Tour de Fleece: The One where we talk about Wool and Sheep (and more spinning) 

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 😂

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.

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.

We definitely do

Go you!

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 😁

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... 😂

I've heard many good things about Finn sheep

It was a fun spin! Texel wool is widely available around the world, so good luck!

That's quite the collection already!

They are! We're nearing 70km spun together 😱

Hahahaha yes that's it

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 ♥️

Marled is Fun!

Thank you, I am surprising even myself with the amount of yarn I have already made...

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.

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.

Very soft medium is always a good description!

It is fiber envy worthy haha

Now I want to hear about the quirky and the scary!

I always scour with rainwater, so yes, it definitely gets put to use 😁

Hopefully you can pick up some floof in new Zealand while you're there

There's loads of these wheels over here

It is indeed a lot easier to get more consistent with thinner yarns 😁

Tour de Fleece is the best moment of the year for spinners 😁

Cables and pockets sounds like An amazing choice for this Pale Grey

''oh just a little bit'' is a dangerous phrase indeed 😅

Woooh

*Me too!*

Exactly why I got it 😁

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 😬

Yes that sounds like my thing indeed

Yes there is!

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?

It wasn't as easy when I started, but now it goes pretty good 😁

But corriedale comes up pretty often, so you seem to have good taste

I recently got a braid of polwarth, sounds like I might enjoy that 😁

Unlock it 😈

There's always wool whenever you're ready for it 😁

There's always wool whenever you're ready for it 😁

I have discovered the danger that is purewol.nl. I must contain myself 🤭

Oef, gelukkig!

Texel love ♥️

There's a flock with some racka not too far from me 😁

Long draw is fast 😁

Reactivating the crimp sounds like a great lifehack!

You're not the only one recommending Shetland, so I might need to keep an eye out!

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

Yes lavender is always a win win 😁

They all sound lovely!

Yes it is 😁

I have!

I was given a braid of polwarth and my first thought was: Merino is a scam 😂

I've been on the lookout!

Welcome to western Europe 😅

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!

Hoe vind je de Walliser schwarznase? Ik had een zak daarvan, maar heb die uiteindelijk weggegeven omdat ik mezelf die echt niet zag spinnen ...

Kriebelen is persoonlijk. Veel mensen (en google) zeggen ook dat Vlaams schaap prikt, maar ik vind het heerlijk om dragen

Ik ben nu ook aan het leren om ''nee'' of ''ja, maar niet alles'' te zeggen 😅

Despite the fact that Ashford is based in New Zealand.

Ah yes in Belgium too

I think I might 😁

CHUNGUS!

Ok but in Dutch you would say ongelooflijk anyway

It should indeed still be Fun, but sometimes a challenge can add to the Fun 😁

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 🤣🤣🤣

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 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.

New Wheels are indeed very expensive. But spindles are not? 😈🤭

Et lanam venalem habuit?

Ooofff luckily most of my fleeces are in tightly closed tubs as well!