This is the recorded Tour de Fleece Kick-off Meeting 2024 from June 29th. Members of the community share what they are working on.
Chapters
- Robyn’s spinning singles 00:00
- Linea’s consistent practice 05:03
- Leanne’s many spin projects 06:59
- Brenda’s 15-minute daily goal 12:22
- Carole’s raw fleece spinning 15:16
- Louise’s 15-minute daily goal 23:06
- Kim’s blanket spinning project 27:32
- Erika’s gradient sweater spin plan 32:23
- Adrienne’s Tour de Fleece goals 35:28
- Pearl’s club colour considerations 38:28
- Greta’s Raindrop yarn plan 47:19
Use the “Chapters” function on the video player to jump to any section you wish!
Show & Tell Notes from the Tour de Fleece Kick-off Meeting 2024
Robyn’s Spinning Singles
- She is spinning singles yarn on her Ashford e-Spinner 3, aiming for 15 minutes daily. She’s using fibres like Merino, Corriedale, and a Sari Silk blend.
- Additionally, she wants to work with her supported spindles using rolags she prepared from Crafty Jak’s Boutique; a Targhee, Bamboo, and Silk blend.
Linea’s Consistent Practice
- Linea is focusing on consistency with her spinning, using either a Corriedale or BFL/Silk fibre blend.
- She suggests finding the right chair for good ergonomics and being mindful of long arm movements when spinning long draw.
Leanne’s Many Spin Projects
- Leanne is kicking off the Tour de Fleece with rolags from the Fossil Fibres Mystery Fiber Club, featuring a blend of Corriedale, Lincoln, Cotswold, Romeldale, Bamboo, and Flax that she will spin into a 3-ply yarn.
- She also has a batt she has prepared, fibre also from Fossil Fibres, a milk fibre and silk blend, which she plans to spin into stripes for a crocheted project for her daughter.
- Additionally, she’s working with hand-dyed yellow merino fibre, which she has acid-dyed with Jacquard dyes, for a Pressed Flowers Pullover by Amy Christophers.
- Leanne also aims to ride her trainer for 10% of the mileage covered by Tour de Fleece competitors each day.
Perfect for spinners working on bigger projects!
Brenda’s 15-Minute Daily Goal
- Brenda plans to spin for 15 minutes a day, starting by working with a blend of Merino, Mulberry, and Tussah Silk fibre she bought from Hipstrings.
- She also intends to spin Churro fibre from SOAR (Spin-Off Autumn Retreat) last year using a Navajo spindle.
- With the Churro fibre, Brenda explains the process of how she first created a batt, then turned it into rolags, and finally attenuated them back into a roving-style state before spinning.
Carole’s Raw Fleece Spinning
- Carole is spinning from her stash on her Irish tension Louet S10.
- She’s also preparing washed Merino fibre locks on her blending board, though she’s finding some spots that feel greasy.
- Kim McKenna suggested using camellia or avocado oil to help soften the sticky fleece spots before working with it and offered tips on adjusting the process to make raw Merino fleece more manageable.
Shown here is her raw Polwarth fleece before scouring.
Louise’s 15-Minute Daily Goal
- Louise plans to spend 15 minutes spinning each day of the Tour de Fleece.
- She has been pre-drafting Corriedale fibre to help make her spinning more consistent and has been enjoying using her diz and carders, which she clamps to the table for fibre preparation.
- She aims to spin more on her Schacht Ladybug during the Tour de Fleece.
Kim’s Blanket Spinning Project
- She shared some hand warm-up exercises she does before spinning and also says she does not stick to one craft for too long. By rotating between spinning, plying, and weaving, she uses different movements, which helps alleviate any pain.
- She also ensures she spins in a chair without arms to avoid leaning, keeping her posture straight.
- Kim is currently spinning weft for a blanket.
- Additionally, she shared her method for calculating yardage when spinning for weft in sections, ensuring no yarn is wasted at the end of a project.
Erika’s Gradient Sweater Spin Plan
- Erika plans to spin one pound of Corriedale fibre in different colour combinations to create a gradient effect for a sweater project.
- This will result in around 600 grams of fibre when she’s done, which she is spinning on her EEW Nano e-Spinner.
- She jokes that her children are a great distraction, ensuring she doesn’t sit for too long at any given time and this avoids strain from long spinning sessions.
Adrienne’s Tour de Fleece Goals
- Adrienne spins using an EEW Nano e-Spinner and finds that the battery pack acts as a helpful weight since it’s a very light wheel.
- She is working with SweetGeorgia Yarn’s Corriedale Fibre and a mystery fibre batt from Mercer Island.
- To take care of herself during the Tour de Fleece, she takes frequent breaks.
Pearl’s Club Colour Considerations
- Pearl is currently knitting with her handspun Alpaca and Merino blend. She has been spinning more because of the SweetGeorgia Yarns Multicraftual Make-Alongs, currently focused on fractal spinning.
- She plans to spin the SweetGeorgia Yarns Secret Stash Club fibre for June, a BFL+Silk fibre blend, Lightning Rod colourway, aiming to reflect the pointillist painting that inspired the club’s colour.
- Kim McKenna suggested spinning a 3-ply yarn: make very fine strips from the fibre, as finer strips produce smaller spots of colour.
- Line up the colour repeats for two of the three strips, offsetting the third strip. This technique keeps the first two colours strong while the subtle change of the third colour softens certain moments in the yarn.
- To illustrate this concept, Kim shared a yarn using this technique in the SweetGeorgia Yarns BFL+Silk Fibre in the Salted Caramel colourway.
- Greta also demonstrated the same colourway in SweetGeorgia Yarns Corriedale Fibre and a discontinued SweetGeorgia Yarns Superwash BFL fibre, both spun fractal, to show how fibre prep affects the colour.
Greta’s Raindrop Rarn Plan
- Greta’s Raindrop Yarn plan involves fibre prep using the raindrop effect from the Spin a Hand-Dyed Braid Five Ways course, using only 10g of the SweetGeorgia Yarns Secret Stash Club fibre for June, a BFL + Silk fibre blend, Lightning Rod colourway.
- She also shares her sample card with attached samples to showcase.
- Kim suggests that Leanne discuss her experiences with making Raindrop yarn.
- All SOS members have access to the Community Forums where Leanne’s Raindrop handspun yarn project notes are available to read.
- Greta mentions that she doesn’t sit for too long since her family keeps her busy.
Thank you for joining us in the Tour de Fleece Kick-Off Meeting 2024! We will meet on Saturday, July 13th, 2024, at 10 am PST for the Progress Meetup.
Want to keep the conversation going for Tour de Fleece 2024?
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Original publication: July 2nd, 2024; Refreshed: January 27th, 2025
