Tour de Fleece: The One where we talk about Wool and Sheep (and more spinning)
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- Hello friends! My first Fleece of Tour de Fleece has been spun. To commemorate this feat, let's talk about wool and sheep. What fibers do I love most. What breed of sheep should no spinner ever miss out on? Because we all love our fiber animal friends, right? Unless it's wool moths. We don't like those. After the Suffolk fleece I am now getting arms deep into a beautiful naturally coloured Blue Texel Fleece.
Oh and the friends I am helping with their very first spinningwheel are my friends from Nomad City. They are pioneering in small living and being self sustainable here in Belgium.They also have a really cool flax community project, about which you can read all here (in Dutch): theschool.city/projects/blog/...
If you want to join in on the chaos, you can join the patreon via: / mijnwolden
You can also find me on Ravelry and Instagram as @MijnWolden
If you enjoy spinning, yarn, knitting, fiber arts or any other traditional craft then this channel is right up your alley. Maybe you could hit that subscribe button?
#spinning #wool #tourdefleece #tourdefleece2024 #fiberart #crafting #spinningyarn - Jak na to + styl
Everytime I tell normal people about spinning podcasts I watch I stumble over the old problem that 'spinning' or 'being a spinner' in German has two meanings: spinning fiber and being a little crazy. Practically every activity around spinning is connected to being nuts (am Rad drehen / turning the (spinning) wheel and so on)
I love how with your podcast both of those meanings come together beautifully 😂😂😂
Oh, and that is a compliment, btw
Same here! That's because I always add that I'm a spindle spinner and that I spin wool/yarn.
I keep saying I am going to "sit and spin" which has not-great connotations in English but I just mean spin yarn lol
My maternal grandfather used to call himself “der Totalspinner” because as a retired Dutch army officer, he didn’t quite fit the mold of your average retiree i the small Swiss rural village where he lived the last decades of his life.
My responsibilities at work include the DACH territories, which lead me to have a lot of German speaking colleagues. A life of travel and living in multiple cultures from early childhood onwards have shaped me into someone who doesn’t fit any mold… and who is excentric at best, frankly weird at most. And then I started taking my spindle and my little e-spinner to the office to spin over lunch.
“Du spinnst???”
“In allen Sinne des Wortes.”
To which another colleague chips in: “Ist doch klar, oder hast Du ihre Mails noch nicht richtig gelesen?”
Embrace it. It’s a lot more fun to see their faces when you roll with it and colleagues/family/friends join in.
(To those who don’t speak German: “You spin/are nuts?” - “In all the senses of the word.” - “That’s obvious. Haven’t you read her emails properly?”)
Truth be told, I have absolutely wonderful colleagues and we’re all a bit crazy in one way or another. We hail from many different countries: Belgium Germany, Swistserland, Columbia, Russia, Italy, Algeria, Turkey, etc. Hobbies vary from off-road motorcycling to yoga to boxing for ladies to beta-testing electronics to woodworking to mixed martial arts to dog training etc. Office parties are a hoot. Dress preferences range from suit-and-tie and designer wear to barefoot shoes and recycled denim with no correlation degrees or specialism. And we embrace it all. Out HR team has a ball every year organising the craziest teambuilding activities ever, and no one ever holds back for fear of ridicule.
It’s good to be a bit of a nutcase.
I have a similar but wholly unrelated plight in English (America), where I say my favorite thing to do is spinning.
Except most people think spin classes, which is just stationary cycling (as far as I understand) and its honestly hilarious 😂
I can't believe you've spun a whole fleece already! Unstoppable.
I'm going to suggest fleece from my corner of the world, Scotland. Shetland fleece is so nice and comes in the most beautiful array of natural colours. Plus the sheep are flipping adorable.
So much Shetlandlove in the comments!
@@MijnWolden For good reason!!
Also, I can't recommend it just yet because I dont actually have it BUT I just bought two fleeces from a very exciting heritage breed, soay. Can't wait to give it a squish.
That Blue Texel fiber looks like it was a fun spin, Jenta…! Thanks for sharing it with us! I’ve never heard of that sheep breed before, so now I’m going to have to do some research on it. Thanks again, and enjoy the rest of your Tour de Fleece!
It was a fun spin! Texel wool is widely available around the world, so good luck!
