Day 21 and 22, The end of Tour de Fleece 2026

 That's it, spinning done . I'm going to give it a break for a few days, even though its tempting to continue we have other things in the pipeline over the next week or so.

Therefore I declare the bag FULL.

The final bobbin was spun at guild yesterday.

And plied last night.

So, how much did I spin? well it came in at a similar amount to last year 1.706 Kilo or  3.7 lbs Not too shabby and at least I now have yarn to knit with when we return to Scotland later in the year. For now I'm going to play catch up on my stitching and lace making.

We have Texel, dyed Texel, Shetland, whiteface woodland, ryeland (white and coloured) Romney, wensleydale x zwartble, falkland polworth, wool from world of wool, unknown breed and border leicester cross. I don't think I've missed any out.

Well done to anyone else taking part and I hope to do the same next year as I have for the last 15/16 years.

Tour de Fleece day fifteen and a big chunk of iron

 First we have todays spinning, I've plied and washed the Shetland, it is lovely and soft and I'm pleased with it.

I also spun 100 or so gram of white face woodland, a really quick, rustic spin which will be popped in the dyepot at some point and probably become a hat.

In the middle of the day we headed over to Bennerley Viaduct otherwise known as the iron giant. This viaduct has been saved from demolition and now serves as a walkway within the area which will become a country park. As today was the opening of the Visitor centre, we thought that we would pop down and have a look at it.

Not the easiest thing to photograph with so many people around, we have decided that we will go back mid week sometime and take a closer look.

Tour de fleece day fourteen and week two round up.

 Somehow its already the end of week two, how did that happen? Today I've been rewinding and labelling skeins from this week now they are dry.

The good news is that the kitchen cupboards are back on the wall in spite of their age and we have some new lighting as well.

This weeks spinning, three texel skeins and one zwartblexwensleydale. I then popped out for coffee and finally finished the first bobbin of the dyed polworth.

and started on the next one, I'm really hoping to finish this before the the tour finishes.

Once how I did a little house work (haha) then finished up spinning the Shetland. This was an oddment so there is around 40gm on each bobbin. This is a useful amount for a hat with another yarn as the background colour.

Plans for tomorrow are a little different but I will try and ply the Shetland if I get time.

Final TDF prep 2026

 Here we are, poised to start spinning on Saturday morning. Most of my bobbins are empty, just one on the Victoria that I need to finish and ply but I will be ready.

My fibre choices are  a little different this year, I have the usual selection of Ryeland, Jacob, texel, Shetland etc all combed and ready to go.

I also have some more commercial fibres ( I know, so not like me ! ) including this selection from world of wool as I couldn't resist the colours. 50gm of each to be spun as a 4ply weight for some fair isle knitting.

I also have a selection from Petes Fibre Studio on facebook just because I love how his dyeing has progressed over the years. These may end up as a holiday spin later in the year if I don't get round to them during TDF

Usually we end up with a couple of festivals in July but this year they are later in the year so I will be looking at local locations to spin. I will be getting my senior bus pass halfway through so I may be heading out a little further around Nottingham.

As usual posts will be either daily or 2/3 days depending on how busy I am, wish me luck :-)

First Fleece wash of the year

 I ordered this fleece a couple of weeks ago but its been sitting in the kitchen untouched due to a minor domestic disaster involving water and a ceiling!

Today, the forecast isn't too bad and in fact next week is looking even better so I thought that I had better get my finger out and wash it. Also, having had to remove the raw fleece stash from its hiding place ( the disused outside loo) it has become apparent to both of us how much I actually have.

This is a Shetland fleece, just over a kilo in weight. It looks pretty clean and open so hopefully it will be an easy spin. 

sorry if the photos aren't brilliant but I had to use my phone as the battery had run out on my camera.

It washed up pretty clean and very soft.

In the meantime I found another box, this one dated July  2025 containing a black cheviot shearling so guess what I'm doing tomorrow.

Final Tour de Fleece 2025 figures.

I knew that I wouldn't spin as much as usual this year as we were away for nearly half of it. I've not included any half bobbins that are hanging around, just full skeins.

I had prepped around 1300gm of fibre, some is still in the bag but we have another trip or two planned so at least I have something to take with me.

All waiting to be washed, total 1.097Kg or 2.418 pounds, breeds.. Cheviot, Ryeland, Romney, Jacob, Shetland, North Country Mule.

The Cheviot and Jacob are from the Isle of Skye and will return there. The rest will probably join my knitting stash in the van.

I now need to continue washing and prepping fleece both fine and coarse for both of the e-spinners.

Tour de Fleece day , eighteen and nineteen.

 We've been busy since we got back, mainly washing and packing, a few medical appointments for both of us, some shopping and most importantly planning our next tour of Scotland.

In-between all this I grabbed the chance to ply the Shetland and spin the North Country Mule. 

This is looking like the least productive TDF for me for a while but it started by the coast, continued back at the coast las week and the last two days include  a summer bobbin lace day and yet another travel day.

Still, I have plenty of time in August to continue to spin down the stash so I'm not disheartened.

Tour de Fleece day fifteen - seventeen, more boats

 Saturday was indeed a wash out, we watched a few boats come in then headed for a trawl round the charity shops.

Henry Frederick Swan motoring into the harbour, built 1918 and looks amazing with all the sails in use.

However sails were soon stored away and we made our way into the boat shed to shelter from the rain.

We eventually decamped to the Spa for coffee.

(did I mention that I managed to get sunburt on the Friday ? the weather is so changeable)

Sunday.

Ian dashed out at around 8 o'clock to meet the boat crews so I had a leisurely breakfast before catching the bus. As I arrived in town, the first of the boats was heading out, the Three Brothers 1912. It was chasing the pirate ship out of the harbour and was soon disappearing into the mist.

I didn't realise at the time that this was the reason why I didn't see Ian for the next couple of hours or so.

Yep, there he is haha. second on the left.

Other boats were soon joining in the fun as I headed down to the boat shed.

local musicians had gathered for the event around the harbour

along with longsword dancers

Back out onto the harbour mouth to watch the cobles return after the afternoon sail.

During the day, I did take time out to spin in the boathouse and chat to several people about the Nano.

and I finished off the bobbin later whilst Ian helped pack the festival down.

Not a lot of spinning in all ( two bobbins of shetland) but a very enjoyable , if slightly wet, weekend. We travelled home on day 17 so I took that as a rest day.

Tour de Fleece day fourteen, back by the sea

 Beautiful morning, set out to walk into town but didn't realise how humid it was.

Four of the cobles were out in the bay, taking advantage to the quiet sea. They are easily identified by their brown sails.

The first land train of the day went past on its way to Sewerby ( the direction that I had just come from) and by the time it turned around and headed back I was almost in town but actually dripping ! Having chatted with a couple of people on the way one of which told me that the humidity was about 97% I decided to jump on the train for the last stretch and cool down.

 My first shop was the craft shop for a cup of tea and a spin, Shetland once again on the wheel.

Followed by a coffee at the Spa with Ian, as we walked back to the harbour to look at the boats we realised that the sunny day with blue skies was fast disappearing under the sea mist.

Still, the boats had the flags on ready for the weekend but it is sadly looking as if Saturday is going to be a washout.