Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2021 Stage 5

The Cycling: Stage 5 is a Time Trial and is just 27.2km long and starts in Changè and ends in Laval.  The 30 year old French lady who caused the big crash on Saturday, Stage 1, has finally handed herself in and is currently in custody at a police station in  Landerneau. On Sunday, the Finistère gendarmie announced the opening of a judicial investigation into "involuntary injuries with disability not exceeding three months by a deliberate violation of an obligation of safety or prudence". She could face up to two years in prison and a fine of $35,000.  The race organisers are no longer looking to prosecute her but she's not off the hook yet as any of the riders could still sue her themselves due to injuries, damaged and wrecked bikes etc, especially the three that had to abandon the race due to injuries received, medical bills, loss of earnings and future earnings as they will probably have to pull out of other races too until injuries are healed. Tadej Pogačar won the stage.  

Team Challenge: "Time Trial - today it is just you and the clock.  The fastest time trial that the Tour de France has seen was set by Rohan Dennis in 2015; 9 miles in 14 minutes and 56 seconds.  Now that is a lot of spinning!

Your challenge today is to see what length single you can spin in 14 minutes and 56 seconds.  No plying necessary!  On your marks, set, spin!".

What I planned to do and what I achieved: I am doing the challenge today, whoooo hooooo.  I am spinning some Shetland in natural shade Moorit, 100g bump and 25g that was in British Breeds Sample pack, both from World of Wool.  I split the larger amount into two by holding the two ends together, finding the middle and separating into two equal amounts at that point.  Then with the sample amount, I split that into two the same way but then stretched each out to the same length as the larger bumps and spun both the sample and the larger bump at the same time in each case so that the fibres mixed.

I managed to spin 32.56m in the 14 minutes 56 seconds allowed, timed on my stop watch.  Taking the single off the bobbin onto my niddy-noddy, tying it, taking it off the niddy-niddy to measure it and then feeing it back onto the bobbin was great fun, NOT!  The issue is that there is so much energy in the spun single that it just becomes one big twisty-twirly-knotting-up-on-itself mess.  When you ply with another single, which means you twist the fibre in the opposite way to which it is twisted as a single, it removes some of that energy.

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Once the measured single was back on the bobbin I was able to finish spinning that half of the fibre and then spin the second single.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2021 Stage 4

The Cycling: Stage 4 is 150.4km and starts in Redon and ends in Fougeres.  The lady who caused the big crash on Saturday, Stage 1, has still not been found. Virtually flat terrain today. The riders staged a bit of a protest with regards to safety and how many big crashes have occurred already in the form of a go-slow at the start of the race. Mark Cavendish won the stage.  

Team Challenge: "It is a flat stage today as the riders travel 150km from Redon to Fougères with a speedy section in the medieval town of Vitré.  Of course, no medieval town is complete without its own fairy-tale castle and Château de Vitré is it.

Today's challenge is to spin your favourite fibre; the fluff that you have been coveting, the top that you can't stop touching.  Now is the time to make your dreams come true!".

What I planned to do and what I achieved: Once again, I am not doing the challenge but I spun all day to finish up the Welsh Hill Speckled Face and the last skein is a little less than 125g but is 280m, which adds another 840m to the team total (280m for each single, there's of 2 of them, and then another 280m for the ply).  I've washed all 3 skeins and they are now on the hanging drier.

A close up of of the Welsh Hill Speckled Face on the drier

Welsh Hill Speckled Face Sheep

The Welsh Hill Speckled Face is a relatively new-kid-on-the-block in terms of when it came into being.  It was first developed in the mid-20th century by crossing Kerry Hill rams to Welsh Mountain ewes and known for their extreme hardiness, grazing the higher elevation hilltops in Wales.  They look not unlike one of their ancestral genetic parents, the Kerry Hill.

The Welsh Hill Speckled Face sheep, at the time of writing, is in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust Category 6: "Other UK Native Breeds" (over 3000) registered breeding ewes and they are usually found in North and Mid-Wales, thriving in harsh weather on upland but they can adapt to lower farming conditions.

The Welsh Hill Speckled Face is a medium build sheep with mature ewes weighing 60-70kg and rams weighing 80-100kg.  They have a wool-free whiteface with black markings on the nose, around the eyes, ears, knees and feet.  Rams are sometimes horned, ewes have no horns. 

They produce a medium size fleece of 1.5-2kg that is white and generally contains no kemp although rams can have a mane of kempy wool that is a testament to their hardiness. The locks are dense and muddled but if you grab a pointed tip and you can pull out a staple that has semi-organised crimp.  The staple length is usually 3-4.5 inches (7.5-11.5cm). 

This fleece can be spun from teased locks, it can be flicked or picked, carded or combed.  The fleece drafts smoothly for thick or thin yarns and they take dye easily and gives clear colours.

Yarns spun from Welsh Hill Speckled Face fleece that are on the finer end are soft enough for sweaters, hats and the like that may touch a bit of skin whilst those produced from fleece on the coarser end are better suited to outerwear, bags, pillows and other household textiles.  Lots of body and stability and less elasticity.

