My life has definitely been full of challenges over the last couple of years (they’ve not been fun, but I think I’m stronger for them). However, I have two challenges coming up that I’m really looking forward to.
Firstly, I’ve been invited to be a guest blogger on the Creating Space blog. When I write here I’m talking about my creative journey (and sometimes I manage to discuss techniques and my wheels). To write on someone else’s space I need to think about the readers there and write something that reflects the group (rather than just me). This will mean that I have a slightly different focus from when I write here, but I’m looking forward to meeting the challenge. When I’ve worked out what I’m going to write, written it, and the post has gone live, I’ll post a link here 🙂
Secondly, I’ve signed up for the Ravelry Tour de Fleece (TdF). This is an annual event that runs while the Tour de France is on-going. I’ve joined two teams: Ashford UK Spinners and Team TARDIS. The objective is to spin everyday that the Tour is running – with two rest days and a challenge on the day of the hardest stage. I’ve been trying to keep my aims low-key to fit with my current situation. So here they are:
- Spin everyday!
- Do some spinning on all of my wheels! Not everyday obviously, but I should do some spinning on each of my wheels by the end of the TdF.
- Spin a fun Doctor Who inspired art yarn. I intend to learn a new technique while doing this. I may spin something inspired by “Bow Ties are Cool” or “Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey”, but I may do something entirely different :-) Yes, it is a bit silly, but it’ll be fun, I’ll learn and perfect a new technique and I’ll end up with a scarf that I can wear to an SF Convention should I ever make it to one!
- Finish off any languishing projects. I have a number on both wheels and spindles. On my wheels this is an achievable goal but on my spindles I hope to make progress.
Once I’ve finished the “in progress” projects I have quite a lot of fibre all lined up for projects. I have 10oz of carded Soay-cross fibre that I need to spin into a yarn for a shawl, plus a number of hand-dyed tops and a multi-coloured merino top.
The TdF is often a chance to de-stash a little. However, I’ve been so overcome with enthusiasm for art yarns since my success with the Wild and Independent yarn and scarf, that I’ve ended up ordering more stash! There’s lots of sparkle, un-combed fleece and also some bamboo and wool tops from different breeds for me to try. As you can see I didn’t even manage to contain my enthusiasm to a single order:
The TdF starts next Saturday (29th June) and runs for three weeks. I’ll update progress on Ravelry and Instagram daily and post regular, but not daily, updates here. Wish me luck!