What breed do I think everyone should experience ? Rambouillet. It has a very interesting quality that amuses me to no end. Another is Manx Loaghtan. The history of this sheep is quite interesting and is a lovely soft wool.
I think there is a Manx Loaghtan flock an hours drive away...
@@MijnWolden If you pursue the Manx I do believe you could get a video out of it considering its history.
Manx is great. As a beginner I absolutely loved its softness, beautiful natural brown colour and how easy it was to spin. This winter it will become a shawl :) At the moment I’m also spinning Shropshire and loving it too - it’s soft and beautifully grey.
Jenta - I am so enjoying your TdF videos - carving out time to spin has been a real treat I am up to 600m thankyou for your good company
Go you!
Oh my soul, that yarn is beeeeyoooootiful, and all the other chaos goblin team members' yarn is sooooooo beautiful - you are all doing such a fantastic job
They are! We're nearing 70km spun together 😱
Here in Australia there's millions of Merino sheep. We can get a fleece for free as there's so much after sheering so many sheep. But I love dark brown wool. We definitely need more spinners.
We definitely do
What is my favorite fleece to spin? Shetland! Second choice? Hmm. Sheltand. At the moment, I'm working spinning a sweater quantity of light grey Shetland (looks a lot like your Blue Texel) on my great wheel. Let's hear it for slow fashion!
I got a sample pack of different colours of Shetland. I love, love, love the pale silvery grey, but I found that the hardest to spin. By contrast, the almost-black is positively getting down on its knees and begging to be spun. I don't know why there's a difference - something to do with preparation possibly?
The dark charcoal-y brown is also very inspirational - I think it would be fun to do some colourwork knitting with it, with the dark charcoal-brown as the background colour and some fairly low contrast dark reds, greens and blues.
I've heard so much good things about Shetland already 😁
I started drop spinning in October and found an Ashford Traveller (with all 4 bobbins) in April, so I'm pretty new to this. I'm just pottering along at the back of the pelaton trying for about half an hour of spinning a day. I've had a couple of packs of samples, about 50g each of a variety of breeds. I can also recommend the Manx, it was lovely to spin but the same mouse colour as my hair! I love Blue Face Leicester. I also acquired partial fleeces of Icelandic, Devon and Cornwall Longhair, and a Blue Texel (mine is dark brown, tan and greys), so now I'm waiting for some wool combs and carders to be delivered.
That's quite the collection already!
Your speed is astounding! The wool moths are so pretty in their gold coats, what a bummer they eat such a hot commodity
Thank you, I am surprising even myself with the amount of yarn I have already made...
A family dog (my grandpa’s) was put to sleep today. She was fifteen, and I went with on the day we got her. I named her. Thank you for sharing this with us. You’re nice company to have on a hard day.
My heartfelt condolences. Pets are family. ❤
I'm so sorry, it's the worst part about furry family members, their lives are much shorter than most of their humans. Hugs
I’m so sorry! Big hugs from this internet stranger. Losing a beloved furry family member is so hard… 💔
Sending virtual hugs and whatever you might need today ♥️
Jacob sheep has been my favourite so far. The texture is unique, and I love that it comes in marled colours so I can decide how to blend the colours.
Marled is Fun!
lovely spun yarn! u do so good in your spinning. i wish i was faster. maybe one year i can join the Tour De Fleece. Right now i am too slow. beautiful job jenta.😍
Speed is not necessary, I hope you have fun at whatever speed you're at 😁
@@MijnWolden thank u. i like this comment alot. good to know! i am so enjoying your videos. thank u Jenta.
The wheel your friends were spinning on looks just like my first wheel, which was castle style, and I called it/ him Jack Rabbit cos he went like the clappers. Wonderful spinning and great video thanks for sharing xx
There's loads of these wheels over here
Wool! Fluff! So much glorious wool!
I have carded wool, but never spun. That blue texel gives me massive fibre envy
It is fiber envy worthy haha
As a Lord of the Rings fan, you need to spin some New Zealand Gotland fleece in silver grey. This was fibre used to make the cloaks that Galadriel gave to the Fellowship of the Ring in Lothlorien in the Peter Jackson movies. It is a beautiful soft shinny long wool. Most fleeces are silver grey, but you can get black or sometimes white. I would comb this fleece instead of carding so that you can take advantage of the shine of the long wool.
