Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 21

The Cycling: Stage 21 is 33.7km of a time trial that starts in Monaco and ends in Nice.

The Daily Challenge: Monaco is the 2nd smallest independent country in the world (after Vatican City). It's only 2.1sqKm but has 19,000 people per square kilometre, which makes it the most densely populated independent country!  We're crossing the line with a technical spin - see how many metres you can spin from 10g of fibre.  No time limit!

Suggested Fibre: For the final spin, we've left the fibre choice to you!  We like to use lower micron fibres for these epic spins, so we'd go for 14.5 mic Ultra Fine Merino

What I did

We had another day out in Great Yarmouth but this time we travelled to and from the caravan holiday park by the little land train as that really long walk yesterday was just too much in this heat.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 20

The Cycling: Stage 20 is 132.8km of a mountain route that starts in Nice and ends in Col de la Couillole.

The Daily Challenge: Nice has a stunning even named Bataille de Fleurs which is an annual parade of floats which are adorned with flowers.  Get inspired by the great outdoors and use flowers as an inspiration for this spin.

Suggested Fibre: The final limited edition fibre this year is Flora.  It's made with 37.5% Rambouillet, 25% Corriedale Cornflower, 25% Corriedale Sage and 12.5% Sari Silk Beach Fire and we love the texture the Sari Silk brings to it!

What I did

We walked about 8 and half miles in total today, from the caravan, through the Holiday Park (we were right at the far end of the park, so far back that we were almost in Caister!😂😂) along the coast into Great Yarmouth and then walked around Great Yarmouth for a few hours.  We were all so tired that we decided to get the special "land train" back to the Holiday Park.  It's a special little train with open carriages that is driven on the road and literally just goes from the Holiday Park to Great Yarmouth and back again and I think there is another that goes from Great Yarmouth out along the coast in the other direction too.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 19

The Cycling: Stage 19 is 187.3km of a mountain route that starts in Embrun and ends in Isola 2000.

The Daily Challenge: Isola 2000 is named for the average altitude of the station - very practical.  Spin a mountain breed.

Suggested Fibre: Stricken Scandinavian fits the bill for this challenge very nicely.

What I did

I took my youngest to college and then picked them back up again a couple of hours later.  We all ate lunch and then we got on the road for a few hours to Great Yarmouth on the east coast.  Hubby was driving.  I've never been to this part of the country, ever, in my 51 years of life!  They've got windmills, and lots of them!

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 18

The Cycling: Stage 18 is 179.5km of a hilly route that starts in Gap and ends in Barcelonnette.

The Daily Challenge: Lac de Serre-Poncon is one of the largest in Western Europe.  Here you can find Chapelle Saint-Michel which used to be on a hill, but due to the creation of the reservoir is now its own island!  Use cool colours or take it one step further and use fibres that are cool to the touch.

Suggested Fibre: The second of our TDF blends is Waterway, a cool blue made by blending 50% Romney with 25% Shetland Dream and 25% Bamboo Beatrix.  It's cool and all of the wool is British!

What I did

I did laundry, organising and packing for our weekend away.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 17

The Cycling: Stage 17 is 177.8km of a mountain route that starts in Saint Paul Trois Châteaux and ends in Superdévoluy.

The Daily Challenge: If you're passing Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux it only seems right to drop into their famous truffle market.  Ply a dark fibre with a light to make a contrasting marl.

Suggested Fibre: For this, we'd pair Black Truffle with Wensleydale.  As well as spinning fibre, it's a great cheese combo.

What I did

I had already decided that I wasn't doing today's challenge, or any more of the challenges unless they fitted in with the fibre, when I chose to start spinning the fibre set I started yesterday.  Not only that, but we are about to go on a long weekend break away with our two teenagers in tow so with last minute laundry washing, organising and packing tomorrow and travelling on Friday, once I've collected our youngest from their last session at college until after the long summer break, I won't have time to do any more spinning this TDF.

So, today's spin was more Tussah Silk and it was Day 3 of the 12 Days of Advent.  A dark green Tussah Silk called "Fir".

This one took me about 30 minutes less to spin than my first mini skein of Silk.  I think it's turned out slightly better and a little more even as well.

This one is 20g/96.8m and I managed to not get myself in a tangled mess at the end of the plying this time.

Knowing that this is the end of my TDF journey this year my total TDF spinning lengths, taking into account the individual singles and the plies, amounts to 7,296.78m (which is about 4 and a half miles).  I know that doesn't sound like much but considering how much spare time I actually have during each very busy day it is actually a lot of yarn spun.

