Long Awaited Tour De Fleece Update
I haven’t really mentioned much about my Tour De Fleece progress, because it didn’t feel like I was making much progress. I have been carding and spinning and carding and spinning, and the bobbins barely looked like they were filling up. Finally today I had two bobbins full which I plied together. I’m not all to thrilled about how lumpy and bumpy this yarn is….I should have carded the fiber more perhaps. (Carding is NOT my favourite part of this process!)
Anyway, it’s pretty neat to see the transformation from this
washing fleece
to this
carding fleece
to this
spinning yarn
and finally this
spun yarn
But my progress seems much slower than those other fabulous spinners who are working from roving. In any case, this yarn is going to eventually be turned into mittens. I always find it nice to knit something for the farmer that gave me the fleece. In this case, I don’t even know the farmer! They will certainly be surprised.
To give myself a bit of a break, and make me feel productive on the spinning front, I started into some commercially prepared combed top that I purchased from Paradise Fibers. I stuck it into my black bean dye (recipe) just to see what would happen, and after a day or two it turned a very light almost periwinkle blue. I stuck part of it in some ammonia afterwards and that part lightened to a lichen green.
The fiber drafts like a dream, and I find that I’m spinning very thin, and consistent singles. I was starting to doubt my ability when I was spinning that lumpy stuff I carded. I am enjoying the subtle colour changes too–way more enjoyable than spinning white/offwhite speckled with grass.
For some other inspirational tour de fleece blogs with some awesome pictures, check these out.
Tags: fleece, natural dyes, roving, spinning