Oooh! That sounds like fun. I have been looking at silvery grey wool and thinking "magic cloak".
Ok yeah, now that you put it *that* way... 😂
Wow you've spun soooo much floof! It's all so gorgeous, loving that Blue Texel... it looks like such a smooth and lovely spin. My suggestion to you would be to try Shetland. Oh it's my favourite of all. I love it, it's so soft and varied colours. I love to spin the heritage breeds, the old and quirky (and sometimes scary looking 😂) but Shetland is by far my favourite of them 😊
Now I want to hear about the quirky and the scary!
🎶...when I'm not near the fleece I love...I love the fleece I'm near.... \(^-^)/🎶
Hahahaha yes that's it
Ooooooh I'm the one with fiber envy now. Can't wait to be home and get to spinning again XD
Hopefully you can pick up some floof in new Zealand while you're there
That blue texel is giving me a major case of fibre envy.
It is widely available in Belgium normally, I got it from a woman in Tongeren who just keeps them as pets
@@MijnWolden - I’m toying with the idea of asking my vet if he knows people who keep interesting sheep as pets.
I recommend Corriedale. It’s a medium wool but very soft. It’s a dream to work with.
Very soft medium is always a good description!
that blue texel looks magical, I love the silvery colors!! :)
*Me too!*
Exactly why I got it 😁
it's been really nice to spin along with your videos so far- i don't often connect with the spinning community, so for me these events are always a nice change, and a reminder that we have such a great community! in terms of breeds everyone should spin, i'm a massive hebridean advocate, it is my absolute favourite, but recently i got a derbyshire gritstone fleece from the benridge woolworks, and i've very much enjoyed it!
Tour de Fleece is the best moment of the year for spinners 😁
you spinning is looking great
You give me hope that I might be through the nice fleeces (!) i got last month (family friend with no concept of 'oh just a little bit') within two to three business years. Go chaos goblins!
''oh just a little bit'' is a dangerous phrase indeed 😅
I put my fleece out in the rain for their first wash in wire baskets takes a lot of the dirt out and is fun to see them change colour especially if one has been on red dirt. Then back in the wire baskets to dry later. Use your summer rain
I always scour with rainwater, so yes, it definitely gets put to use 😁
Wooh Blue Texel hype!!
Woooh
I envy you the pale grey fleece, my favorite neutral color. I have plans to recreate my favorite childhood cardigan some day- pale grey with tiny cables and pockets. Since I have not located a suitable pattern the yarn is not yet an issue. Maybe next year..... Your group has been producing some gorgeous yarn!
Cables and pockets sounds like An amazing choice for this Pale Grey
The only time I spin with consistency is sock yarn . Other yarns I like a little bumpy. A perfect yarn loses it’s homespun value to me. Love the Suffolk beautifully done❤
It is indeed a lot easier to get more consistent with thinner yarns 😁
I'm a new subscriber and I'm just enamored with watching you spin. I'm a spinner myself for the last 12 years, but I've never tried long draw. You make it look so easy. Maybe I should break out my drum carder that's collecting dust and see if I can make a batt or 2 and learn long draw. I usually do a short forward draw using combed top. I also have never heard of blue Texel and I also love that blue grey color. Something else for the fiber bucket list!
It wasn't as easy when I started, but now it goes pretty good 😁
moth anxiety is real! D: I have little sticks infused with lavender oil around my stash and a moth trap just in case xD I didnt see any but I dont wanna play with fire
lavender makes any space instantly more cozy :D so win win situation!
Yes lavender is always a win win 😁
There is always a sense of accomplish when you finish spinning a complete fleece. Congratulations!
Yes there is!
We keep finding moths in my house. Thanks for the lavender tip!
That Suffolk turned out beautiful!
Bay leaves help as well. Or dried eucalyptus leaves. But lavender smells so good! If you can’t find dried lavender, get some lavender essential oil. Add a few drops to a tissue paper, and add that to your stash. Or of you have a bar of lavender soap, wrap it in a single layer of tissue and add it to your stash until you’ve found the oil or the dried flowers.
Oh that sounds dreadful for a fiber lover like yourself!
