Spinning the green blend of the North Country Cheviot

I thought that would make a start on spinning up some of the blends that I have been making in recent months.  I've started with the Lime North Country Cheviot with natural coloured additions.  I completely forgot to take any work in progress photos of the spinning, I think I just got so engrossed with spinning that before I knew it I was all done.

I actually think it looks prettier in the fluffy fibre format than it does now that it's spun up but it will be interesting to see how it knits up at some point in the future.

The fibre content of this one is 86% Cheviot Wool, 6% Tussah Silk, 3% Mulberry Silk Noil, 3% Hemp, 2% Trilobal Nylon.

It has spun up to sport weight and the skeins are 101g/182m and 74g/128m

Combing the last of the Jacob fleece

I've finally combed the black part of the fleece from Fleece No 16 that I acquired from a farmer in Elford, Staffordshire back in June 2014. It's only taken me 9 years to get around to it.  

I started out with 350g and after combing I have 246g of combed top.  I plan to use this to make 4 different skeins of yarn.  I have ideas to use up smaller amounts of fibre that I have, some from the 2022 Fibre Advent Calendar that I don't know what else to use it for and make some barber-poled yarns. 

I might make a gradient with some small amounts of green merino and then ply that with the black/brown Jacob, that could make an interesting yarn.

This is the last of the Jacob fleece to be prepared for spinning so once this and the olive green has been spun up there is no more to be spun from the fleece that I got from Elford.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 21

The Cycling: Stage 21 is 115km of a flat route that starts in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and ends on the Paris Champs-Elysees.

The Daily Challenge: As always - spin something yellow (and try to finish it)

Suggested Fibre: Destination

What I did

I finished spinning my own blend for the Yellow Jersey celebration.  It hasn't turned out light and fluffy like the fibre at all, it's actually spun up quite dense despite me trying to keep it thinned out and light and I think some of that is down to the Suri Alpaca element of the original main blend that I dyed yellow.

The finished yarn is 50% Merino, 21.5% Suri Alpaca, 7% Cellulose, 7% Bamboo, 4.5% Angelina, 3.5% Mulberry Silk, 3.5% Trilobal Nylon, 3% Sari Silk, fingering weight and 338m/125g.  I have named this braid after the winner of the yellow jersey, Jonas Vinegaard.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 20

The Cycling: Stage 20 is 133km of a mountain route that starts in Belford and ends in Le Markstein-Fellering.

The Daily Challenge: Share something that you are immensely proud of.  It could be your achievements so far this tour or something completely unrelated.  Time to blow your own trumpet.

Suggested Fibre: Leo

What I did

I made a start on something that I am proud of and also it is something I created especially for tomorrow and the celebration of the Yellow Jersey.  There is enough of this to take more than one day to spin.

There is about 130g of fibre in this blend so I spun the first 65g, the first single and then made a start on the second single.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 19

The Cycling: Stage 19 is 173km of a flat route that starts in Moans-en-Montagne and ends in Poligny, France.

The Daily Challenge: Little and large.  Using a versatile fibre, spin the thickest yarn you are able to and then the finest.  You'll be surprised at the difference.

Suggested Fibre: Wensleydale

What I did

I spun up the rest of the Worth Melting For fibre and I now have two skeins of the same, slightly barberpoled, pale blue sparkly yarn.  I also have a small skein that is made up of the left-overs from each spin

The finished yarns are 94% Merino / 6% Stellina, fingering weight and the first skein is 397m/97g, the second skein is 372m/102g and the little skein is 24m/5g .

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 18

The Cycling: Stage 18 is 186km of a hilly route that starts in Moutiers and ends in Bourg-en-Bresse, France.

The Daily Challenge: Pick something cool coloured and/or shimmery to work with.

Suggested Fibre: Worth Melting For

What I did

I continued with what I started spinning yesterday, which is Worth Melting For from WoW Fairytale Range and it is made up of 5 other fibres: 20% each of Merino in colours Spearmint, Sky, Lightning, Dream and then 20% of another fibre called Glitter, in the White/Silver colourway, which itself is 70% white Merino / 30% Silver Stellina.  Overall this fibre is 94% Merino / 6% Stellina.

Today I spun up another 50g and plied it with yesterdays spin.  I then made a start on the second skein.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 17

The Cycling: Stage 17 is 166km of a mountain route that starts in Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc and ends in Courchevel, France.

