Spinning some Romney, Silk & Linen fibre

I bought this fibre nearly 5 years ago and have finally gotten around to spinning it up.  

There are two braids and due to how it has been dyed, in a kind of splodgy fashion, I decided to Fractal spin it, which is a way to split the fibre braid up to manage the colours and amount of times that you split the braid can be adjusted if required.  

A basic Fractal spin is achieved by splitting the braid in half down the entire length and spinning one ply from one of those halves and then for the second ply you would normally split it 4 ways and spin them one after the other, starting from the same end as the 1st ply every time.  

For these braids, due to the colour distribution, I decided to split the first half into two lengths equally down the entire length and then spun them A-B and A-B.  For the second half I split it down the length 6 times and spun A-B, A-B, A-B, A-B, A-B, A-B in a bid to distribute the colours more evenly along the length of the finished yarn.  I worked both braids in this way.

The top bobbin is the second ply, with shorter colour changes.  The bottom bobbin is the first ply with the longer colour changes.

There is some visible colour differences between the two braids but if I use them together in one project I will alternate their use every 2 rows to blend and neutralise those differences.

It has come out to sport weight (12 wpi) with a combined total of 195g/546m and it is 50% Romney, 25% Silk, 25% Linen.

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 2022 Stage 18 - Lourdes to Hautacam

Stage 18 of the Tour de France and it is a 143.2km long mountain race that starts in Lourdes and ends in Hautacam.

The Map

Sights and points of interest along the route

The race starts in Lourdes, most famous today due the Marian Apparitions allegedly seen by Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 and now visited by religious pilgrims.  The town has been occupied since prehistoric times and in the second half of the 19th century the remains of walls, parts of a citadel, necropolis and a Pagan temple dedicated to the Gods of Water were found after the demolition of the parish of Saint-Pierre.  So the sites to see today are the Sanctuary of Notre-Dame de Lourdes and the Torchlight Procession, every evening at 9pm between April and October thousands of pilgrims and tourists take part in the procession from the grotto of the apparitions to the esplanade of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.  

There is also medieval Lourdes Castle, which now houses a museum of art and local history.  Other local interests are the Christhi Museum (calligraphy and ancient imagery), Pyrenean Museum, Lourdes Market Hall and Pic du Jer, which is a viewpoint of the city with the summit being 1,000m and accessed by a funicular railway that is more than 100 years old.  There is also a 18 hole golf course and The Gaves Green, Way, which is built on a disused railway line and accessible by all, including wheelchair users.

Lourdes

The first place of note on today's route is Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre which has an 11th century abbey of the same name and is currently a place for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela.  Next is the 14th century bastide of Montaut and then, some 23km along the route, is Louvie-Juzon, followed quickly by Izeste, Gère-Belesten and Laruns, the latter being known for its sheep's milk cheese and a cheese fair which takes place the first weekend of October every year.

Laruns

Back to the route and Eaux-Bonnes, which is made up of several small hamlets and then onto Béost, which has a 15th century Abbey/Castle.  The cyclists now tackle the climb of the Aubisque mountain pass (1,709m), which has featured in the tour 73 times.  Spandelles Pass (1,378m) is next and is featured in the tour for the first time before they reach Argelès-Gazost with a population of 3,400 and it has the Abbey of Saint-Savon.  Towards the end of the race is Beaucens, which has a 10th century castle clearly visible on the top of a hill surrounded by woodland.  The castle, now in ruins, is also home to a zoological park which specialises in birds of prey.  Today's race ends with a climb up the mountain to the ski resort of Hautacam.

Hautacam

Who Won the Stage and Who Won What Jersey

The Stage winner is Jonas Vingegaard for Jumbo-Visma.

The Yellow Jersey won by Jonas Vingegaard for Jumbo-Visma

The Green Jersey won by Wout van Aert for Jumbo-Visma.

The Polka Dot Jersey won by Jonas Vingegaard for Jumbo-Visma.

The White Jersey won by Tadej Pogacar for UAE Team Emirates.

Combatif Award won by Wout van Aert for Jumbo-Visma.