These are all my TDF2024 spins together, in order, starting from top right to left then bottom right to left.  I will do a quick write up of the next few and final days of the TDF route and challenge info, but of course there will be no spinning in relation to them.  I hope to be able to carry on spinning my silk packets over the 6 week summer break, but who knows what could happen, I take life one day at a time at the moment.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 16

The Cycling: Stage 16 is 188.6km of a flat route that starts in Gruissan and ends in Nîmes.

The Daily Challenge: A little bit of a tenuous link to our song today... Nîmes is twinned with Preston in Lancashire and Lancashire is the home of fictional duo Wallace and Gromit.  Our song of the day is the Wallace and Gromit Theme.  Spin something that you find tricky - grab your fibre-arch nemesis and conquer the challenge!

Suggested Fibre: We've opted for Carded Fawn UK Alpaca Sliver because its soft and short, so we really have to pay attention!

What I did

Well, I didn't watch 2 hours worth of instructional videos last night for nothing.  I decided to tackle my arch nemesis fibre.  Silk.  I'm not talking about Silk in a blend.  I'm talking about 100% pure Silk spun on it's own.  Fine, flyaway, slippery as hell, easy clumping Silk.

I have a very particular set of fibres that I have been putting off spinning for a very long time.  It is a 12 Days of Christmas set that I got in 2018 from a past supplier.   I wrote a couple of posts about it at the time here and here.

I am starting with the first 20g bump of Tussah Silk from the pack and will spin over-the-fold.  The main braid was the first day and the Silk started from Day 2.

I haven't soaked the finished yarn yet, I will do that when I have all of the silks spun up, but here is a photo of my first skein of handspun 100% pure Silk yarn.

It wasn't as difficult to spin as I envisaged but I did get a little tangled up at the end when I made a small Andean plying bracelet as one bobbin had a bit more on it that the other one and the Andean plying bracelet slipped over my hand and off right towards the end.  It's not perfect but I'm pretty happy with it and at this point it is measuring up as 19g/97.5m but that might change slightly after a good long soak sometime in the near-ish future.  I'm certainly happy to carry on and spin the remaining 10 bumps of Silk.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Second Rest Day

The Cycling: Today is the second official rest day of the Tour and the cyclists transfer to Gruissan in readiness for tomorrow.

The Daily Challenge: Think pink! Gruissan is known for it's salt flats and their vibrant colour.  This is a sharing one; share your favourite salty snack.  We're quite partial to a Mini Cheddar or two (not sponsored...).

Suggested Fibre: Have a snack, have a relax and give yourself some well earned TLC!

What I did

I didn't do any spinning, for a second day in a row, and I just chilled out until just after 10pm when I decided it was quite enough to concentrate on watching a couple of instructional videos I purchased and downloaded a few years ago on the subject of different types of silk; Mulberry, Tussah, Eri etc, different "put ups" of silk; bricks, hankies, cocoons, top etc and how to spin each type.  I did this in readiness for tomorrow's challenge and my chosen fibre to spin.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 15

The Cycling: Stage 15 is 198km of a mountain route that starts in Loudenvielle and ends in Plateau du Beille.

The Daily Challenge: As well as being a ski resort Pleateau du Beille has some interesting flora and fauna including varieties of moss, carnivorous plants and even eagles.  Step away from the wool and grab a plant fibre or a fibre blended with plant fibres.

Suggested Fibre: Flax/Linen was our first thought for this blend, and then we remembered the gorgeous "Little Wren".

What I did

I didn't do any spinning today.  Instead I have caught up with measuring all the yarns that have been soaked and dried since they were spun, to get their final finished measurements and thicknesses, and I have done all the costings for these as well to include the labour cost of all the hours of spinning along with the actual materials cost and my stock and materials database has been updated.

This photo is all four of the Llandovery Whiteface Hill blends together.  The brown and yellow are double knit weight, the blue and purple are sport weight and there are two skeins of each colour

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 14

The Cycling: Stage 14 is 151.9km of a mountain route that starts in Pau and ends in Saint Lary Soulan Pla D'Adet.

The Daily Challenge: We love a good board game and if they're your cup of tea then the board game festival in Pau is the place to visit (if you're not cycling through!)  Time to up the ante; get something finished.  (We're pretty sure that finishing a packet of biscuits counts too).

Suggested Fibre: You're spinning to finish something - anything!  Grab what you need and go go go!

