Tour de Fleece 2010 - can I wear yellow now?

My main challenge for the Tour de Fleece, my impossible challenge, is to wash, comb and spin a Shetland fleece.

I admit, I've never completed a Tour de Fleece before. The first year, my wheel and I got into an argument with a car door. Typical for a yarn sport that is based on cycling, don't you think? The second year, I don't really remember. I think heat, illness, and exhaustion got to me. I just sort of petered out.

This year, touch wood, I'm doing better than ever before.

I completed my secondary goal of spinning tatting thread, which will head off into the mail today, and I'm almost finished my primary goal which is, the Shetland.

In the photo, clockwise from left top: Combed top, washed locks, spun wool singles at around 36-40wip. Take a good look at those locks, there's about half a dozen there. More importantly, that's all I have left to comb. I have a small box full of little birds nests (top) still to spin, and a great deal more yarn on the wheel. But the end is in sight, and early too. The Tour goes until July 25th, that's ten days from now.

In my defence, a great deal of the fleece is unmanageable. About 1/3rd of the fleece was felted on the sheep, sun damaged, or overloaded with vegi-matter. I lost another 2/3rds of the weight of the fleece to the combs - I am being perfectionist here and it really isn't an easy fleece to work with.

But all in all, I am ecstatic with my progress.

So, if I do in fact finish my main goal, I will still spin every day the Tour rides, but I won't pressure myself. I'll just coast to the finish.