Tour de Fleece 2012 results

I completed the Tour de Fleece in Ravelry for the first time, achieving my goal of spinning a little every day (except rest days). Team members helped keep me motivated and I am pleased as punch with my results: a skein of 3 ply wool and a skein of 2 ply Pima cotton.

Hand-spinning wool for Tour de Fleece 

I used my Ashford Traditional wheel to spin handpainted wool top from Kathy's Fibres in the "Strelitzia" colourway. Kathy's coloured wool top is a joy to spin. I used Sarah Anderson's technique for Navajo plying to produce a 3 ply yarn with a grist of 2700m/kg. I found Sarah's technique works best for me when I place the lazy kate (holding the full bobbin of single) on the floor beside me.

Hand-spinning cotton for Tour de Fleece

Using Easy To Spin Pima cotton top from Cotton Clouds, I did a little spinning with a support spindle but mainly I used my Ashford Traditional wheel. I have grown ever more confident at spinning cotton on the Ashford. I did discover that I prefer spinning a cotton single onto a fat core bobbin.

Cotton single (top) on regular bobbin;
cotton single (bottom) on fat core bobbin.
Equal amounts of cotton on each bobbin.

Now that the Tour is completed, I really must do something about all those dust bunnies that have accumulated in the corners since housework fell off the priority list....

We had a grand time with the twins last week.

On the way home we saw a double rainbow over Mareeba. Handcraft activities make me happy. So do grandchildren and rainbows.

Post by M in JaM
Pix by JaM