# Training for the Tour de Fleece



## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

It is coming up! 
This year, the Tour de Fleece starts Saturday June 30 and runs until Sunday July 22nd, 2012.
The idea is to challenge yourself as a spinner much in the same way the cyclists do during that big long race; the Tour de France.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Shamelessly copied from the http://www.ravelry.com/groups/tour-de-fleece
page. 

Guidelines (NOT RULES):
1.
Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday June 30th through Sunday July 22nd. Days of rest: Tuesday July 10th and Tuesday July 17th. (Just like the actual tour.)

2.
Spin something challenging on the challenge day (usually the toughest high mountain stage: weâll figure out which one closer to the Tour).

3.
Take a button if you want one. Then we can use the button on our blogs in show of solidarity. Take it from here or grab a clean one from the flickr pool. Come join the flickr pool!

4.
Wear yellow on Sunday July 22nd to announce victory. Why not wear yellow on any day you feel particularly successful? (Yellow is the color of the race leader in the Tour - but here we are all ârace leadersâ)

5.
Other colors if desired: Green (sprinter - think FAST), Polka-dot (climber - as in uphill), and white (rookie)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




I was thinking that we should have a thread for training purposes. :teehee:

Everyone should learn to post photos here, if you havent yet.
Pictures are <almost> mandatory. 

We can talk about our personal challenges, our goals, our fiber stashes, our wheels, anything we are going to need for the race.

There is a HT Fiber Forum "wild card" group on ravelry and we will be keeping a running thread here too.
Everyone is encouraged to participate. You dont need a spinning wheel.
If there is someone who wants to try spinning for the first time, I bet we could get you set up with a spindle and some wool. 
Please feel free to ask for any help you need. 

Who has started training?
What are your goals for the tour?

Let's get organized!


----------



## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

Ok ! My goal is to learn to spin SOCK yarn !!! I have no CLUE - total beginner here ... I dont know how to spin, let alone SOCK yarn !! I got my wheel out today , and made a space in my quilting room ..... been trying to just keep it going smoothly .... 
Here is my girl Ashley ..a Traditional Ashford .... when I spin the wheel, it has a little wobble , will this be a problem ???










Here is my "gear " ... I have no idea what the gizmo in the bottom left is - has 3 metal pieces .... ??? OH , the carders have some rust on the little teeth -- is this a problem ????










...and what I have to play with .... Cyndi sent me this stuff about 5 years ago  there some that need washed, so I get to learn that too !!! 










the link joyofspinning.com doesnt work anymore !!! OH NO !!!!:shrug: is there a new site to learn from ??? I am so excited ..Im gonna go make her spin some more and read my books !!!:sing::sing:


----------



## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

Are we signed up @ Ravelry as a group for TDF ?? I didnt see us ! I could be dorkin out again .....

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/tour-de-fleece/2127811/1-25


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Yikes!! That's coming up FAST! I'm going to knit a pair of socks. One way or another, I'm going to do it. We will be on vacation from July 4-17, so I won't be able to spin those days. So - knit I will. I am buying the yarn, since I can't do sock yarn with my wheel very well. If I could just sell 2 more lambs, I'd have that new wheel!


----------



## Happyhomemama (Jul 13, 2005)

Hmmm.. well I want to be spinning every day anyway to learn and i have two Shetland fleeces, I guess I better give it a go.


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Miz Mary that looks just like my wheel  same vintage and all. Make sure you oil all the moving parts ll before you start, really lube her up, especially if she has been sitting awhile. 

You're right, the site is out of commission  not good at all, YIKES! Well we can help you and there are some great YouTube videos out there. I would recommend you start now and get your fibers prepped and ready then start learning to spin.


----------



## Katherine in KY (May 11, 2002)

Miz Mary, my Ashford Traddy sat for 20 years unused, and March is absolutely right about oiling it. Do it a lot and often! The thing on the left in one of your pictures is a Lazy Kate used for plying. Put the two uprights in the holes of the base and the wires run across to the holes in the uprights. Then two or three bobbins put on the wires for plying together. Sometimes I put a little piece of foam rubber on the ends of the wires so the bobbins don't go spinning wildly, or I run the singles over the wire above just to slow it down (of no importance at this stage!). To get the bit of rust off your carders, I 'd take a bit of the unwashed wool, whichever is greasiest, and card it gently. That should remove most of the rust. Good luck to you. You're about to start on an un-ending adventure 

As for the Tour, I'm planning on spinning sock yarn as well and hope to make socks that won't wear through so quickly. But I leave for Shetland on the 17th so I'll miss the last week.


----------



## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

My #1 goal is to spin a bulky boucle to win the SHF competition again, next year. 

The spinning of the 3 strands will be spun when I'm part of the Peloten team, and the actual construction of the yarn will be done on a challenge day on my Aura wheel while I'm part of the Majacraft team. I will be part of the HT team the whole time.

I bought the materials there at Shepherd's Harvest festival, a hank of corn fiber, a hank of tencel, and a hank of bamboo/rayon that is hand dyed a combination of dusty rose and pale chestnut. The loops of the boucle will be the colored bamboo/rayon. The corn fiber is the core strand, the shiny tencel is the wrapper strand. It is all plant fiber this time.