I had a fair bit of trouble getting hold of any fleece for this breed and I certainly couldn't find any that was for sale anywhere that was specifically this breed.  I began by e-mailing the breed society in April 2021 but there was no response. I used the secondary contact e-mail that was available and got a return notification that the e-mail address didn't exist, this was 30th May 2021.  I did some more searching and found a new e-mail address for the secretary.  It turns out the other secretary had resigned and it just so happened that the interim post holder was about to shear their own Welsh Hill Speckled Face sheep the next week.

The very helpful person was Eifion Harding from Penisarwaun, Caernarfon, who sent me just over 1kg of fleece that was very clean and full of kemp but no hair.  It arrived 22nd June and by the 25th it was washed, dried and combed.  What he sent me was the back and the sides of the sheep.  He only wanted to be reimbursed for the postage plus whatever donation I felt like giving and he would pass it on to his local air ambulance but I always pay properly for my fleece, especially when someone has gone out of their way to help me.

Eifion Harding with his sheep and his daughter and three of his sheep at the Eglwysbach Show 2017

The locks in this fleece are not 3-4.5 inches, more like 6-7 inches.

It was pretty clean when it arrived but now its been washed, wow, look at how white it is!

Hand combed top

1kg of fleece, or thereabouts, when washed weighed 876g and after it had been combed it weighed 375g but this fleece, from the back and sides of the sheep, was quite full of kemp or coarse hairs which my combs removed.  I always prefer quality over quantity anyway, regardless of what I am doing.

I spun this up as day 1 of the Tour de Fleece

My finished yarn is of medium quality to the touch of the hand and you can feel the prickly hair and kemp and its definitely got some bounce alongside slight crispness.  My knitted piece for the project took 41g/97m so I have plenty left to do whatever with.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2021 Stage 3

The Cycling: Stage 3 is 182.9km and starts in Lorient and ends in Pontivy.  Two category 4 climbs on the route today. There were a number of crashes towards the end of the stage, with one mid-peleton crash just 4km out from the finish line and a final crash bringing two riders down just 150m from the finish line. Tim Merlier won the stage.  

Team Challenge: "The finishing destination for Stage 3 is Pontivy, a town with a lot of cycling heritage, a river and a canal.  It has also had a bit of an identity crisis over the years having being called Pontivy (twice), Napoléonville (twice), and Bourbonville. 'Pontivy' harks back to a Lindisfarne monk named Ivy who built a bridge over the river (Pont d'Ivy or Ivy's bridge).

Today's challenge: spin something a bit watery.  It could be Aquarius, Glitzy Ocean, something Aqua or a bolt from the blue.  Extra kudos if you can produce a very tenuous link connecting your definitely-not-water-coloured fluff to water".

What I planned to do and what I achieved: I carried on spinning the second skein of Welsh Hill Speckled Face and finished plying it. I've measured it at 281m/125g, which means another 843m is added to the team final total.  The most tenuous link to the challenge that I can come up is that sheep drink water.

Today's skein forefront with yesterday’s skein in the background.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2021 Stage 2

The Cycling: Stage 2 is 183.5km and starts in Perros-Guirec and ends in Mur-de-Bretagne.  The supporter who caused the crash yesterday is still in hiding but is being sought by the ASO with a possibility of taking legal action against her. Today there are 6 lower category climbs than yesterday and an uphill finish. Mathieu van der Poel won the stage.  

Team Challenge: "Today the race leaves Perros-Guirec, a pretty town known for its striking pink granite.  If you got off to a rocky start yesterday then it is time for a clean slate.  Your challenge today is to spin a characterful yarn using rocks and minerals as your inspiration.  You can use colour, texture or both.  

Let's see what sort of gems you can hew from your fibre.  (Okay, no more puns today)"

What I planned to do and what I achieved: Again, I'm not in a position to spin anything for the optional challenge but I did manage to ply my first skein of Welsh Hill Speckled Face this morning.  I have measured it and its 308m/124g of 2ply sport weight, which means that is 924m towards the team final amounts.  I won't wash it until all 3 skeins are complete. I have started spinning the next skein too.

The skein I plied this morning.  It will be washed once I have spun all 3 skeins.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2021 Stage 1

The Cycling: Stage 1 is 197.8km and starts in Brest and ends in Landerneau.  There were 6 classified climbs on the route.  There were a few small crashes in the early stages of the race that were of little consequence before a supporter on the side of the road was so engrossed with playing to the cameras with a big sign that she failed to pay attention to or be aware of the peloton that she got in the way and the vast majority of the peloton was brought down.  Not all of the riders were able to continue with the Tour and had to pull out of the competition without completing a single stage of the race and the supporter ran off and is currently in hiding.  Julian Alaphilippe won the stage.

Team Challenge: "Welcome to stage one, everyone!  They say that half the challenge is turning up, so the rest of this should be a breeze.

Sylvain Chavanel holds the record for the greatest number of Tour de France races participated in.  He started 18 and finished 16, which is quite an achievement.

Today the cyclists have a course that is looking a little hilly with a few impressive gradients and just like that we have a seamless link in to today's challenge: Spin a gradient!"

