The 2013 Tour de France has come and gone. Chris Froome was the runner-up in the 2012 Tour and one year later he became the champion. I hate to say that we didn't watch a single minute of this years race. Alan and I did both set some "spinning" goals that we managed to achieve during the time that the Tour was taking place. Alan has been riding his bike every Sunday for longer and longer durations. His goal was to do a 50 mile ride and he did it! He was one sweaty dude after the ride. Now he's shooting for a 100 mile ride. I personally think he's nuts, but he loves it.
My spinning goal as you can imagine was a little different. It just so happens that the Tour de Fleece (a fiber spinning event) coincides with the Tour de France. I know, it's the greatest.My goal was to spin a braid or batt of fiber each week and I also met my goal. Here's a little peek at my lovelies.
I am pretty pleased with how they all turned out. The biggest challenge for me was spinning little fiber bundles called rollags. Grace and I got some of these cute little bundles at the KY Sheep and Fiber Festival back in May. I like the way the finished yarn looks, but spinning these things made me a bit crazy. I'm guessing it was the fiber prep I had a hard time getting used to. It was in a nice word "rustic". What I mean by that is that the rollags were not very clean. I could feel lanolin and lots of bits of hay and grass. Many of the colored parts seemed to be over dyed so that flakes of dye covered the floor under my wheel.
After I washed the yarn it really softened up and the colors are really fun. I have no idea what I'm going to knit with any of these, but the Tour de Fleece is all about spinning not knitting. Now that the Tour is over I'll get right on the knitting. Maybe Christmas gifts.... Who knows.
Sally
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