Leading team: Ineos-Grenadiers

The Challenge: The roads from Lourdes to Hautacam mark the last mountain stage of this year's Tour de France, it is all downhill from here!  But first, the riders need to scale their final challenge - the Pyrenees, home of the highest waterfall in France and one of the highest roads in Europe!

Push yourself to finish something you have started. Spinning a braid, plying, winding, balling or biscuits.

Suggested Fibre:  Whatever you fancy!  If you've got some Botany left, you can always dip in to it to make the final push.

What I did

I decided that I would up one of the monthly subscription fibres from a supplier that I used to use to get it out of the way. I chose "Peterloo" from August 2019, which is 50% Shetland, 25% Linen, 25% New Zealand wool.  The inspiration for the fibre can be found here.

I split the fibre into two equal parts, pre-drafted it and spun two singles and then plied them together.

The finished yarn is sport weight, 100g/231m which in terms of the TdF length calculations is 693m - 2 singles plus the plied length = 3 x finished yarn length.

I've used my Christmas vouchers

Part of my Christmas present were some vouchers for my favourite spinning fibre supplier and I wasn't going to spend them until later in the year but I saw this fibre and it just called to me and I had to have it.  There were two braids available so I had them both so I can make a larger amount of yarn and make a larger shawl.

Its 50% Romney Wool, 25% Silk, 25% Linen and just look at those colours.  The first two photos below are not of each braid but both braids lay side by side and wound to create a wonderful effect and they are each side of the coil to show the variance of colour throughout the braids.

I also got a little freebee in with the package, 4g of 70% Superfine Merino, 30% Tussah Silk in shade Soft Fruit.  It's gone into my bag of "ingredients" for making my own blends.

August's Fibre has arrived - Peterloo

When the letter came a few days ago I didn't know what to expect other than blue and white.  Its quite nice, almost like a denim look to it and if you look really close it almost like there is a pink tinge to some of it.  Its 50% Shetland Wool, 25% New Zealand Wool, 25% Linen so its not the softest wool but she did say that it would be quite stiff until its worked.

The Blue Llanwenog

Last year I bought a Llanwenog sheep fleece, split it into four amounts, left one undyed and then dyed the other 3 amounts in 3 different colours.  This is the blue part of the fleece that started out at 400g and now that it's been combed I only have 153g left due to some of it felting, and an amount of coarse fibres which I have removed.  That is a lot to lose, more than 50% but I am fussy and would rather not spin rubbish and waste my time spinning rubbish.

It is pretty as it is but I wanted to make it something special and to add things to it that would help to soften it a little.

I went and raided and supplies cupboard and came out with all these that work well with the turquoise blue Llanwenog and they come from various supplies I've brought over the last few months, mostly small amounts with one or two larger amounts thrown in.

I split everything in two and blended each half on my blending hackle to get this fabulously interesting fibre ready to spin.

I'm really happy how this has turned out, very interesting.  I have two skeins of double knit weight yarn, 99g/284m and 96g/262m and the fibre content is about 65% Llanwenog Wool, 12% Merino Wool, 10% Tussah Silks, 4.5% Sari Silk, 3% Bluefaced Leicester Wool, 2% Alpaca, 1.5% Shetland Wool, 1% Linen (Flax), 1% Sea Cell.

Spinning up Pink and Munstead Wood

As soon as last months club fibre landed in my porch I knew exactly what to do with it.  Spin it and combine it with Decembers Pink to tone down that bright pink.

I spun them both separately from the end, worsted style, and then plied them together to make two large skeins of barber-poled yarn and, because there was a small amount of Pink left over, I made a small skein of that plied back on itself.

Munstead Wood is 62.5% Merino, 25% Linen, 12.5% Bamboo and Pink is 75% Merino Wool, 25% Peduncle Silk.  I've worked out the final percentages of the main two skeins, which are a little less than a straight 50/50 calculation due to the amount of Pink that wasn't used in the main two skeins but its approximately 68.25% Merino, 13.5% Linen, 11.5% Peduncle Silk, 6.75% Bamboo.