What I did

I spun the second single of the second skein and plied and although I am very proud of the 4 blends that I dyed and put together myself I am really pleased that they are finally spun and finished.  It has been a long journey and a lot of hard work.

This spun up to sport weight and the skeins are 97g/203m and 95g/205m.  The fibre content is 76.5% Llandovery Whiteface Hill Wool, 9.5% Tussah Silk, 5% Hemp, 4.5% Silk Noil, 4.5% Trilobal Nylon.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 13

The Cycling: Stage 13 is 165.3km of a flat route that starts in Agen and ends in Pau.

The Daily Challenge: We've gone from the umbrella capital of France to the prune capital of France!  They've even got a show.  We're going for a simple one; spin something purple.

Suggested Fibre: Bio-nylon Plum, this biodegradable synthetic fibre will surprise you.  It has a soft handle and doesn't squeak!

What I did

I continued to spin what I started yesterday and spun the second single and plied my first skein.  I also managed to spin the first single of the second skein.  I don't have any additional photos to show off at this stage.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 12

The Cycling: Stage 12 is 203.6km of a flat route that starts in Aurillac and ends in Villeneuve Sur Lot.

The Daily Challenge: We love this one; Aurillac is the historical French capital of umbrellas and has been since 1850!  This requires a bit of thought.  Find out the average rainfall in your area in mm.  Then spin this many metres from 100g of fibre.  So, if you're average rainfall is 10mm, you need to get 10 metres from 100g of fibre.

Suggested Fibre: Whatever you like!  We're suggesting Icelandic as Iceland has the highest average rainfall of anywhere in Europe.  Apparently it even outstrips us!

What I did

I had no intention of doing today's challenge.  I made a start on spinning something for tomorrow's challenge.  I have picked the last of my four Llandovery Whiteface Hill blends and I have spun the first 50g as a single.  This is Mist at Twilight.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 11

The Cycling: Stage 11 is 211km of a mountain route that starts in Évaux Les Bains and ends in Le Lioran.

The Daily Challenge: Évaux Les Bains has been around for 2000 years and was a Roman spa town.  Go natural with non-dyed fibre!  No dye colours here, just beautiful natural fibre.

Suggested Fibre: The Romney (or at least Romney-type) is thought to have been introduced to the UK by the Romans, so this is a good choice for today's theme.

What I did

I'm not doing todays challenge so all I have done is to carry on from yesterday and spin the second single and ply them together.

My finished skein is fingering weight and 101g/267m and the fibre content is 87.5% Corriedale Wool, 12.5% Rainbow Trilobal Nylon.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 10

The Cycling: Stage 10 is 187.3km of a flat route that starts in Orléans and ends in Saint Amand Montrond.

The Daily Challenge: Monrond is noted for it's goldsmiths; it has 9 companies and a school of jewellery.  Gold has been part of its trade for many years.  Bring some opulence to your spin by adding something gold or even a bit of sparkle.  Why not both...?

Suggested Fibre: Angelina Gold is the obvious choice for this one.  A tiny bit will bring a definite sparkle to any project and a large bit will make it positively gleam!

What I did

I am trying to spin up some the oldest fibres in my stash so for this challenge I decided to spin a World of Wool Team Blend from 2020 called Peacock by Adam.  Team Blends are created by the staff that work at World of Wool and then customers are invited to vote online for their favourite ones and those that get the highest number of votes are produced as a shop product and the staff who created them get a percentage of the sales from it.  I know that this year, 2024, we have been asked to vote for our favourite 10 out of 22 and the top 10 favourites will become shop products for 12 months but I think that during Covid lockdown, when this one was produced, we had a much lower number of blends to choose from, probably because they would have had a lower number of staff working for them at that time due to the restrictions.

This fibre doesn't have any Angelina in it but it does have rainbow Trilobal Nylon so it's still a bit sparkly/shimmery.

I only spun the first single today.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 First Rest Day

The Cycling: Today is the first official rest day of the Tour and the cyclists transfer to Orléans in readiness for tomorrow.

The Daily Challenge: Orléans was liberated by Joan of Arc on 8th May 1429 - not a very relaxing face but a key part of history!  Rest is important.  So we challenge you to nap uninterrupted from 30 minutes.  

Suggested Fibre: No spinning, just napping!  But if you are desperate then it's a good opportunity to finish what you've started - or even to try to get ahead if you've got a goal in mind.

What I did

I finished spinning the second single and then plied them both together.  Amazingly, and only just, I did actually manage to squeeze all of the yarn onto one bobbin when I plied it and there is no room left between the yarn on the bobbin and the flyer arm (which spins around the bobbin feeding the yarn onto the bobbin.