The Daily Challenge: Spin outside your comfort zone; you can do this physically, or with fibres you've not used before.

Suggested Fibre: Fawn UK Alpaca

What I did

Actually, I have spun pure Alpaca before but I don't want to do today's challenge.  I know what tomorrow's challenge is and its about a specific braid of fibre, Worth Melting For from WoW Fairytale range, which I have 200g of, so I will be making an early start on that instead.

The fibre braids were bought at different times.  The first one I bought in 2019 and the second one was part of the 2021 Advent Calendar.  There is a slight difference between the two so rather than have two skeins that will be like having two different dye lots of yarn I will split each braid into two and swap one of the lengths so both skeins will be made of 50% of each braid.

I pre-drafted the fibre, this is just 50g.

I only got 50g spun today so will need to play catch-up as much as I can tomorrow..

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 16

The Cycling: Stage 16 is 22km of an individual time trial route that starts in Passy and ends in Combloux.

The Daily Challenge: Time to be timed!  You've got two minutes to spin as many metres as possible. Go, go, go!

Suggested Fibre: Own choice

What I did

I'm not doing today's challenge.  I've done this before and got myself into a mess

I am going to tackle another of the older braids in my stash, another of the monthly subscription fibres I used to have.  It is called Humboldt.

This is a straight forward 2ply spin so I split the braid into two and pre-drafted before spinning it.

The finished yarn is 45% South American Wool, 25% Merino, 25% Llama, 5% Viscose Nepps, sport weight and 278m/100g.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Day 17 - Rest

The Cycling: It's a rest day, no cycling today.

The Daily Challenge: A day of rest and chill or catch up or get ahead

Suggested Fibre: No suggestion

What I did

I am exhausted.  I did absolutely nothing, well, no spinning or crafting of any kind at least.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 15

The Cycling: Stage 15 is 180km of a mountain route that starts in Lets Gets les Portes du Soleil and ends in Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc.

The Daily Challenge: Take a picture of something you've spun so far, from the highest point you can find (but stay safe)

Suggested Fibre: Mont Blanc

What I did

Well, I did do the photography challenge, or should I say Hubby did it for me.  I arranged everything I've spun so far on a towel on the patio table (it had been raining and the table was a bit wet) and hubby leant out of an upstairs window and took the photograph for me.  I scooped up the skeins using the towel just as it started raining again.

As for the spinning?  Hmmm the only thing I have that is remotely height related, and this a really tenuous link, is called "Moon Bloom".  It is from John Arbon Textiles and from their range called "Devonia" which is 50% Exmoor Blueface, 30% Bluefaced Leicester, 20% Wensleydale.  Exmoor Blueface is the result of crossing an Exmoor Horn with a Bluefaced Leicester.  

I expected this one to spin up in all shades of blue but I'm very pleasantly surprised by the look of the single that I've spun so far.

The colour looks pretty even and not variegated as I expected it to spin.  It's a little confusing to me given the number of shades and colours in the braid.  It's lovely to spin though and I do have a couple more braids from the Devonia range in different colours.

The finished yarn is 50% Exmoor Blueface, 30% Bluefaced Leicester, 20% Wensleydale, fingering weight and 319m/100g.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 14

The Cycling: Stage 14 is 152km of a mountain route that starts in Annemasse and ends in Morzine les Portes du Soleil.

The Daily Challenge: You can't beat the joy that a sunny day brings so spin something that makes you happy!

Suggested Fibre: Anything you like!

What I did

I plied the singles that I spun yesterday.

The finished yarn is 50% Merino, 25% Rambouillet, 25% Baby Camel, fingering weight and 379m/102g.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 13

The Cycling: Stage 13 is 138km of a mountain route that starts in Chatillon-sur-Chalaronne and ends in Grand Colombier.

The Daily Challenge: Spin a French breed.  We've selected Rambouillet but you could pick something like Ouessant if you have access to it.

Suggested Fibre: Rambouillet

What I did

I do have both of the fibres mentioned in pure form but those are earmarked for something else so I have searched through my stash of fibre braids and found one that contains 25% Rambouillet, with the added bonus of that it is also one of the older braids in the stash so that's a win, win combination.

