Ready, Set, Spin

June 30, 2012 Christina Bossart

So today marks the start of the Tour de Fleece, and annual spinning challenge that concedes with the Tour de France. I participated last year and found that keeping up with teams took more time than the actual spinning, and with my new job (and stupid commute) I want to save as much time for knitting, spinning and weaving as possible, so I'm not participating in the Rav group, but I do have some goals for the three weeks of the Tour.

Goal:

To be able to spin the yarn that I set out to spin (rather than ending up with the yarn that the wheel wants to make)

It seems like the best way to meet this goal is to spin a whole bunch of fluff that I have no plans for. Part of my issue is that I feel like everything I spin has to be useable, that if not then the fluff is wasted, and I don't want to waste my fluff so I sometimes don't spin what I have for fear of ruining it. So I have pulled out a few different batts, braids and fleece that are already in handy sample size (so no worries about not being able to knit with it) or I'm not totally in love with but still really like to get into and not be fearful while spinning and take some chances.

So I guess there is a second goal of the TdF, spend enough time spinning to meet my first goal. To that end I aim to spin at least 10 minutes a day, with a minimum of 30 minutes of spinning on days I don't go to work. This should give me the time to actually do some spinning, before the Ravellenic Games (formerly the Ravelympics) and knitting take over for the end of July and into August.

So with the perfect weather I may be taking my spinning wheel outside for the rest of the weekend and seeing how far I can get before Tuesday (thanks to Canada Day tomorrow I have a four day weekend.

FO: TdF Stragglers

August 21, 2011 Christina Bossart

So, at the beginning of the Tour de Fleece I set out the batts and tops I wanted to spin, and after the three weeks of the tour I had finished two yarns. Not deterred by missing the deadline so badly, I have continued to spin my TdF fluff queue and I am finally finished, almost a month after the last day of the tour.

Falling Leaves

50/50 Tussah Silk and SeaCell, 14wpi, worsted spun, 2-ply, 60yds, 50g.

Two Art Yarns

1. Corespun, 30 yds

2. Threadplyed Yarn, 100 yds

Fall Colors

100% BFL, chain plyed, aran weight, 100yds, 100gm

So I am finally "caught up" on my spinning. I find having a spinning queue is helpful, but I think I need to knit down some handspun before I can spin anymore.

TdF: Finish Line

July 30, 2011 Christina Bossart

So, I crossed the finish line of the Tour, with three yarns, one short and fluffy, one firm and silky, and a spindle spun yarn.

As a reminder, here were my goals:

To spin every day, for a minimum of 10 minutes
To spin one yarn with a pattern in mind, which means being intentional about my spinning technique, yarn weight and trying to aim for specific lengths.
To spin some silk successfully
To spin at least one yarn: -Long Draw -From the Fold -Chain Plyed
To spin with intention, and make sure that no matter what I enjoy the activity

So I succeeded at a few things, I enjoyed all my spinning during the Tour, and I spun some silk on a spindle. I also spun most days, and I have learned how calming I find spinning and how helpful it can be at dealing with stress.

I have been much more successful in the week following the tour than I was during the whole tour. I spun some semi-woolen/long-draw singles, which I haven't chain-plyed yet, also I have silk singles spun on my wheel, soon to be plyed.

I have even started my first art yarn, a corespun using crochet cotton and my Golding Ring Spindle to manage the core (something that was keeping me away from corespun yarns).

I look forward to next year's Tour, but I have a hard time putting aside my knitting and crochet projects to spin, so I think I need to clear my calendar so I have a clear run at my spinning.

TdF: Week 2

July 16, 2011 Christina Bossart

So I am totally failing at the Tour de Fleece. Never mind all those lofty goals I set, I am finding it challenging to spin every day, I didn't spin at all on Monday or Tuesday. Never mind that I fell into bed at 9pm both nights, but I could not even bring myself to look at my wheel. The reason I was so exhausted was that I helped out at the Angry Seagull 24-hour adventure race that happened in my town. I was responsible for CheckPoint 7, which means I got a text at 2:30am on Sunday to get out to a spot about 5km south of town and sit there till noon waiting on teams.

I did get some spinning done, imagine the strange looks you get when you are sitting in the back of your car, looking like you woke up at 2:30 and have a spindle going.

I managed to spin and ply a small sample of tussah silk that I got from Gale at Gale's Art back in the fall.

Since Wednesday I have perked up on my spinning, first because a box of goodies I ordered from Gale's Art back during the Postal Strike finally arrived and yesterday the Sliding Hook Flyer and Lazy Kate I ordered arrived. I bribed myself that I can't start anything with the new flyer until I finish up the singles of the Bohoknitterchic Merino/Silk that I have been working on for a week now. So Thursday night I managed to get halfway through the second (of three) bobbins of singles. I will use the new flyer to ply because the bobbins are so wonderfully large.

The TdF is really poorly timed for me, as someone who works in recreational trail management, I spend most days in the summer either outside doing trail maintenance or figuring out what sort of work needs to be done next. Also, it is currently the nicest and busiest time of the year in Parry Sound, with all sorts of activities from classical music festivals to dragon boat races.

However, I move on to week three of the Tour and it is time to see whether I will crash and burn any worse than the riders this year.