A blog about fiber arts and textiles
Tour de Fleece update for days 1-3:
Total yield: Approx. 192 yds of 2-ply worsted weight yarn (111g/ 3.90 oz)
Day 1: Spun 55.5g of White Eider wool singles (combed top from Camaj Fibers)
Day 2: Spun 55.5g of White Eider wool singles
Day 3: Plied 111g of White Eider wool singles
I debated whether to participate in this year’s Tour de Fleece–mostly because I spin so much on a weekly basis as it is. Also, I’m having a major surgery on July 20th, so I can only participate from July 1-19th. I did, however, decide that I will participate as much as I can during the time before my surgery. After all, I may not be able to spin for a good six to eight weeks during my recovery period, so I had better get all the spinning done that I possibly can.
Last year, I only spun fiber that I processed from raw fleece during the event. This year, I will spin anything in my fiber stash–both dyed and undyed.
I don’t have a specific spinning goal or plan for this year’s Tour, so I’ll let each day play out how it will and I’ll post updates and pictures as I go along (just like last year).
The pictures below represent some of my fiber options I’ve chosen for the Tour. I probably won’t dig into my raw fleece processed fiber, but I like to keep my options open, so who knows? If I make too much of a plan, I tend to rebel against that plan anyway, so it’s better for me to keep my spinning options open.
I may also spin on my drop spindles for a few days this year, something I didn’t attempt last year. I’ve been having a lot of fun spinning on my Turkish drop spindle lately, so I may spin some singles on it at some point.
I’d love to hear what others are doing for this year’s Tour, so feel free to comment below with your own plans.
Last April, I spun Swaledale wool for the first time and after weaving a table runner with most of the yarn, I put the remaining bit away until this week. I knew I would have to make home decor or the like out of this breed because of the high micron count (and super high amount of kemp), so I decided on an oversized crochet coaster for the remaining yarn.
I used a free crochet pattern “The Iris” which can be found HERE. I used the picot edging option.
On a spinning note: Other than a large amount of kemp in the Swaledale wool that I spun, I really enjoyed spinning this breed.
This time of the year, I hate being outside–mostly because of the 90+ degree weather mixed with 50% or higher humidity here in Alabama. The only good thing about the heat is its ability to dry wet fiber quickly when set out in direct sunlight. So, I’ve tried to get through some of last year’s fleeces–or at least continue sampling those fleeces–while the heat lingers.
One of the fleeces I washed/dried over the past few weeks is a Navajo Churro/Gulf Coast Native lamb cross from Summer Fields Farm in Monteagle, Tennessee–where I purchased nine fleeces last October. While it isn’t suitable for next-to-skin items, this fleece will be fine for home goods or outerwear.
29 g (washed and carded fleece) yielded approx. 80 yards of 2-ply sport weight yarn
I also washed & drum carded a sample of some Dorset Horn raw fleece that I purchased from Three Creeks Farm in New Hampshire. I have five pounds of this fiber, but this is the first sample I’ve done so far. I’ve worked with Dorset Horn raw fleece before and I enjoy working with this breed–from the processing to the final project.
I also decided to play around this week with my mini frame loom–using some waste fiber from other raw fleece spinning projects. I don’t weave a lot on any of my frame looms, but I hate wasting fiber–even if it isn’t enough for spinning or another project. Pictured here is left-over CVM and GCN from last year’s Tour de Fleece.
This project had been on my to-do list for a while–after seeing several similar raw fleece projects woven on peg looms. While I have a peg loom, I decided to use my 32″ Kromski Harp loom for this project since I wasn’t sure if the fleece would draft sufficiently enough.
The fleece came from an Icelandic ram named Sean from Ballyhoo Farms (Bagdad, KY) last year (2021).
Essentially, I just drafted directly from the raw fleece–completely unwashed and unspun–straight out of the bag. This rug used about half of the 3.5-pound fleece. After weaving the rug, I wet-finished it using Unicorn Power Scour to remove dirt and most of the lanolin.
The finished rug ended up measuring approximately 45″ long by 24″ inches wide.
So, this project was born from a mistake. I warped my loom according to a weaving sett for a two-harness loom, but it didn’t go as planned. Rather than scrap the project (which I almost never do), I experimented and ended up with the scarf pictured below. Not my favorite scarf–but certainly not the worst project I’ve woven.
This knitted beanie was finished a few weeks ago–a project from one of my Tour de Fleece 2021 spinning samples from an American Tunis raw fleece bought from Solace Farmstead in Coalmont, TN.
Although I don’t remember the fiber being exceptional when I was spinning it, the finished beanie turned out wonderfully soft and lofty. This would be a good yarn for a sweater project in the future with the remaining 2.75+ pounds of remaining fleece.
I don’t often work with plant fibers unless they’re blended with wool, but I had some cellulose fiber yarns in my stash that I thought would be good for a summer scarf, so I warped my loom and wove a spaced warp/weft scarf. This project took one ball of Plymouth Nettle Grove yarn (45% cotton, 28% linen, 12% nettle, 15% silk) and I didn’t quite use the whole ball. So, it took less than 218 yards of this yarn.
It’s already in the 90s here in Alabama, so I don’t imagine I’ll be wearing any kind of scarf until late autumn, but it was nice using up some of my yarn that has been sitting around for a while. Now, what to do with the 4-6 other balls of this yarn….
For LYS day this year, I visited a yarn shop in Huntsville, AL and bought 3 braids of wool roving, the first of which is Polworth wool, handpainted from Happy Fuzzy Yarns. 4 ounces yielded 230 yds of Worsted weight (2-ply) yarn.
The two other braids are handdyed Bluefaced Leicester from Mountain Colors, Inc.
Sample of “Freesia” Shetland ram lamb raw fleece from Ballyhoo Farms (Kentucky) yielded 114 yards of 2-ply sport weight (40g). Fiber was scoured with Unicorn Power Scour and hand carded before being spun semi-worsted. I believe this was a 2021 fleece, so the tips were a bit fragile from temperature changes with the lanolin–and I bought it discounted as a result. I have 2 pounds total of this fleece.
Diary of a Yarnophile 