Hello friends,

And welcome back to my blog after a couple of weeks away. It was lovely to have a chance to rest and recharge while on holiday, but with July comes the start of another Tour de Fleece, and the opportunity to spend some time rediscovering my fibre stash, and enjoying some cosy spinning time while the weather is cold outside.

Now, I don't know about you, but I have quite a large fibre stash. Over the years since learning to spin, I've picked up fibre and fleeces from online shopping, in-person stores, craft events, and even from friends who kindly bring treasures home for me from fibre festivals. Somehow, fibre always seems to find its way into my stash, and despite my best efforts, it seems to accumulate much faster than I can spin it into yarn.

With all this in mind, I decided that this year I wasn't going to buy any more fibre for Tour de Fleece 2026, but instead shop my stash. I opened the wardrobe in my craft room and began pulling out boxes and containers until I found one filled with fibre, ready to be rediscovered.

After spending some time sorting through the box, and exploring the fibre within, I finally settled on a plan for Tour de Fleece 2026. These are the fibres I've chosen to spin during this year's Tour.

This first project is 300 g of natural brown Romney lambswool from Duncraig. I originally bought it as an unwashed fleece, and at some point over the years I washed it and carded it into batts on my Ashford wide drum carder. It's been sitting patiently in my stash for a couple of years, and Tour de Fleece seems like the perfect opportunity to finally spin it into yarn.

Next up are two batts from Dark Harbour Yarn in the colourways Big-Eared Woolly and Wrinkle-Lipped Free-Tailed. These batts are made up of Corriedale, Merino, silk noil, and Tencel, and I couldn't resist bringing them home with me from Unwind 2026 back in March.

Also making an appearance this year is a Corriedale batt called Tequila Sunrise from Deep Creek Woolworks. I picked this batt up at Unwind 2026 in March as well, and its warm, vibrant colours were simply too beautiful to leave sitting in the stash any longer.

Tucked away at the bottom of the box was an unknown amount of a 50/50 Merino and alpaca blend left over from a previous project. Back when I lived in Wellington, one of my husband's workmates gave me some raw alpaca fleece. After washing the fleece, I blended it with 50% Merino fibre and carded it together on my drum carder. I then dyed the fibre in aurora-inspired colours and handspun it into yarn for a Southern Skies shawl. This small amount of fibre is what remained after the project was finished.

And finally, I unearthed various odds and ends of Merino fibre in shades of purple that I dyed many years ago, along with a bag of silver Angelina sparkle fibre. Thinking the two might work well together, I pulled out my drum carder and blended them into a sparkly purple batt. I have no idea what this fibre will eventually become, but I suspect it will be something fun.

I dusted off my camera and filmed the process of blending this sparkly purple batt together. There's something rather satisfying about watching colourful fibres transform into a finished batt, so if you'd like to see the process, you can watch the short video below.

So, with my Tour de Fleece fibre choices finally made, all that remains is to sit down at the spinning wheel and begin. There is something rather satisfying about rediscovering forgotten treasures hidden away in my stash, and giving them their turn to become yarn.

I'm looking forward to many cosy hours of spinning over the coming weeks, and I'm excited to see what these fibres become along the way. Whether I manage to spin everything or not, I know I'll enjoy the journey.

Have a wonderful day,

Julie-Ann

If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.

I'd love to hear what you're spinning, making, or creating this winter.

Tags: 2026, Crafting, Crafts, Fibre, Fleece, Merino, Spinning, Spinning Wheel, Tour De Fleece, Winter, Wool, Yarn

Hello friends,

Recently I finished cross stitching the Dimensions Aurora Cabin Cross Stitch kit. I bought this kit back in autumn of 2022, and have slowly been working on it every winter since then as a seasonal project.

Last year due to me having two cataract surgeries over winter, I was unable to work on it, so in spring last year I decided to finish cross stitching the project out of season.

Unfortunately due to it having a lot of back stitching, which I hate doing, it went on the back burner once I had finished cross stitching the project. But hubby came to my rescue and back stitched the project for me this past summer.

All that was left to do was all the many french knots for the stars, and I hate stitching those too. After some pondering about how to overcome this problem, this autumn I went along to my local Spotlight store and bought some small shiny beads that could replace the french knots. It didn't take very long at all to sew on all the beads, and after a couple of days working on it, my Dimensions Gold Aurora Cabin Cross Stitch kit was finished.

