This year, I plan to share my Tour de Fleece 2023 results in two parts. Part 1 (this post) will cover the actual Tour itself (July 1 through July 23), and part 2 will cover everything that transpired afterwards to finish the yarn.

My Tour this year was AH-mazing, breaking all my previous productivity records with supported spinning. Before the Tour started, I’d set myself an intention to stay focused on this one spin for the duration. I suffer from a notorious habit of flitting from spin to spin, always starting new projects and never finishing yarn. (Remember, making yarn is my hobby, not actually using the yarn.)

Lo and behold, I finished all eight ounces of Bluefaced Leicester/silk blend fiber (check here for my plan, if you missed it) in just twenty-three days! I know that’s a paltry amount compared to folks using a wheel or an eSpinner, but for me it was a major accomplishment!

Note that my intention was to stay focused, not to complete the entire spin in such a (comparatively) short amount of time! But I’m still proud of what I achieved.

To what do I attribute this level of productivity?

Well, it wasn’t staying focused the full 23 days! A fibery associate sent me a 3D-printed ring distaff to try, as I was curious whether one would work with supported spinning. (More on that to come in a future blog post!) She sent the distaff dressed with some fiber, so of course I had to give it a try!

So technically, I spun eight ounces of fiber in 22 days—note that I chose to spin even during the official rest days—because one day was consumed playing with the ring distaff! (Here’s a great article on ancient ring distaffs, if you want to learn more.)

Did I accomplish my Tour de Fleece feat thanks to the superior planning and organization this spin?

In retrospect, being very well organized was helpful but probably didn’t make that big of a difference in my rate of spinning. Splitting the braid and carefully documenting the plan for each one ounce portion was supposed to support my tendency to flit, by allowing me to switch colors or spindles while still working towards the ultimate goal.

Well, I didn’t have to follow the gradient of the braids, thanks to the spinning planner cards. Yet I still defaulted to spinning the colors in order.

In fact, I spun all of singles #1 in order…

…and then forced myself to skip around with singles #2! I saved the middle two sections of color for the end.

If the organization wasn’t the deciding factor, then what was? I think two other factors played an even bigger role than organization.

For one thing, I elevated predrafting to all new levels by using the diz holes on my spinner control card to draft pencil roving. (I’ve also seen the term “pin drafting” for this method.)

Predrafting combed top really improves the quality of your spin, as well as the speed. The extra time it takes to coax the fiber through this hole—I used the 3 mm option—is more than made up for by how quick and easy it is to spin the fiber once it’s in a pencil-roving-like state.

I also leveled up in my supported spindle mobility. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know I often spin while running errands or on road trips. (Unless of course, I have to drive!) My spinning cloth was especially helpful with this fiber, because something about the BFL/silk blend made it cling to everything. Thankfully, the spinning cloth kept it off my clothing while in the car!

But I also discovered a new way to walk and spin supported at the same time! A friend gifted me a beautiful woven belt made in Guatemala, and it had the perfect sturdiness to cradle my favorite wooden bowl by way of a powerful magnet glued to the bottom of the bowl.

In this photo, I’m wandering through a local craft store behind one of my kids, putting the time to good use since I’m not the one actually shopping!

I used this mobile spinning technique several times during the Tour to stay productive when normally my hands would have rested idle. Keep your eyes out for a future reel on Instagram and YouTube video about my new technique for walking and spinning supported at the same time!

As of July 23, 2023, all eight ounces of fiber were spun, as you can see in this photo.

Curious to know how the yarn turned out? Stay tuned for the next installment, where I’ll share the rest of my experiences turning this fiber into yarn.