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.

Tour de Fleece days ten and eleven

 Very quick update today as I've been super busy sorting out the crates of stuff stashed in the house, I did take my wheel to the knit group  but forgot to take any photos . I did, however, spin up the remainder of the wensleydale x zartble and another 100gm of texel. Both skeins have now been plied and washed.

Tour de Fleece days eight and nine.

 Its been a busy weekend so I've rolled both days spinning into one post. We have had to empty the camper ready for its service/mot/hab check so now I don't just have a lounge full of the kitchen contents but a spare bedroom full of the van contents as well

Fortunately I've got away (so far) with just one box of stuff in my workroom so at least I can still retreat here when needed.

I've also started on the list of replacing bits and pieces that have come to the end of their life, the kettle that won't stay open when filling, the buckets with broken handles etc.

Anyway, back to the spinning.

Saturday, 50 gm wensleydale x zwartble, lovely dark brown fibre that  I have used many times in my knitting. I think that this is the last of the fleece that I bought a couple of years ago.

I escaped for a couple of hours in the afternoon, grabbed a coffee at the castle and spun an unknown amount of an unknown fibre.

Today I've had a routine of spin a bobbin then spend time cleaning out a kitchen cupboard which resulted in another 200 gm of the never ending texel.

Hopefully I'll get this washed and on the line tomorrow before I head out to knit group.

Tour de Fleece day six, 2026

 A day without builders as they are waiting for the plaster to dry and we were out this afternoon at a prior engagement.  Its getting warm again so we opted to stay inside and catch up with odd jobs so I caught up on the spinning.

Second bobbin of Ryeland spun and plyed BTW these are 200gm bobbins

Second bobbin of orange world of wool fibre spun, slightly better result obtained from spinning on the e-spinner compared to the green fibre spun on the louet.

Plied  pic is a closer colour match, colour name orange marmalade.

I also managed an easy spin of 100gm texel split across two bobbins, not plied yet as I may do another couple tomorrow and mix the bobbins ie ply 1 with 3 and 2 with 4.

All in all a productive morning and evening, the builders are back tomorrow so I may get chance to spin some more and then wash week ones yarn in the evening. I'm hoping to get out and about next week  but it depends on whether the work is finished because I then have the task of trying to fit everything back in the cupboards.

Tour de Fleece day one, 2026

Well, here we are again, I'm thinking about spinning natural coloured fleece that I have prepped myself on the Ashford 3, The World of wool dyed 50gm packs on the Louet Victoria, the dyed fibre from Petes Fibre Studio on the Argonaut and if I happen to need to take a spindle anywhere I will have some Shetland to hand.

I may reassess at some point but I have plenty of bobbins for the Argonaut and the Ashford so I will be able to swap around if needed.

quick update, builders turning up on Monday so replace kitchen ceiling so it looks like I won't be spinning in public quite as much as anticipated!

Also my senior !! bus pass has turned up, not sure if I have to wait until actual retirement date to use it but will try on the bus on Saturday, fingers crossed. Update... it works :-)

Day one

 New T-shirts and empty bobbins, let the games commence.

I was awake early so I had a little practise and spun 100gm Texel quite thick but tested out new brake band etc.

My plan for today was to head into town, grab a coffee then catch a bus over to Wollaton Hall and Deer park as they are holding an open weekend in the walled garden which isn't often open to the public.

Coffee done, off to the garden. I arrived a little early so wandered round with my camera for a few minutes.

There are a few old tree stumps scattered around, the decaying remains revealing interesting patterns.

Once inside the walls I explored the gardens and grabbed a few pics of the flowers before buying a cup of tea and getting my wheel out.

However, once my wheel was out on the table, I had a steady stream of people wanting to ask about it and the spinning, my brief tea break lasted for two hours !

As I made my way from the park I spotted a squirrel and he obviously saw me, ran up the tree and froze. Not a flicker until I passed by,

I'm home now, trying to decide whether to stitch or spin tonight, whichever it is will be revealed in the next post.

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 :-)

Tour de Fleece 2026 prep and chat

 I know that it is only June but its less than a month until the start of the 2026 TDF and I really don't have  a lot of fleece prepped at all !

I have some washed ready for combing, I have lots that needs a wash including this large bag that I found on my doorstep last week. Nearly 5 kilos of what I suspect ( from previous fleece from the same source) is going to be texel. I am waiting for a dry day to make a start on washing and maybe even dyeing it ready to spin. Seriously, its rained pretty much everyday since it turned up

My plans for TDF are the same as ever, work on spinning down the stash, make use of my wheels and maybe finish a couple of half spun projects before it starts.

I could just use the texel as my challenge but I may get bored spinning the same breed for three weeks. I do plan to take my wheel to as many local destinations as possible, we won't be going away as Ian will probably be doing his bike thing down south and the van will be back at the dealers for annual service, mot etc but I will be getting my bus pass halfway through so I might see where else I can get with it.

later

between showers today I popped 300gm or so of raw fleece into a net bag and started to wash it.

Surprisingly its really not that dirty and not looking to bad considering the fact that someone who knows absolutely nothing about fleece volunteered to grab me a bag full just after the sheep were sheared.

Once washed and rinsed I'm left with this which will go in the dye pot for a change.

It looks like I am going to busy over the next couple of weeks or so prepping ready for the big spin. Also I'm hoping to get out and about most days with a wheel of some kind or maybe even just a spindle.

Now out of the dye pot weighing in at 250gm 

Just a quick update !

 Busy, busy, busy

First spinning demo for two years later this morning, I was going to just sit and spin but we've thrown it open as a demo / have a go session so I've been grabbing fibre and spindles etc ready. I also carded some squishy batts of Jacob and Texel.

We have the van back from the furnishings company, yippee !!

Before photos, this is the original furnishing, 14 years of wear and tear has left the foam almost completely broken down, more so in the five year that we have had it.

After.......

It's looking like new van !! and the curtains are practical rather than about a foot wide and decorative.

Other than that, its been a round of fleece washing and prep whenever the weather has looked good and grabbing a few minutes to work on the big red thing.

That's about it for, I have to dash for the bus so will update further in the next post x