This spun to fingering weight and there was actually a bit more in the pack than the 140g.  My finished skein is 148g/375m

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 9

The Cycling: Stage 9 is 199km of a hilly route that starts in Troyes and ends in Troyes.

The Daily Challenge: This area produces 1/4 of all champagne.  We estimate that to be around 75 million bottle which is enough to fill 22 Olympic swimming pools!  Spin a fibre that is a treat for you; it might be your go-to favourite or something you've been saving for a special occasion.

Suggested Fibre: Pink Champagne is the first of this year's limited edition TDF blends.  It is 37.5% "Rose Leaf" Tussah Silk, 25% "Eggshell" Merino, 25% "Sandstone" Merino and 12.5% "Oyster" Merino for a subtle colour and soft handle

What I did

This fibre is kind of a treat for me and I have been saving it for a while.  It is a 140g pack of gradient blend that is 86% Corriedale Wool, 14% Mulberry Silk.  I got this from a previous supplier that I used to get most of my fibres from before I stopped purchasing from her due to her behaviour and attitude towards some of her customers, including me.

My plans for this fibre was to spin a 2 ply yarn by splitting each bump of fibre into 2 equal parts. I did consider just spinning one long single and then chain plying it but I wouldn't be able to fit it all into one bobbin and it just fried my brain trying to work out how to handle having to split the single over 2 bobbins whilst keeping the colours in the right order for plying afterwards and how to manage the join from one bobbin to another so I took the easier route of spinning two singles and plying.

I pre-drafted each half of the bumps, joining the bumps in order as I pre-drafted and I did notice that the fibre didn't draft particularly smoothly and evenly.  I started spinning from the lightest colour in the gradient, towards the darkest shade.

As I was spinning this blend I discovered the reason for this blend not drafting particularly smoothly in places and that was due to this fibre having clumps of really short fibres, along with some absolute rubbish, every now and then down the braid.  It made spinning a little more challenging but I persevered and spun all of one single and made a start on the second one today.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 8

The Cycling: Stage 8 is 183.4km of a flat route that starts in Semur-en-Auxois and ends in Colombey Les Deux Églises.

The Daily Challenge: The town of Semur-en-Auxios used to have a lot of mills supporting its industry, but the building of the Lac de Pont dam caused a change in the river which meant it was no longer powerful enough to run the mills.  Introduce a bit of texture to your spin, extra points for river-theming it.

Suggested Fibre: All of our Sari Silks will bring texture to s a spin, and River Rapids is quite thematic!

What I did

I spun and plied the next two singles of my Llandovery Whiteface Hill blend "Evening at the Bay".  It contains texture and is river themed.  I think the lighter blue parts of the Silk Noil looks like whitewater rapids in the river of blue.

This is spun to sport weight and the skeins are 99g/218m and 98g/204m.  The fibre content is 75% Llandovery Whiteface Hill Wool, 10% Tussah Silk, 6% Trilobal Nylon, 5% Hemp, 4%Silk Noil.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 7

The Cycling: Stage 7 is 25.3km of a time trial that starts in Nuits Saint Georges and ends in Gevrey-Chambertin.

The Daily Challenge: Gevrey-Chambertin was originally known as Gevrey.  It added the name of it's most successful vineyard to the town name and others soon follow suit.  It is well know for it's burgundy wine production.  Pick any fibre you like, you've got the length of the song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" by Daft Punk (3 minutes and 42 seconds) to see how much you can spin!

Suggested Fibre: Your choice!  Pick something you know you can whizz along with.  We'd go for Natural Bluefaced Leicester.

What I did

Well, I'm certainly not doing today's challenge.  I only ever done one of these "spin as much as you can in a given time" challenges once before and it was such a pain in backside trying to measure how much I spun and I got into such a tangled mess in doing so that I refuse to participate in those kind of challenges anymore.  

Following on from what I started yesterday, after I plied the Saffron Sunshine, and spun the first single of my next chosen fibre I spun the second single and plied them together.  This the third of my Llandovery Whiteface Hill blends and this one is called Evening at the Bay.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 6

The Cycling: Stage 6 is 163.5km of a flat route that starts in Mâcon and ends in Dijon.

The Daily Challenge: Dijon is the birthplace of Dijon Mustard - if you hadn't already guessed.  But did you know, in 2022 there was a mustard shortage as Dijon's main supply of mustard seed from Ukraine and Russia was reduced due to the war.  Instead, seed had to be produced from Canada.  This is an easy peasy lemon squeezy one today - spin something yellow!

