Tour de Fleece Prep - Part 2

It took me a little while to come to a decision but finally I have my goal set for this year's Tour de Fleece: spin over 2 pounds of fiber.  I think I can do it as long as I spin each day.  This afternoon I set aside the fiber that I'd like to spin:

I've started a monthly spin-along challenge in the CNY Ravelry group and for July my plan is to pick Corriedale/Colonial fiber.  That picture is 42.1 ounces of fiber all within those specifics.  From left to right:

Red - 18.1 ounces of Spinner's Hill Corriedale, Finn, Rambouillet Cross Sheep fiber
Light and dark blue balls - 4 and 8 ounces of Ashland Bay Colonial fiber
3 braids in green, blue & purple - 4 ounces each of Stone Edge Fibers Colonial Wool Top

It is a challenge for me and I might not be able to get it all done.  I'm leaving the braids for last because they were most recently purchased.  I thought this would be a great chance for me to spin up some of my older fiber that's been in my stash for a while now.  I may be taking a day or two off from work just to make some progress on my spinning . . . I'm due for a day off anyway so it's perfect timing!

Doh!

"If you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans."

I have no idea where I heard that from but it's so true.  While I was getting ready to split up the 2 pounds of fiber for TdF I happened to see the original tags & sales slips.  One ball is "Corriedale, Finn, Rambouillet Cross roving" and the other is "Merino Top".

There goes my grand plans of using it all for a sweater . . .

I may still spin these up but I'm seriously rethinking my TdF plans.  Spin 2 pounds of 2 different fibers as a big challenge or spin up 8 four ounce braids as a stash buster?

Tour de Fleece Preparation

Within the past year I've gotten more serious about my spinning.  I really enjoy the process and someday hope to actually knit with all of this handspun I've created.  I decided to give myself a good challenge for this year's Tour de Fleece (June 30th to July 22nd): to spin up the 2 pounds of Spinner's Hill roving that I purchased in my favorite color red.  I have 2 of these:

I finally weighed them today and one ball is 15.65 ounces and the other is 18.10 ounces for a total of 33.75 ounces or 2.1 pounds. 

I had no idea of this was an unrealistic goal because I've never really kept track as to how much fiber I can spin in a night.  In my planning I decided to do a little preparation/training and spin up this:

It's 12.3 ounces of Twisted Wool BFL roving.  I divided it in half and spun up the first half in 2 nights of about 2 hours each of spinning.  So my math came out to:

2 nights = 1 skein of 6 ounces
33.75 ounces (5 skeins) = 10 nights plus
5 additional nights of plying (1 night per skein)
15 total nights of spinning & plying for this fiber

The tour is 23 days long with 8 of them being weekends days for bonus spinning.  One problem I do see is that I have a wedding to go to in Pittsburgh on July 20-22 so realistically I have only 20 days to spin but that gives me some room since I only really needed 15.

Doing this preparation actually makes me feel better because it is an attainable goal.  I am hoping to use the resulting yarn for a garment for myself if I have enough yardage and if not, who cares?  I'll find something great for the yarn on Ravelry eventually!