This is called Singapore Sling, it's 50% Merino Wool, 25% Rambouillet Wool & 25% Baby Camel and it was one of the monthly subscription braids that I used to have.

I pre-drafted the fibre and have spun both singles today.  Completely forgot to take any photos of it being spun but here it is in the basket waiting to be spun.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 12

The Cycling: Stage 12 is 169km of a hilly route that starts in Roanne and ends in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, France.

The Daily Challenge: Spin a plant fibre - if you want a real challenge, find some plant material from your garden to spin.

Suggested Fibre: Flax/Linen

What I did

I had found a fibre braid that was mostly plant fibre but I was nervous about spinning that as this time.  I want to take my time over it and sometimes the TdF can feel a little bit time pressured because you want to try and attempt the challenges and spin as much as possible for the team.  I'm glad that yesterdays spin has spilled over to today and I will just finish that instead.  It's nice to do the challenges when you can but its not the be-all and end-all of the event.

The finished yarn is greyer than I expected it to be.  I thought it would have more of a brown tinge to it.  I am considering over-dying this in the future and maybe going for a medium blue as the tone of the grey will affect the dye and I will be hoping for something similar to the blue of the last Fibonacci spun yarn, National Trust, that is a lovely muted shade of blue. The finished yarn is 100% Wool (Castlemilk Moorit x Norfolk Horn) and is sport weight.  One skein is 225m/75g and the other is 224m/74g which means overall I have 449m/149g.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 11

The Cycling: Stage 11 is 180km of a flat route that starts in Clermont-ferrand and ends in Moulins, France.

The Daily Challenge: Spin a dark natural shade.

Suggested Fibre: Black Faroe Island top

What I did

I started spinning the Castlemilk Moorit x Norfolk Horn top that I hand-combed myself on 28th June.

I spun the first skein today and will finish up tomorrow.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 10

The Cycling: Stage 10 is 167km of a hilly route that starts in Vulcania and ends in Issoire. 

The Daily Challenge: This will help you along a bit...grab two singles that you've spun so far and ply them together...huzzah! A finished yarn!

Suggested Fibre: Whatever you've created so far, or if you've got some in your stash, use those!

What I did

First of all I finished spinning yesterday's Fibonacci spin and then chain plied it.

The finished yarn is 50% Merino, 37.5% Bluefaced Leicester, 12.5% Swaledale, sport weight and 210m/94g.

The second yarn I plied today is the Fractal Spin from Stage 9

The finished yarn is 100% Superwash Merino, sport weight and 421m/110g.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Day 10 - Rest

The Cycling: Today is a rest day.  There is no cycling today.

The Daily Challenge: Use today to catch up, get ahead or just chill.

Suggested Fibre: No recommendation

What I did

Because I have looked ahead at the upcoming challenges I have been able to plan my spinning from day 1.  I haven't always managed to finish on time to be able to do the next days challenge but I have done a lot of the challenges so far.  I know what tomorrows challenge is so today I will be starting on the National Trust braid that I wanted to spin a couple of days ago. It is one of the monthly subscription fibres that I used to have.  It is 50% Merino, 37.5% Bluefaced Leicester and 12.5% Swaledale.  I will be doing another Fibonacci spin, although the colours are more blended in this braid than the first time I tried this style of spinning.

Because of the Swaledale element, there is quite a lot of kemp fibres in this and I've been picking it out as much as possible when preparing this for spinning.  My lengths for this one is 21cm, 42cm, 63cm, 105cm and 168cm.

Top: the lengths of fibre as per Fibonacci sequence
Bottom: one of the lengths split into 3 colour bundles ready for spinning

So, because of how blended this fibre braid is compared to the first one that I did a Fibonacci Spin with, I was only to separate out 3 distinct colours but I'm still happy with that.

It took me so long to sort this one out that I ran out of time for today to be able to finish spinning the single in readiness for the chain ply (navajo ply) tomorrow.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 9

 The Cycling: Stage 9 is 184km of a mountain route that starts in Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat in west central France and ends in Puy de Dome, a volcano in central France.

The Daily Challenge: Have a go at Fractal Spinning - this is a great technique if you have some blocky-coloured tops to spin.