Suggested Fibre: Corriedale Mustard is the obvious choice; it's yellow and a nice, fast spin.

What I did

Oh wouldn't you know, my current spin also fits today's challenge, kind of, as I consider the colour of my blend to fit in with the mustardy-yellow range of colours.  Did I plan my spins this way?  A hill breed yesterday and something yellow today, oh yes I certainly did!

I plied the second set of singles today and the photos of the finished yarn actually represents the true colour (because I took these photos using my Canon camera and not my phone!).  This is spun to double-knit weight and the skeins are 82g/171m and 86g/177m.  The fibre content is 77.5% Llandovery Whiteface Hill Wool, 8.5% Tussah Silk, 5% Silk Noil, 5% Hemp, 4% Trilobal Nylon.

After I finished this yarn, I spun the first single of my next spin, which I have chosen to spin for the Stage 8 challenge.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 5

The Cycling: Stage 5 is 177.4km of a flat route that starts in Saint Jean de Maurienne and ends in Saint Vulbas.

The Daily Challenge: In 1996 the wonderful Festival of Bread was created in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to help promote small businesses and artisans.  It's grown year on year and it is a very popular annual event. (And let's face it, after that cycling a nice, fresh loaf would be welcome!)  Even though we're on the flat it's never totally smooth, so today's challenge is to spin a hill breed.

Suggested Fibre: Hill Radnor is a strong fibre which is good for socks and a surprisingly pleasant spin!

What I did

Following on from what I started yesterday, I plied the first two singles and then I spun the next two singles.  That was a lot of spinning in just one day and the plying will have to wait until tomorrow.  This blend fits in with today's challenge of spinning a hill breed as the main ingredient of this blend is Llandovery Whitefaced Hill wool.

The camera on my phone is still not picking up the correct colour of this yarn but I am sure that my Canon camera will once I have finished the spinning and the twist has been set but the true colour is that of the photos in the blend photos.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 4

The Cycling: Stage 4 is 139.6km of a mountain route that starts in Pinerolo and ends in Valloire.

The Daily Challenge: Valloire is a popular area of skiing and as such, needs to have a good surface of snow.  A constant, high quality piste is achieved by supplementing the natural snowfall with SNOW CANNONS.  Not just one or two, but 710 of these machines are used to maintain the slopes!  We're all about the unexpected today, so today's challenge is to use something unexpected or unusual in your spinning.  We'll leave the choice up to you!

Suggested Fibre: Locky Wool Locks, are great for adding some texture, bulk and a bit of oomph to a spin.

What I did

Because I am a naughty girl and have looked ahead at the challenges to come I have planned some of my spinning to fit in with upcoming challenges.  The fibre I have chosen to make a start on today fits in perfectly with the challenges for both Stage 5 and Stage 6 and it will take me a couple of days to spin the amount that I have anyway.  I have picked one of the remaining three Llandovery Whiteface Hill blends that I put together back in December, as I have already spun up one of the blends, this one is Saffron Sunshine.

Today I managed to spin two singles, each 50g or thereabouts but the photos I took with my smart phone just wouldn't capture the correct colour so the fibre looks more peachy beige than what it actually is.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2024 Stage 3

The Cycling: Stage 3 is 230.8km of a flat route that starts in Plaisance and ends in Turin.

The Daily Challenge: Beneath Turin there are supposedly three alchemical caves, one of which may hide the elusive Philosopher's Stone.  You can't visit these caves as their location is only ever known by three people at a time - and these people don't know each other so they can't share it!  Turin is shrouded in a lot of magical myth and mystery; we fell down the rabbit hold and had to be forcibly dragged out!  Our first non-spinning challenge of this tour!  Share your favourite myth/legend - it could be something local to your area, lesser-known, or just something that you like!

Suggested Fibre: Myth, a lightly textured amber-coloured blend of 33.3% Merino, 33.3% Tweed and 33.3% Bamboo (the remaining 0.01% is a mystery)

What I did

Well, the fibre I chose to start spinning yesterday was picked to fit in with today's challenge and Rudolph is certainly both a myth and a legend. I plied the two singles that I spun yesterday of Rudolph's Nose from the 2021 Advent Calendar.  The finished yarn is wonderfully soft and I have 101g/363m of sport weight yarn.  It is 25% Shetland Wool, 25% Tussah Silk, 25% Bamboo, 25% Bio-Nylon.