It looks so good all finished, and I can't wait to get a chance to frame it and put it up in our stairway wall. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing the end result of all your hard work.

Have a wonderful day

Julie-Ann

Want to discuss my post? Feel free to chat with me on Instagram or Mastodon or Bluesky, and now also Facebook.

Tags: 2026, Autumn, Crafting, Crafts, Cross Stitch, Cross Stitching, Dimensions Kit

Hello friends,

Over the summer I spun up some 100% Corriedale combed top in the colourway Gimli from Dye Happy Yarn. My friend Karyn picked it up for me at a fibre festival last year, and I chose this colourway to spin because it reminds me of autumnal shades, which I love.

Not wanting to think too hard about the process, I split the combed top in half, and spun up two singles on my spinning wheel using my default drafting method.

The 2 plied yarn ended up being approximately fingering weight width, and a total 215 metres long.

The washed and dried yarn is now in storage, along with many other handspun project yarns, ready for me to eventually decide what to do with them all.

I find spinning to be one of my favorite crafts, as I find the whole process very relaxing, but deciding what to do with the yarn afterward, and getting a chance to actually knit or weave with it, never usually happens. Maybe one day I may decide to sell some of my excess spinning projects to make space for more fiber projects in my life, but at the moment I'm just happy to squish the yarn whenever I walk past it.

Have a wonderful day

Julie-Ann

Want to discuss my post? Feel free to chat with me on Instagram or Mastodon or Bluesky, and now also Facebook.

Tags: 2026, Autumn, Crafting, Crafts, Fiber, Fibre, Spinning, Spinning Wheel

Hello friends,

On the weekend of Friday the 6th of March I excitedly went along to the 2026 Unwind Fibrecraft Retreat, a three day biennial fibre festival held in my hometown of Dunedin, New Zealand.

It's a chance to catch up with fibre friends from all around New Zealand, and to also attend talks and workshops, along with some shopping from local New Zealand indie dyers and yarn sellers. And after saving up my crafting pocket money for 6 months, it was time for me to buy a bunch of fibre and yarn to keep me all stocked up for a year at least.

First up, was doing a quick reconnoiter of all the traders to see what was for sale, and to start planning what I wanted to purchase...

Then it was shopping time, and luckily as part of the Unwind Retreat you're given a bag for carrying all your pretty new yarn, fibre, and accessories.

First up I bought two autumnal shades of 100 gram skeins of fingering weight merino dyed yarn by Dark Harbour Yarns. I have no idea what I'll do with them, but for now I'm happy to pat them periodically.

Next we have three 100 gram fingering weight skeins of merino/nylon sock yarns from Purple Sprouting, with the one on the left even containing sparkles. I plan to make two pairs of socks with the left and middle yarns for myself, and the skein on the right is to make a pair of socks for my sister for her birthday.

I also bought 400 grams of fingering weight merino/silk singles for a light weight jersey project for myself for this winter.

Next up is 20 grams of Corriedale fiber in the shade Tequila Sunrise from a new NZ fiber seller, Deep Creek Woolworks.

I also bought two fiber batts from Dark Harbor Yarns, in green and blue shades made from corriedale/merino/silk. My plan is to spin them separately and then ply them together.

I bought the book "Maths for Knitters" by Kate Atherley from Holland Road Yarn Company, and I can't wait to dive in and see all the knitting information inside.

From The Yarn Queen I bought a pair of cat knitting needle protectors along with a new KnitPro needle measurer.

And finally, it's not a yarn festival without the traders giving away small goodies. Extra knitting stitch markers, tape measures, buttons, and even small skeins of yarn are always welcome.

Overall it was a great weekend with fiber friends, and doing some shopping, but as always as an introvert, I was pleased to be back home in the peace and quiet with my husband and kitties. And now I'm looking forward to a serene autumn quietly knitting and spinning in my craft room.

Have a wonderful day

Julie-Ann

Want to discuss my post? Feel free to chat with me on Instagram or Mastodon or Bluesky, and now also Facebook.

Tags: 2026, Autumn, Crafting, Crafts, Fibre, Fibre Festival, Knitting, Unwind Fibrecraft Retreat, Yarn