@@MijnWolden does it need to be the lavender plant, or can it be lavender sachets?
Omg! Ik was degene die je vroeg over motten. Zo surreal om zo aangesproken te worden via een CZcams video haha. Nou ik was dus ook echt paranoid voor motten, en toen kreeg ik ze ineens!! Bleek gelukkig minder ingewikkeld te zijn om mee te dealen dan verwacht en was binnen een avondje opgelost (minus een zak alpaca fleece dan 😅) in ieder geval, fret niet!! Is minder eng dan verwacht 😊 en love de blauwe Texel wol die je spint :)
Oef, gelukkig!
Och die blue texel is zo mooooooi!! Wat een toffe werkruimte ook. Heel benieuwd wat je nog meer gaat maken. Me, trying to not unlock another hobby TT_TT
Unlock it 😈
Well, I’m a big fan of Corriedale and I really love Polwarth. I just bought a breed study package from an Etsy shop, and am looking forward to trying out all the different breeds (there’s 40 samples in all). Being in Australia, we spin a lot of Merino, but it gets kinda meh after a while. I do NOT enjoy spinning silk (but do it anyway). Congratulations on a great effort with TDF so far … 😁 Hugs from Darwin, Down Under 🤗🌴🌴🌴
I recently got a braid of polwarth, sounds like I might enjoy that 😁
I really enjoy Corriedale spun long draw 3 ply from batts. It's so squishy and knits up beautifully. But like you I haven't actually tried a lot of breeds.
But corriedale comes up pretty often, so you seem to have good taste
I love watching your fiber shenanigans and chaos mind! I am not a spinner but fiber user but the thought of a hand spindle has crossed my mind. But as of now, I have no where to keep fleeces or braids so in the future maybe!
There's always wool whenever you're ready for it 😁
There's always wool whenever you're ready for it 😁
My favorite at the moment is Romney x Shetland. If you want to get some Romney, there is Purewol in the netherlands they have raw Romney as well as carded wool. I got carded Zwartbles, blue Texel and Veenkolonisten from purewol and it looks really nice. If you don't mind paying a bit for shipping you can also order Romney x Shetland, BFL cross and Wensleydale cross fleece from Fernhill Fibre. They are not far from Bristol in the UK and their fleeces are very well skirted and just beautiful. I just finished spinning a shearling romney x shetland fleece and I just couldn't get enough of it.
I have discovered the danger that is purewol.nl. I must contain myself 🤭
You spin super fast!🥰
Long draw is fast 😁
I think you would really love Romney wool. It is rustic and comes in many beautiful natural colors. It is a medium grade and very hard wearing . Can be used for many many things.
Yes that sounds like my thing indeed
White Jacob is my favourite at the moment. I got a huge bump of top from Worldofwool in the UK. Well worth a try in my opinion. I reactivate the crimp in very hot water and dry it before carding it.
Reactivating the crimp sounds like a great lifehack!
That blue texel yarn is so lovely looking. I'm such a sucker for natural colour variation showing up in the yarn! The batts were already pretty but the way it all condenses in yarn form is just something else
I don't spin so I can't give breed recommendations wholeheartedly, but my personal policy when looking at anything (mostly art) thinking "I haven't tried a good variety yet! What do I do!" is to find the (reasonable) extremes. In my exprience, try those and you'll learn a lot and get some direction to go in if you happen to be looking for a comfort zone or something specific (I am nonetheless very partial to recommending folks at least google racka sheep and look at them, bc hee hoo local heritage breed, and bc a herd of racka looks like a fork drawer gone rogue. Also, I got to help my partner wash some racka wool at some point and the staple length is ridiculous)
There's a flock with some racka not too far from me 😁
Polwarth is pretty nice ! But my Best is Texel!❤❤❤❤
Texel love ♥️
Navajo churro. First nations sheep farms are in the position where they have to discard and buying from them helps support restoration of a very eco-friendly breed.
Wish I could buy some to try but I live in UK and there’s all sorts of regulations and high postage costs
@@silkspinner7010 ufff, yeah. I feel that. Y'all have some lovely wool I'd die to get my fingers on as well
We know that situation all too well over here too 😬
I love to spin Manx Loaghtan and Shetland, but my current favourite is Norwegian Shorttail (Norsk Spælsau).