Suggested Fibre: Space dyed Mercury

What I did

I am going to tackle the challenge.  I've had to quickly learn what a Fractal Spin is and it's relatively simple. You do need a braid of fibre that has clumps of colour throughout the length of the braid or is constantly colour changing or a gradient braid could work as well.  A Fractal Spin is when you split the braid into two down the length of the braid.  Spin the first single from the end as it comes, you can pre-draft it first if you wish.  The second half of the braid needs to be split in half again down the length and then each of those two lengths are then split again down the length until you have a total of 4 long narrow strips of fibre.  Spin each of these in turn from the same end each time and from the same end of the braid that you started from for the first single. You then ply the two singles together.

I chose a braid of fibre that I bought not too long ago from a newly discovered Indie dyer.  It is called "Down the Garden" and is 100% Superwash Merino.

With both singles spun I put this to one side as it's late and I will have to ply it either tomorrow or another day.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 8

The Cycling: Stage 8 is 201km of a hilly route that starts Libourne and ends in Limoges, France.

The Daily Challenge: As Limoges has some shiny and sparkly history, it seems only fitting to have a sparkly challenge,  Add a bit of shimmer or sparkle to your spin, or be very daring and spin only sparkle!

Suggested Fibre: Angelina Fibre or Rainbow Trilobal Nylon

What I did

I have a number of sparkly and shimmery braids of fibre and I have chose to use one called Glitzy in shade Ruby.

This was a straight forward 2ply spin and I split the braid in half and spun each as single and then plied them.  

The finished yarn is 70% Merino / 30% Trilobal Nylon, Light Fingering weight and 314m/100g.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 7

The Cycling: Stage 7 is 170km of a flat route that starts in Mont-de-Marsan and ends in Bordeaux, France.

The Daily Challenge: There's one every year - spin something watery, blue or water inspired! We've designed Midouze to help you float along with this one!

Suggested Fibre: Midouze

What I did

I was planning to spin a blue fibre I have that is called Boat Race but I haven't finished yesterday's spin yet so I will continue with that.  It is a kind of blue-green, although leaning more towards green than blue, and kind of looks a little bit watery anyway.

The finished yarn is 50% Romney, 25% Linen, 25% Silk, Light Fingering weight and is 430m/100g.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 6

The Cycling: Stage 6 is 145km of a mountain route that starts in Tarbes and ends in Cauterets-Cambasque both in the Pyrenees, France.

The Daily Challenge: All change! Take your spinning outside and enjoy playing with a fibre in a different location.

Suggested Fibre: Merino/Flax/Tussah

What I did

I was going to try and sit in the back garden and try spinning out there but the weather was not playing nicely today.

I picked out a Romney, Silk & Linen blend from 2019 and the previous supplier.  When I undone the plaited braid it naturally split down the middle of the entire length of the braid.  I pre-drafted it and spun it quite finely.  For the second single I started from the other end of the braid so as not to have the colours pool too much. 

I didn't get around to finishing the spinning today and will finish it tomorrow.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 5

The Cycling: Stage 5 is 165km of a mountain route that starts in Pau and ends in Laruns, both in the Pyrenees, France.

The Daily Challenge: We're all about texture today!  Grab something that feels different to your main fibre and give it a blend.  Extra points if it is something you haven't blended before! 

Suggested Fibre: Railway Grey Tweed

What I did

I don't have any of the suggested fibre but I do have a textured braid called "Taste the Rainbow by Damo, it's one of the WoW Team Blends 2022 and is 100% Tweed Wool

I split this into two equal amounts and spun it over the fold and then plied the singles together.

I wasn't too sure about whether I liked the single that was being spun, I think it could have been better, nicer, it certainly looked prettier in the braid than as a single.  I wasn't the only team member who was using this particular fibre for today's challenge and we've come to the conclusion that it is probably prettier and nicer either plied with a plain white or add more white fibre at the drafting and spinning the single stage.

The finished yarn is 100% Tweed wood, double knit weight and is 173m/100g.  It's not the softest or the prettiest yarn in the world but its a bit nicer now that its plied, compared to how it looked on the bobbin as a single.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 4

The Cycling: Stage 4 is 182km of a flat route that starts in Dax and ends in Nogaro, both in Southwestern France.

The Daily Challenge: Use a furry friend as inspiration for this spin.  If you don't have a furry friend, a feathery, scaly or human one will do, too!

