Welcome to the annual Tour of British Fleece spin-along during the Tour of Britain cycle race. They spin, we spin. They go somewhere, we spin the sheep they find there.
Objectives:
This year, the Tour of British Fleece starts on Sunday September 6th and runs until Sunday September 13th 2015.
Guidelines (NOT RULES):
NOTE. Although we always say ‘fleece’, and it’s great to spin actual fleece, it is completely within the spirit of the event to spin prepared fibre - batts, rovings, tops, etc. So please do not feel excluded if you can only get, or only like spinning, prepped fibre.
Use the Ravelry group to find out about the route and appropriate sheep, to get links to more information about the sheep and their fleece, to discuss your choice of sheep/fleece, prep and other matters, to set up Spinning British Sheep In Public along the route meetups, and any and everything else.
Check out the other pages for information on each year’s route and appropriate sheep , and for more information sources about the sheep and fleece (currently on the Links page.)
Objectives:
- To raise awareness of British sheep and their wool to a wider audience
- To promote the craft of handspinning
- To encourage hand spinners and other crafters to use British Wool
- To promote breeds and types of sheep local to handspinners
- To promote lesser known British breeds and types of sheep and their uses
- To promote dialogue and understanding between users and producers of British Wool
- To share our love of British sheep and their fleece with others
- To encourage and support each other in sourcing and using the fleece of British sheep
- To have a lot of fun
This year, the Tour of British Fleece starts on Sunday September 6th and runs until Sunday September 13th 2015.
Guidelines (NOT RULES):
- Spin each day the cyclists ride. The Tour of Britain is an 8-day race with no rest days. Note, if anyone wants to participate only on the day the Tour is in their area, or only on the day for which they have some appropriate fibre, they are still very welcome :) As indeed are onlookers and cheerleaders :)
- If possible, spin the fleece of a sheep relevant to the route the cyclists ride on each day. This could be a breed evolved in the area, a sheep that grazes alongside the route, a breed or type that is much farmed it the area, or anything in between. We have more than 60 breeds and a dozen or more commercially significant hybrids in Britain, and there aren’t very many areas of the country where you can’t find at least some sheep grazing, so generally we should be able to find something appropriate to spin!
NOTE. Although we always say ‘fleece’, and it’s great to spin actual fleece, it is completely within the spirit of the event to spin prepared fibre - batts, rovings, tops, etc. So please do not feel excluded if you can only get, or only like spinning, prepped fibre.
Use the Ravelry group to find out about the route and appropriate sheep, to get links to more information about the sheep and their fleece, to discuss your choice of sheep/fleece, prep and other matters, to set up Spinning British Sheep In Public along the route meetups, and any and everything else.
Check out the other pages for information on each year’s route and appropriate sheep , and for more information sources about the sheep and fleece (currently on the Links page.)