Author: Mksharp

         On Saturday June 27 Tour De Fleece started and runs to July 19th. Our yearly big 3 weeks of spinning that runs along Tour De France bike race. But wait there is no race this year you are saying. Yeah we know Covid19 has just put a major, I mean MAJOR, monkey wrench in all our lives. And I was like most, just going to skip it. Then my girlfriend, a fellow spinner and indie dyer asked me to participate through WAFA. Like most small businesses, the world of indie dryers and Fiber farms have been kicked in the teeth by shutdowns, cancellations of festivals, and life in general. So the Hive Mind of social media came together and created some amazing groups that has held online sales with live streaming shows. One of those groups is WAFA, Wool and Fiber Arts and they decided who needs a bike race to keep the tradition going. I love it, plus they made their challenges inclusive for none spinners who have been keeping WAFA venders making money.
For those who have never participated in TDF here is a quick rundown of its history, from Google. In 2006 a spinner and fiber loving designer name Star Athena invited a few friends to spin during TDF thinking it would never become “a Thing”. The idea is to spin while the race is going, they rest we rest. And as it stands over 8000 participants did TDF last year.  On Ravelry and social media, spinners and teams post pictures of progress. Some common goal are yardage, stash busting or daily participation. This year groups have change the game a bit. For example WAFA set goals that included using goods from their venders and including support member like our family who keep us hydrated and fed during this. And some are waiting for the actual race this year, while other are holding it twice. It’s something spinners truly plan for.
This year my personal goals are spinning for 90 minutes a day with my spindles, learning a new technique (spinning from the fold), using a new Fiber (Columbia/Leicester top) and posting a review blog post on each rest day. So far, I have met my daily spinning goal and new Fiber goal, along the daily goals of the WAFA group. I currently have 5 spindles going because I added to the new Fiber challenge with a hand carded blend of grey Finn with husky undercoat. Why so many you ask, I get board and wanted options. 
We spent the first day on the road so my Corgi Hill Farms sample pack and my clay spindle came out. I finished a 25g silvery grey sample in BFL and silk and started a stunning 25g ruby red Polwarth and silk.  I have also pulled out another project in process like my Turkish spindle as an old project. That spin is lovely rolags of merino, alpaca, mohair and a touch of sparkle, again a home blend and I have spun 6 rolags on that project so far. My planed new fiber of Columbia x Leicester was a WAFA venders purchase from Desert Panda Fiber Arts in social justice colorway Pixie Dreams. This fiber is being spun on my gemstone spindles. I wanted to spin it across the top but that’s a lot to hold with a spindle without a wrist distaff. So I’m chunking it by colors and striping out the chunks. So far I have done a full spindle plus started a second. Finally I have another Corgi Hill Farms spin. It’s a beautiful hackle blend in blue. I did a test spin before TDF to see how the fiber worked up. It muddied and lost all the shades of blue with hints of white and red. It looked like a soft denim, which is still lovely, but not what I hoped for.  So I tried spinning from the fold and it amazed me at the difference. So far I have done about half a spindle. What about my lovely wheel, yes my lovely Gypsy has been in use too. A few time my girlfriend has stopped by for some spinning so after making my daily goals I have done some wheel work of Falkland from Desert Panda Fiber Arts. But I’m not counting it towards me TDF goals. That’s is just some good fun gal time spinning.