IS #24: So Many Tours!

Something very simple has been inspiring me lately.

Ahhh, the humble spindle. I feel like I haven't spun in ages-- in reality it's probably been more like 6 weeks, but that's pretty long! There has been much talk of spinning on blogs and Ravelry lately and man oh man is it getting to me. My fingers are itching. My wheel is waiting. My spindles are dropping. Yes, I'm joining the tour.

In a previous post, I had mentioned how I wanted to spin a little every day starting in June. Well, turns out my spinner instincts must've been buzzing because June 30th is the start date of 5th annual Tour de Fleece! The idea is to do something awesome and challenging, perhaps not quite as awesome or challenging as a crazy long-ass bike ride, but cool nonetheless. The main guidelines are as follows:

1. Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday June 29th through Sunday July 21st. Days of rest: Monday July 8th and Monday July 15th. (Just like the actual tour.)
   
2. Spin something challenging on the challenge day (usually the toughest high mountain stage: this year, it’s Stage 18, on Thursday, July 18th, when they climb Alpe d’Huez twice).

There are a few others but those are the big ones. You can join teams or not, spin a little or a lot, whatever your personal goal/challenge might be. I joined a team of fans of Verdant Gryphon yarns, even though they don't sell any fiber, just because people on the VG boards on Ravelry are always so fun, friendly, and knowledgeable. And there are prizes, always prizes. As we all know how I love to plan, I've been having fun thinking up things to do. Unsurprisingly, I have a few ideas.

1. Spin for at least 15 minutes every day (which I will begin practicing starting tomorrow because I already said I would).
2. Finish two skeins (8 oz) of gradient-dyed BFL from June Pryce Fiber Arts on my wheel (which I've barely begun but won't touch again until the tour starts).
3. Finish 3 more breeds (3 oz) for my Ongoing Spinner's Study.
4. Extra-special-gold-star-challenge: Wash, process, and spin 1 oz of wool from my first fleece.

Yeah, you heard me: my first fleece! IF I mange to get to the farmer's market before my yoga class today, I MIGHT be able to get a hold of a Southdown fleece for a pretty reasonable price. I've never used Southdown wool before but I'm itching to give this whole fleece-to-spun thing a try and don't mind practicing on one I'm not totally invested in. For those keeping track, I've planned to spin 12 oz. of fiber in 3 weeks. That's 4 oz, or a typical braid of fiber, every week... while simultaneously knitting a boatload of socks. And trying to fit time in for designing. And, you know, work. And life. This is my way of declaring: I am pretty crazy and all of these plans will probably never happen so please don't be too disappointed when the beautiful socks and fabulous handspun yarn that live in my head don't quite make it to the blog. A girl's gotta dream, right?

What (crazy idea) is inspiring you lately?