin Days:  6 of 6 + 0 of 6 + 5 of 6 = 11 of 18 days thus far
• Bobbin/Skein Status: nothing finished yet

I am happy with my progress thus far, given how little time I've been able to allocate.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!  

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2026 - part 2

Ok!  Spinning has begun and my Coaching/Facilitation Skills are getting a workout... Not really, the team is small and everyone is always lovely.  So it has been a joy so far.  :-)

(part one)

I did get my (ahem) stash together...

The good news is that it was clean.  The bad news is that it was not yet in roving form.... so I spent some of Friday and Saturday morning carding.  I got two batches of roving prepared.

This isn't enough to keep me busy for both Tours, but it is enough to keep me busy for a few days.

Since I already know that I will not be able to spin every day, my goal is simple this year... I plan to spin for at least 15 minutes when I do sit down to spin.

So here's my daily record...

***

TdF - Hommes

Day 1: Saturday, July 4 – 15 minutes

Day 2: Sunday, July 5 – 15 minutes

I had a special treat today, in that I got to help my spinning student check out and buy her first wheel.  She found a screaming deal on Facebook locally, and her new wheel is just lovely.

Day 3: Monday, July 6 – 16 minutes

Day 4: Tuesday, July 7 – 15 minutes

Day 5: Wednesday, July 8 – 15 minutes

I finished my first chunk of roving today.

At this slow rate, I may not need to prepare more roving.  lol

Day 6: Thursday, July 9 – 15 minutes

I covered the bobbin today.  That always makes me happy.  :-)

 

Week 1 Status -TdFH

I'm feeling good about my progress this week.  That will change next week;

• Spin Duration:  91 minutes and 6 of 6 days.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2026 - part 1

It's that time of year again... Tour de Fleece.

A lot has happened in my world over the last year... really the last few years, but especially the last year.

I am in a new living situation.  On my own.  Just me and my dogs.

My alpaca are staying at a friend's ranch nearby.

I am the sole owner at The Canine Learning Center now, which is keeping me exceptionally busy.

Everything else is with my ex-husband and his "best friend."

I haven't been spinning or knitting.  I missed the registration deadline for the Estes Park Wool Market.  AND, I was thinking about not participating in this year's Tour de Fleece.  BUT every time I thought about telling the group that I would not be participating, I would get sad.

So earlier this week, I finally went to Ravelry to see how the team was shaping up, and there wasn't anything posted other than a question about whether we were having a team this year.

So I volunteered.  I am leading the team this year!  Hooray!

I have been teaching a friend how to spin, and she is starting on Chiengora... so I have also been teaching her how to prepare the fiber.. and she's doing a great job!

Which means, I'm not entirely without fiber in my life.  :-)

Anyway... now I need to get my stash together (ahem) and figure out what I will be spinning and what my goals are for the next month or so.

The Tour begins tomorrow, Saturday, July 4th.

Join us, won't you?

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2025 - part 6

For Part 5 - - I did a bit better last week of focusing on the fun and less on the task.  This week I will continue to try to focus on the fun.  Changing neuropathways takes time and effort.  ;-)

TdFF Stage 7 - Friday, August 1

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 33minutes
• How I felt:  Nice relaxing day with respect to spinning.  I completed the half-hour over 3 stints.

TdFF Stage 8 - Saturday, August 2

No spinning today

 

TdFF Stage 9 - Sunday, August 3

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 68 minutes
• How I felt:  I did not realize today was the last day.  Instead of 9 Stages, I was thinking it ended on August 9th.  Oy... so at about 30 minutes into spinning, I stopped to ply.

Overall Wrap-up:

• Days Spent: 23of25 +2of3 = 25of28
• Time Spent: 630 minutes (10 1/2 hours) + 101 minutes (1 hr 41 minutes) = 731 minutes (12 hrs 11 minutes)
• Overall Feeling:  I'm feeling pretty good that I only missed 3 days in just over 4 weeks of daily spinning.  The days toward the end were more about fun, but certainly this is a headspace I need to work on some more.  Overall a good Tour for me. :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2025 - part 5

For Part 4 - - I lost a bit of focusing on the fun over the task last week.  So now that I've reached my weight goal for the one skein I've started, I want to continue to practice on just having fun.

TdF Stage 20 - Friday, July 25

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent:  39 minutes
• How I felt:  I was able to spend a little more time last night and a few different times today.  I'm about half-complete with the plying.  So I'm feeling confident that I will have enough time to let it dry before it needs to be dropped off.  This makes me happy.

TdF Stage 21, TdFF Stage 1 - Saturday, July 26 - TdFF begins

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent:  48 minutes
• How I felt:  I got a little more done after yesterday's post and was able to complete plying today over 3 different stints.  Yay!

• 156 total yards of 2-ply.  It's taking a bath now.

