Tastes of the exotic - TdF 12 Days 2 and 3

Aw, I love the Tour de Fleece over on Ravelry.  I'm always so inspired by it and end up spinning so much.  I'm also more inspired to experiement, try new techniques and fibres.  And I love the friendship and chatter on the forums, all the cheerleading and support, and of course everyone else's very scrummy spinning.  Lots of spinning envy and lust - spindles, fibres, wheels, expertise - it's all there in bundles for me to sample.

So my efforts for the last couple of days.

This beautiful fibre and colourway is from Fluff-n-Stuff, is called Esme, on the fibre Darling - a luxury blend of merino, cashmere and silk.  It's one of my favourite ever spinning projects, I love the colours, love love the elegant beauty of the fibre and just want to stroke it every time I walk past.  I spun it as a single, 495m, and have been inspired to make a shawl.

And another shot, because who can resist!

This tweedy appearing yarn is a 3-ply spun from batts, with a mix of merino, shetland, silk, yak and sparkly bits.  I'm still not a brilliant spinner of batts, but the results are interesting.  Everytime I walk past this one, I furrow my brow and think "mmm?".  I usually strive for smooth eveness in my spinning, and this goes against all that.  I love the colours, but struggle to love the "character" of it - all squishy and uneven and fluffy in places.  I think this 195m of texture is destined to be a cowl of some sort.

And finally, this is the single of what is now the most delightfully squishy and loft 2ply yarn, spun from a merino/possum blend.  It's hard to describe this spinning experience.  The fibre was an impulse buy at Wonderwool.  The top was a lot of small broken bits, and totalled 109g.  The top felt almost like it was felted or some sort of pre-felt (first picture below).  It felt quite dense.  So I decided to try teasing it apart.  It practically fell apart on me.  It's a short staple.  And with just the slightest of teasing became this fluffy beautiful prep, almost like it had been carded or a broken up batt (second picture below).

I love the finished yarn - it's not perfect spinning, there's a couple of fluffy/unspun bits, but it is the most balanced yarn I've made (no twisting at all!) and is so utterly squishy.  I haven't finished it yet, so finished yarn pictures at a later date.  There is no walking past of this yarn - the others, in case you are wondering are hanging up in my bathroom drying, hence me walking past them and contemplating them.  Instead, it's all skeined up and sitting on the cushion next to me.  I have to stop typing with alarming frequency and **squish** it!  It's so lofty and squishy.  I think it will end up being either a hat or a cowl of some sort.  It will be the warmest and snuggliest of all winter accessories.

So there you have it, a very eclectic bunch of fibres over the last few days - including cashmere, yak and possum.  Randomness from all over the world.  How awesome is that?  And here is how the Tour inspires me.   Being motivated to explore these new fibres and their properties.  Spinning is such an adventure!