All of it is spun sport weight with the two main skeins being 95g/332m and 85g/280 and then the small skein of pink is 75% Merino, 25% Peduncle Silk and weighs 15g/51m.

March's Fibre is here! - Munstead Wood

Hmmm, I've been unsure what to expect with this one since it was announced in the letter that it was based on a David Austin rose.  Yes, I googled the rose and found it to be a dark pinky burgundy colour and hoped it would be more burgundy than pink.  Its 62.5% Merino, 25% Linen, 12.5% Bamboo

I'm actually quite happy as its a dark tonal pink and not the horror that came a few months ago.

I've bought more spinning fibre

What am I like, I've only gone and bought more spinning fibre to go with the vast amount I already have.  To be fair I've had gift vouchers for my favourite fibre seller and money for my birthday so I went and ordered some lovely stuff that she's just put in the shop.

The first braid is this 50% Romney Wool, 25% Silk, 25% Linen.  The description is that it gives and unusual texture but beautiful stitch definition. Romney is a long stapled British wool of 28-29  microns and by blending it with silk it softens the blend and increases shine and it can worn around the neck.  I love the colour, a pale blue-green colour.

The second braid is this 28% BFL, 28% Manx Loaghtan, 28% Sari Silk, 10% Merino, 6% Stellina.  The description is that this is a gorgeous fluffy textured blend that is not super soft but will have lovely bounce form the Manx Loaghtan, and ancient breed from the Isle of Man with a micron count of 29-31 with fantastic crimp. This won't spin smoothly so embrace the joy of sari silk and add some bling.  I was totally attracted to it by the colour, sparkle and texture.

Pink Fizzy Sparkles

Last month I had a play with my new blending hackle and one of the fibres I blended was some pink and white plant based fibres.  I wasn't happy with the result but is that because of the disappointment with the fibres or more to do with my dislike of the colour pink.  Hmmmm, maybe both.

I have finally spun up the fibre that I made, not happy with this either but its done now.

I've called it Pink Fizzy Sparkles, its very heavy and dense, definitely not something I would do again.  I worked out the final fibre content, based on what I put in to begin with and its 45% Egyptian Cotton, 22% Bamboo, 22% Soy Bean Silk, 7% Linen, 4% Angelina.  Its a sport weight at 90g/182m.

Parcel of Fibre from World of Wool

I have treated myself to a range of commercial ready-to-spin fibres from World of Wool.

I've bought a couple with the intention of spinning these as they are, a sample pack of British Breeds because I've heard a lot about some of those included in this pack but not sure if they're right for me and my needs and I don't want to fork out on buying a whole or part fleece only to discover its not for me, and the rest I've bought with the intention of using as ingredients with other fibres to create my own blends, although this means that I will have to look at buying dyes specifically for plant based fibres because I only have dyes for animal protein fibres.

The first one is 100g of 50% Polwarth, 25% Alpaca, 25% Silk and the last one is 100g of Zwartbles combed top as I wanted to try Zwartbles again following the poor quality fleece I had the unfortunate opportunity of processing previously.  The samples of British Breeds contain 25g each of Dorset Horn, Whitefaced Woodland, Moorit Shetland, Brown Bluefaced Leicester, Light Grey Herdwick, Light Grey Swaledale, Black Welsh and Black Jacob.

Dorset Horn I have only tried previously as a cross breed fleece I had.  Shetland I have had a few times but never in the Moorit colour.  Bluefaced Leicester I have spun once before, back in my early days of spinning and Black Jacob, well, I've spun lots of Jacob fleece, I've probably spun more Jacob than anything else.  The other breeds, Whitefaced Woodland, Herdwck, Swaledale and Black Welsh I have never spun before so it will be interesting to see how they handle.

The Merino/Suri Alpaca blend I might spin that and then dye it afterwards, not sure yet exactly what I will do with that.  The other fibres are all plant fibres and can be used blended with each other or I can blend them with any of the fleece as I process them.  These will become part of an "ingredients box" along with the various colours of Angelina that I have.