TdF Stage 22, TdFF Stage 2 - Sunday, July 27 - TdF ends

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent:  32 minutes
• How I felt:  It's always fun starting a new skein.

TdFF Stage 3 - Monday, July 28

No spinning today

TdFF Stage 4 - Tuesday, July 29

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent:  22 minutes
• How I felt: After not spinning yesterday, it felt nice to spin today.

I did get my County Fair Entries delivered today, include my finished skein from earlier this week.  I'm happy with how it turned out.

TdFF Stage 5 - Wednesday, July 30

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 24 minutes
• How I felt:  I was able to spend much of today watching the County Fair Judging.  This has been on my ToDo List for quite some time and today was the first time I was able to make it happen.  I learned a lot.

TdFF Stage 6 - Thursday, July 31

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 14 minutes
• How I felt: It was fun to just spin this afternoon.

Weekly Wrap-up:

• Days Spent: 17of18 +6of7 = 23of25 days thus far
• Time Spent: 420 minutes (7hrs) + 210 minutes (3 1/2 hours) = 630 minutes (10 1/2 hours) thus far
• Overall Feeling:  I wasn't sure how to divide my work for the two days overlap between the Men's and Women's Races, so I am treating each day as one day, in and of itself.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2025 - part 4

For Part 4 - - My goal this week is to just spin and not worry about how much I've spun, even though the Fair Entry Deadline is Wednesday.

TdF Stage 13 - Friday, July 18

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 31 minutes
• How I felt:  I began today thinking it would be quiet and relaxed with a little bit of dog grooming and a good amount of spinning chiengora.  Well, I did do some dog grooming, but a lot of other good things happened which allowed for only about a half-hour of spinning.

TdF Stage 14 - Saturday, July 19

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 28 minutes
• How I felt:  I completed the County Fair Registrations this morning and realized that the Chiengora entry only has to be 1 ounce instead of 2 ounces.  I am fairly confident that I have already spun 1 ounce, so I am now less worried about this entry.  I will continue to spin thru Wednesday, as planned.

TdF Stage 15 - Sunday, July 20 - Challenge Day

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 5 minutes
• How I felt:  Challenge Day?  I literally only spent 5 minutes spinning today. lol.

TdF - Monday, July 21 - Rest Day

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 22 minutes
• How I felt:  While today is officially a rest day, I took some time to give my brain a break in between studying other things.

TdF Stage 16 - Tuesday, July 22

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent:  26 minutes
• How I felt:  I spun a bit more after yesterday's posting.  Today I took some time to spin after a too long web meeting.  It's feels nice to take the time for a mental break.  I need to remember this feeling.

TdF Stage 18 - Wednesday, July 23

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 20 minutes
• How I felt:  I spun a bit more after yesterday's posting and today was the last day of spinning singles on this skein...  I didn't get to it until the end of the day.

Today is the Fair Entry Deadline.  I did enter this skein, as mentioned over the weekend... but today, is also my moment of truth.... Have I spun enough?

Yes, just barely... 2 1/4 oz.  yay!

TdF Stage 19 - Thursday, July 24

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 13 minutes
• How I felt:  I began plying today.

Weekly Wrap-up:

• Days Spent: 10of12 + 7of6 = 17of18 days thus far
• Time Spent: 230 minutes (3 hrs 50 minutes) + 190 minutes (3hrs 10 mins) = 420 minutes (7hrs) thus far
• Overall Feeling:  I have started to slip in to "task reporting" and not really reporting on how I'm feeling... will try to be better.  Tho I am happy that I met my unofficial goal of 2 ounces.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2025 - part 3

For Part 3 - - My goal this week is to continue to spin for the Joy of it.

TdF Stage 7 - Friday, July 11

No Spinning today.

Having tweaked my back last Thursday morning, I decided to let it rest one more day.

TdF Stage 8 - Saturday, July 12

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 14 minutes
• How I felt:  I was feeling significantly better this morning.  Spinning makes me happy.

TdF Stage 9 - Sunday, July 13

No Spinning today.

TdF Stage 10 - Monday, July 14 - Challenge Day

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 10 minutes
• How I felt: My brain and day was full.  I have one more major thing to get done today, but decided to spin for about 10 minutes to give my brain a rest...  So today, my challenge was just to spin.  :-)

TdF  - Tuesday, July 15 - Rest Day

Tibetan Mastiff: 

• Time Spent: 18 minutes
• How I felt:  While today was supposed to be a Rest Day, it was nice have a break in the middle of the day that allowed for a bit of spinning.

TdF Stage 11 - Wednesday, July 16

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 27 minutes
• How I felt:  After several extremely full days, today was more relaxed and I was able to spin some over the afternoon.  Feels nice.