What I planned to do and what I achieved: I'm not in a position to spin a gradient for the challenge but I've just finished combing the Welsh Hill Speckled Face fleece for my British Breeds project so my plan is to make a start on spinning the 375g of lovely hand combed top that I got from that.  I divided it into 3 equal amounts to allow 125g per skein and then halved each clump for each ply.  I am trying to remove as much of the last of the hair and kemp as I spin as well so that will reduce each one slightly and take me a little longer to spin than normal but will make for a much nicer yarn in the end.

I got the first single spun before tea time and then I sat and and spun a second single before bed time.  The plan is to ply in the morning and then get cracking on the next skein.

 

Grey Jacob

I don't need to blog about this breeds characteristics because I have already done that when I wrote about the Black Jacob that I spun up for the breed sampler.  The information about the breed can be found in this post here.

I decided to use Grey Jacob to make the centre piece of my British Breeds Project, a piece that would explain simply what all the sample pieces represent.  I also have a decent amount of Jacob fleece in my stash and therefore at my disposal.

I decided to use the mixed colour fleece from two different Jacob Fleece that were from the same flock of sheep and that I acquired way back in 2014 from a farmer friend of an ex-colleague and friend.  These were from Fleece No.2 and Fleece No.16.

From Fleece No.2 there was 276g of washed mixed colour fleece and this gave me 135g of fluff after combing and blending to even out the colour.  Fleece No.16 there was 187g of mixed colour fleece and this gave me 138g after combing.  Because of the difference in the shades I separated it out into the darkest and lightest of fibres and blended these together to even out the colours as much as possible.

These are the handcombed nests from both fleece, sorted into darkest and lightest shades.

Even after blending there was still a slight difference in the nests so I spun them as a lighter yarn and a darker yarn.  There is not a great difference of shade but its enough to be noticeable if you were to work them both on the same project.

My finished yarn is of medium quality to the touch of the hand and is so much nicer than the black Jacob sample.  Both skeins spun as sport weight and one is 135g/320m and the other is 132g/345m.  My knitted piece for the project only took 30g/79m so I have plenty left to do whatever with.

I've signed up to do the Tour de Fleece 2021

After quite a lot of unpleasantness on the spinning chat threads that I used to participate in and having now found a new favourite supplier of spinning fibre I have joined in with their social media chat threads and decided to join in with their first ever Tour de Fleece event, they've never run one and I've never participated in one before either.

The Tour de Fleece is a spinning event that takes place during the Tour de France, or TdF for short.  Teams are formed, this can be a group of friends, a group of people in the same chat threads, or like this one, a team made up of customers of a supplier etc and it can have as few or as many members as you like.

It's meant to be a fun event, but I've never participated in the past because the teams formed from the chat threads that I used to participate in were very strict and demanding and extremely competitive, even amongst themselves, the daily challenges, which were not optional, seemed difficult to achieve and it didn't look like a fun thing to do.  This team is a whole different kettle of fish, very relaxed, yes there will be daily challenges but it is optional whether you take part in any of them and you can spin as little or as much as you like as long as you post photos of your spinning, let them know how many metres or yards you have spun and the most important thing is that you share pictures of any biscuits or cake you might treat yourself to on the journey.  All light and good fun.

For signing up to the team everyone was given a discount code to get £10 off their next order so you can use it now to buy fluff for the TdF or keep it for later use.  I went shopping, obviously, as I just can't resist soft, squishy fluff, especially if it's also sparkly.

So, what did I buy?

This is one of the 2020 Team Blends by Adam called Peacock
and its 87.5% Corriedale, 12.5% Nylon

This is Riddle, one of the Folklore Blends, and it's
33.3% Merino, 33.3% Bamboo and 33.3% Tweed Blend

This is Ruby from their Glitzy range and
it's 70% Merino, 30% Trilobal Nylon (sparkles)

This is Mallard from the Glitzy range and it's
70% Merino, 30% Trilobal Nylon (sparkles)

This is Charm, one of the Folklore Blends, and it's
33.3% Merino, 33.3% Bamboo and 33.3% Tweed Blend

This is Shimmering Cascade and it's 87.5% Corriedale, 12.5% Nylon. 
It is similar to Peacock but silver sparkles rather than rainbow sparkles.

This is one of the 2020 Team Blends by Ross called Mojito and it's
62.5% Corriedale, 25% Nylon, 12.5% Tweed Blend

This is also one of the 2020 Team Blends and its Patina by Lara. 
It is 80% Bluefaced Leicester, 20% Eri Silk

Lots of lovely prettiness to squish but I probably focus more on my British Breeds Project during the TdF, given that the challenges are optional.  To date I have spun 34 of the 57 breeds with 23 still left to get sorted.  Of the 23, I have 6 still to get from the farmers and these are at various stages of contact made/waiting to be sheared/still trying to find a helpful farmer etc and 2 fleece that I have washed but not prepared for spinning yet and I won't be able to get any of those 8 ready in time to spin for the TdF.  I still have a whopping 15 breeds to spin during the TdF, some of which I have bought in pre-prepared to spin and some I have combed myself from raw fleece.