Suggested Fibre: Anything Shetland (a tenuous link to our Shetland Sheepdog)

What I did

I was going to spin up some fibre I have called National Trust for today's challenge, as I have been to quite a few of their properties with family, but seeing as I haven't yet finished yesterday's spin I had better crack on with that.  I have finished spinning the second single and plied both together.

The finished yarn is 80% Merino / 20% Ramie, light fingering weight and 554m/102g. I love the hint of green with the teal colour.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 3

The Cycling: Stage 3 is 185km of a flat route that starts in Amorebieta-Etxano in Basque Country, Northern Spain and ends in Bayonne, Southwestern France.

The Daily Challenge: Draft with the opposite hand to the one you normally use.  See if this changes your yarn and report your findings.

Suggested Fibre: Virgo

What I did

I didn't even want to tackle the challenge today so I have just picked a braid of fibre from my stash to spin.  Where possible I am going to be spinning up the oldest fibre braids from my stash, as that makes the most logical sense to me.

I have picked one of the monthly subscription fibres that I used to get from a previous supplier that I used to buy from.  It is called Renoir and it is 80% Merino, 20% Ramie.

I split this fibre in half and started spinning.  It wanted to be spun finely so I let it be spun the way it wanted to be and I ran out of time because the first 50g took me well over 5 hours to spin. I need to finish spinning the second single and ply them tomorrow.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 2

The Cycling: Stage 2 is 209km of a hilly route that starts in Vitoria-Gasteiz and ends in San Sebastian, in Basque Country, Northern Spain.

The Daily Challenge: Finish something!  If you bit off more than you can chew yesterday, get stuck in and complete that spin.  Or, if you put down a project to start TdF, pick it back up.

Suggested Fibre: Anything

What I did

I chain plied yesterday's spun single to keep the colours together.  The finished yarn is perfect for working garments, such as a shawl, where you start with a few stitches at the neck edge and progressively increase the number of stitches as you work the rows.  The progressively increasing colour lengths will match that increasing stitches and the resulting stripes should be pretty even in depth as you work.  If you were to use this type of yarn to knit something that is a straight knit or square or rectangular in shape then the stripes would start off thin and get deeper and deeper as you knit.

The finished yarn is 100% Merino sport weight and 201m/100g.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 1

The Cycling: Stage 1 is 182km of a hilly route that starts and ends in Bilbao, in Basque Country, Northern Spain.

The Daily Challenge: Spin something bold and beautiful.  It can be a particularly vibrant fibre or you can jump straight in with an art yarn with all the bells and whistles!

Suggested Fibre: Pina Colada by Matt

What I did

I didn't watch the cycling today and I'm not sure when I will be able to or even if I will watch the cycling.  I don't seem to be able to get interested in it but I will be tackling the spinning challenges when I can.  I'm certainly not going to blog about the route and sites of interest along the route like I did last year, it was just too much work and I don't think there were any readers other than myself and maybe 1 other person.

I am going to tackle a bold coloured braid of fibre that has been sat in my stash since the 2021 Fibre Advent Calendar.  It is 100% Merino wool and called Ice & Fire.

I have recently been reading and learning about a new-to-me technique called "Fibonacci Spun".  This technique requires a braid of fibre that has long strips of different coloured fibre running the entire length of the braid, like this one does.  It is also best if you spin one long single and chain (Navajo) ply it to keep the colours together.

You have to undo the plaited braid into one long length and then split the braid into lengths that represent the Fibonacci Sequence of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 etc etc.  Most people miss out the first 1 when they are spinning in this method and I am doing the same.  My lengths are going to be multiples of 7 inches.  So, my first one is 7 inches, second one is 14 inches, third one is 21 inches, fourth one is 35 inches and the last one is roughly 56 inches in length.

Starting with the shortest length of braid, 7 inches, you then split the colours as best as you can into however many colours you can or you want but you don't have do it perfectly.  I split it into 4 colours, dark red, dark blue, orange and pale blue.  Choose which order you want to spin them and then spin each colour bundle in turn.  Work through each length of braid in the same way from shortest to longest and spin the colours in the same sequence each time so by the time you reach the longest part of the braid and split the colours out, each colour bundle will be pretty big.

The resulting spun single will have progressively longer and longer lengths of individual colours and you spin your way through the braid.  To keep the colours together you will need to chain ply (Navajo ply) the yarn on itself.  I can't finish this yarn today, I will have to ply it tomorrow.