TdF Stage 12 - Thursday, July 17

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 24 minutes
• How I felt:  It was nice to spin while listening to the news and not feel rushed for other things that must be done today.

Weekly Wrap-up:

• Days Spent:  5 of 6 days + 5 of 6 days = 10 of 12 days thus far
• Time Spent: 137 minutes (2:17) + 93 minutes (1:33) = 3 hrs 50 minutes thus far
• Overall Feeling:  I have started to wonder how much I’ve spun…. and since I didn’t weigh the prepared fiber, nor have I weighed the bobbin I’m using, nor have I kept track of how many balls of roving I’ve completed, I really don’t know. Apparently I took myself seriously when I embarked upon this year being about fun and not task completion.  This is good for me.  But it also means that my type-A self is starting to get itchy about the county fair deadline and the fact that each skein must be at least 2 ounces in order to be entered. sigh.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2025 - part 2

For Part 2 - - My goal this week is to spin for the Joy of it.... let's see how it goes.

TdF Stage 1 - Saturday, July 5

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 32 minutes
• How I felt: I almost forgot that today is Saturday and the beginning of the TdF, but I am feeling happy and hopeful after yesterday's Independence Day Parade.  The support for the Dems was significantly more than the others.

TdF Stage 2 - Sunday, July 6

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 21 minutes
• How I felt: I felt distracted today with too many things to do this morning.

TdF Stage 3 - Monday, July 7

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 16 minutes
• How I felt: I was feeling anxious, with a lot of things on my To Do List for today, but I decided to spin anyway... and to spin until my mind calmed down.  It fought me, but we did get there... it took about 15 minutes.

TdF Stage 4 - Tuesday, July 8

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent: 54 minutes
• How I felt: Theoretically, my Internet has been fixed…. I did get some spinning done since I could not accomplish any internet-y things while the Tech was working on our service.  It was nice to spin, knowing there wasn’t anything else I should be doing.   Also, my bobbin is fully covered now, which always makes me happy.

TdF Stage 5 - Wednesday, July 9

Tibetan Mastiff:

• Time Spent:  14 minutes
• How I felt:  What a day.  It feels like there's been a sea change and the day has been full because of it.  I didn't get to spinning until about 8:30pm.

TdF Stage 6 - Thursday, July 10

No Spinning today.

I tweaked my back in the morning and followed it up with far too many meetings that required me to sit for most of the day.  Which meant that by the end of the day, my back was far too tight to treadle my wheel.  sigh.

Hopefully I'm feeling better tomorrow. 

Weekly Wrap-up:

• Days Spent:  5 of 6 days
• Time Spent: 137 minutes (2 hrs 17 minutes)
• Overall Feeling:  I'm having fun and while I didn't spin yesterday, I've decided it doesn't really matter.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece, 2024 - part 5

**Week 4**

With the last week and last three days of the Mens' Tour de Fleece, I am focusing on finishing my Tibetan Mastiff yarn, which will be a 2-ply.

I am aiming to complete Paco-Vicuna single by the end of the Tour and then ply it later.

Friday, July 19

TM: Ramen:  15 minutes 

I began plying the Tibetan Mastiff this morning.  I combined it with a cake I had completed prior to this Tour beginning.

The single spun during this Tour weighs 2 oz and the prior weights ~3/8 oz.

  

Saturday, July 20

TM: Ramen: 48 minutes

Alpaca-ish: Switzer-Land Paco-Vicuna:  23 minutes

I forgot to take a photo.

 

Sunday, July 21

TM: Ramen: 38 minutes

I completed plying the Tibetan Mastiff today.  Will wind off, measure, and wash later.

Alpaca-ish: Switzer-Land Paco-Vicuna:  20 minutes

I have completed the first ball, 1/2 ounce.

**Hommes Race, Wrap-up

Weekly Status:

Duration:  

• + TM:             6 hrs 24 mins + 1 hr 41 mins = 8 hrs 5 mins
• + Alpaca-ish:  8 hrs 52 mins + 43 mins = 9 hrs 35 mins
• = Total:           15 hrs 16 mins + 2 hrs 24 mins = 16 hrs 40 mins

Net Days Spun:  -2 +0 = -2

Finished Skeins:  1 + 1 = 2

Given the other things going on in our world right now, I am both happy and disappointed in my progress for this Tour.

I wanted to accomplish more and I still accomplished two finished skeins and a single half-complete for a third skein.

Spinning felt more like a chore than an enjoyable activity, yet it was still calming for my mind.

Both of these skeins are now entered into our County Fair.  I'm not sure that either are Blue Ribbon Skeins, but possibly 2nd or 3rd place.  TM on the left and Alpaca+Bamboo on the right.

I am looking forward to just spinning a little here and there... and am planning (hoping?) to be back with daily spinning progress for the Tour de Fleece, Femme after the Olympics.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!