They all sound lovely!
I'm from Canada, and the only wools I have spun are BFL and Merino. my mom got me some roving a couple years ago, but I can't remember what sheep it was from, when spun, it feels similar to that of Heritage from Briggs & Little
I do not care for playing favorites. It implies that the others are lesser. What makes a good fleece relates to the.project needs and the quality of that particular fleece as mych as the breed. My nicest was a coated corriedale because the wool could be spun "dirty" and washed after working up. I enjoyed that. I would reccommend corriedale as a good all purpose wool that is easy to spin and use.
My favorite fleece is always the one I'm working with currently. I haven't had a fleece I actually didn't like, because as you say, they all have their own use
You could try a shetland fleece. They are cute and small and very soft! Just look out for weak point in the fleece, because some of them shed naturally and when shorn after that period they have a weak point. But well worth the trouble! Groetjes!
You're not the only one recommending Shetland, so I might need to keep an eye out!
Wool gathering from Facebook 😂 thats just being a dreamer for me!
Welcome to western Europe 😅
Try a fine wool other than merino! Trying one helped me realize it's not soft wool that's boring, it's Merino. My personal favorite is Targhee, which is readily available is the U.S. It's very squishy and lofty, and not too soft for someone who loves scratchy wool. I just spun a sample for a sweater with it and it's so. damn. lovely.
I was given a braid of polwarth and my first thought was: Merino is a scam 😂
Put bunches of dried lavender in those little bags in the wool and skeins.
I have!
Definitely try some Shetland!
I've been on the lookout!
Ik vond Corriedale fijn om te spinnen en Blauwe Texelaar. Ik heb nog niet zoveel ervaring met verschillende wolsoorten. Ik begon met het geijkte commerciële Merino en Corriedale. Ik heb Veenkolonist gesponnen, maar dat vond ik niet zo'n succes, maar misschien had ik ook teveel twist in mijn draadje zitten. Ik heb nu Wallisser Schwarz-Näse op mijn wiel zitten en bij de laatste beurs/markt waar ik geweest ben, heb ik opgelet dat ik verschillende soorten gekocht heb. Dus ik heb nu nog liggen: BFL, Shetland, Flevolander, Romney, Rambouillet en Falkland. En nog 2 vuilniszakken met ruwe vacht waarvan ik niet weet van welk soort schaap het komt. En nog een halve kilo witte Corriedale lontwol die ik zelf wil verven. Ik heb dus nog genoeg om uit te proberen en te ontdekken!
Hoe vind je de Walliser schwarznase? Ik had een zak daarvan, maar heb die uiteindelijk weggegeven omdat ik mezelf die echt niet zag spinnen ...
❤ ja het helpt echt om op de boerenbuiten te wonen....schaap in overvloed.
Ik heb zwartblessen bij de buren in alle mogelijke bruin en grijs en mixtinten.
Ik heb een alpacaboerderij in het dorp....dus ook dat euhm....veeeeel te veeeeel voor 1 spinner maar ik heb dus keuze in luxe...yup babyalpacas....
En vriendin met 4 alpaca's
Één tante met ouesantschaapjes....en een andere vriendin die op puyenbroeck in het levend erfgoed park werkt bij alle mogelijke Vlaamse schapenrassen..,,
Nee ik kom nooit meer schaap of alpaca tekort...dus ik moet ook vaak neeeeeen zeggen....ik heb genoeg...
Maar welke ik nu het liefste spin, dat kan ik echt niet zeggen hoor....love them all...
En motten, ook nog geen ervaring mee hier, ook lavendel overal en euhm alle vacht en wol in het licht hé...
🎉ik ben nu nog ff verder zwartbles aan het spinnen en alpaca wassen....tadaaa
Ik ben nu ook aan het leren om ''nee'' of ''ja, maar niet alles'' te zeggen 😅
My espinner developed a problem and I had to wait until my partner looked at it before I was emotionally able to watch this video.
The word chungus is living in my head rent free
Oh no… I hope your e-spinner got fixed!
@@eddavanleemputten9232 yes, and a simple fix! Mine is one that attaches to a sewing machine and the bobbin casing had shifted and was jamming things up. Removed it and now it's running nicely (and I have plying to do tomorrow)
@@saraht855 - So happy it got sorted and fingers crossed that casing doesn’t shift again!