I haven't figured out what else I want to accomplish yet. Some fine stuff, maybe. Or some more BFL yarns.


----------



## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

oh thank you Katherine !! Do I need to use anything on the wood , like polish or oil ???


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

On Which wood? The wheel should be wiped down with a damp cloth, no polish or oil ,it looks like it has a finish on it. If you want to use a polish cleaner just be careful to only use it on the bits of the wheel that don't contact the drive band or the wool. If it is unfinished wood you might want to us an oil finish on it, maybe tung oil.


----------



## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

Callieslamb said:


> Yikes!! That's coming up FAST! I'm going to knit a pair of socks. One way or another, I'm going to do it. We will be on vacation from July 4-17, so I won't be able to spin those days. So - knit I will. I am buying the yarn, since I can't do sock yarn with my wheel very well. If I could just sell 2 more lambs, I'd have that new wheel!


I wish you were close enough for me to buy those lambs!


----------



## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

LOL, I looked at the pics before reading your post, Miz Mary and thought the handwriting on the bags looked familiar. LOL!

I plan on working on the Spanish moss for part of TdF and I want to get more proficient with spinning cotton more evenly, maybe try my hand again at core spinning.

Try The Joy of Handspinning


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

One of my goals is to try to learn to spin on my Tahkli spindle. It is a supported spindle so Frazzle I may need pointers. I've watched a guild member use on lots of times but never tried it. I think for the hot days this might be the thing to use.


----------



## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

One of my goals for the TdF is to spin a singles sock yarn, like Noro or Chroma.
For practice I am spinning the Levi Lowman <Jacob> up to that weight. 
Then I am going to 3 ply it for a heavier weight yarn than I usually spin.
This gives me a chance to use my little wheel, Annie.
Spinning thicker yarn is proving to be quite a challenge.

Pictures later, probably tomorrow.

I did get that wheel to be quiet, after all this time. 
The creaky treadle was driving me batty with squeak! squawk! Screech! 
Finally I took the whole thing apart and packed the area around the treadle bar w/ heavy bearing grease.
That shut her up completely.


----------



## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

The first half-pound of Levi Lowman, beautiful fleece.
This is 25% of it. I got 280 yards of bulky 3 ply.
It came out much smooshier than I had thought so I am happy.










I have all the brown/grey/ black spotty parts separated into a different basket.
Not sure how I am going to approach that part yet.
I still have a ways to go on the white area first.

This is the bulkiest yarn I have ever spun.


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Yes learning to take better pictures. I know ai had said I'd start a thread for that. Maybe this is a good time to do it so we can practice.

Okay, off to create a thread on photographing you fibers, yarn, finished projects and the like.


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I am washing wool as we speak. Last night I combed out some wool that, surprisingly, is very long. How can one sheep have so many different kinds of wool? I would like to make a tapestry and I think this wool is going to be the warp. What shall I do for the TdF? I don't know. I don't know what to choose for a challenge. I've dyed before- lots of fun. I've knit just about everything and have only not knit or spun stuff that I don't want anyway. Decisions, decisions.


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Maura how about your tapestry and the spinning of the yarns as your challenge? It sounds like an admirable challenge to me


----------



## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

I'm in, I'm in! I've been thinking about my goals:

spin sock yarn (bought some COLORED roving at MD S&W)
knit a pair of socks with spun sock yarn
dye a braid of roving from our BFL ram 'Woolie'
spin dyed brain (since I have only spun natural colored)
for challenge day - try to spin the cotton roving I bought 2 years ago, and just couldn't 'get' it

Very excited for this! School's done June 22nd for me (students done in a weekend a half woohoo), so I will be ready to be fully engaged in MY life!


----------



## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Miz Mary, have you started washing that wool yet?
I am wondering how well it will come clean after 7 years? :hrm:
This reminds me that I need to wash 2 fleeces in the next couple weeks too. 

I am getting back in the habit of spinning everyday.
A person can really build up a stash of yarn that way.
I have been listening to documentaries at the same time.
I think it makes the yarn smarter. :nerd:


----------



## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Lately I am on a binge of indigenous cultures.
I have a thing for those herding communities who travel rough terrain to feed their stock.
It is very humbling to see how simply living can be done.
The older (less pc) videos sort of make everyone out to be poverty stricken and like you should feel SORRY for the folks.
Then the newer shows have a tone of how wonderful and unique these cultures are and how we should feel SORRY 
to see the people becoming modern and using computers and cell phones. 

I feel a part of the whole cycle as I sit on my porch with my laptop and spinning wheel, 
watching the Amish run their buggies to the feedstore
along with the European Trans-Am Trail bicyclists pedalling along gawking,
and the local farmers who are baling hay and moving bales.
Everyone on the road at the same time, doing their own thing. 

It is an amazing world to live in, alright.

Back to the yarn:
The DH is home today so I probably wont get much spinning in, but maybe I can set a fleece to soaking inbetween other chores.


----------