@@eddavanleemputten9232 thankyou! The concern is very touching :) I hope your tour de fleece is going well!
Hopefully you can spin along now!
I think you'd enjoy Icelandic or Polarfuchs :)
I think I might 😁
that blue texel is indeed gorgeous
Yes it is 😁
More chungus!!
CHUNGUS!
Incredulous: person who is skeptical incredible: something beyond belief.
Ok but in Dutch you would say ongelooflijk anyway
Here in New Zealand saying I’m going to spin, makes folk think you’re going to workout on a stationary bike for fitness. Spinning is also a type of fishing and with world famous fishing spots in the local river either of these 2 meanings come way before using the spinning wheel, sadly
Despite the fact that Ashford is based in New Zealand.
Ah yes in Belgium too
My favorite wool is Rambo, tbh, but Ive got some local shetland virgin wool I'm going to start.......... eventually 💀
Rambo as in rambouillet or as in Sylvester Stalone's armhair? 😂
@@MijnWolden 🤣🤣🤣🤣 the former! I can never remember how to spell it, tho it occurs to me that its spelled like bouillon so 💀
I can just picture Sylvester Stalone sitting and trying to figure out a drop spindle 🤣🤣🤣
Finn or corriadale
25:55 …are there really canons? Maybe that’s a silly question, but I’m very interested 😅
Yes, hailcanons! They try to break up the clouds with Shockwaves. However it is not proven this does anything. But a lot of farmers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany use them
I want to spin my own wool but 😢 sadly wheels are lots of money
New Wheels are indeed very expensive. But spindles are not? 😈🤭
i'm firmly in team of only really have a breed I don't care much for spinning: merino. I live in the land where merino rules supreme and is essentially the basis of every breed developed here, but i would NEVER seek out a merino fleece if it is JUST merino. because every breed i have spun has been interesting and challenging in its own way.
I was giving a polwarth braid and while that breed is 75% Merino is feels 100% more interesting to me
@@MijnWolden I have a Polwarth fleece in my stash that I'm planning on spinning after TdF and I couldn't agree more. Speaking of sheep from the land down Under, there's a sheep breeds being developed in the same state Polwarth comes from which I've got a braid of before. I think they're calling it Castledale. Very fine, very soft, still more interesting than the merino they're developing it from.
A word of warning to everyone: I think it is much more important to _enjoy_ your spinning, rather than winning a race. Even if you are just racing with yourself, it's still pressure.
It would be really sad to put yourself right off spinning by making it more like a chore than a physical meditation or an exercise in creativity.
It should indeed still be Fun, but sometimes a challenge can add to the Fun 😁
Pastorem rogavi haberetne lanam venalem
Et lanam venalem habuit?
I've actually recently had my first run-in with moths 🥲
I had all my handspun on a shelf in my office that gets full light but the little monsters managed to get to the very back of the shelf in the shadows and there they stayed and multiplied (so still make sure you inspect things, they may not like light but that just means they can go undetected in dark corners for too long)
the first thing I did was inspect everything I had in my office to see what they didn't get into and what they did.
What they didn't went into a large AIRTIGHT container, thankfully everything I had in tubs that weren't air tight they hadn't managed to get into yet so that was all moved into the air tight tub to make sure nothing could touch it.
Since they only got into the one shelf and what I had left out so what I could salvage went into freezer bags and went into the freezer for 6 weeks (it only needs about 3, then you take it out let it thaw 24 hours and then put it in for another week or so to make sure you get the eggs that may have been dormant... I did not do that 😂but I did keep them in their individual bags to inspect just in case and they have been perfectly fine!)
the only casualties I couldn't salvage were a few hanks of handspun, and my first colourwork sweater I was working on and had left out on my desk that I hadn't worked on in a while 😭
now I keep clothes moth traps hung up where I keep my wool and it has a pheromone that attracts clothes moths specifically
(If anyone else is dealing with a moth problem I asked about it on my tumblr and got some really great helpful answers that made me feel better prepared to deal with the problem www.tumblr.com/woollywooloo/745803899083112448/thank-you-so-much-it-definitely-makes-me-feel?source=share
Ooofff luckily most of my fleeces are in tightly closed tubs as well!