Newsletter #2
Tour de Fleece, Advent Calendars, Pride, and more.
Hello, Makers!
A lot of very fun things are happening in the fiberverse right now. The arguably biggest event is Tour de Fleece, an annual spin-along that takes place during Tour de France. We already briefly discussed TdF (the universally used acronym) on our website.
In our newsletter today, we want to talk about TdF more in-depth.
The very first TdF happened in 2006 and was the idea of Star Athena, a spinner, teacher, knitter, and designer. The original idea was to just spin for 21 days in July during Tour de France. It snowballed into the biggest global spinning event that many spinners look forward to each year. What started as a small event in a single spinning group has now grown into a gigantic group with over 10,000 participants each year.
Even after all this time, the main goal of TdF remains the same: challenge yourself, spin, and have fun! Since the event has become this huge, you can sign up to spin in different teams to keep things more organized. Each team can set its own rules, give out prizes and, if possible, meet to spin together in person.
For a few weeks now, the fiberverse has been filled with spinners talking about their plans for this year’s TdF on Instagram, YouTube, or blogs. Just type “Tour de Fleece 2023” into your browser's search bar to find all the inspiration you could wish for.
Advent Calendars are selling now, and they are going fast!
While the spinning world is gearing up for TdF, the knitting/crochet world is in full “advent calendar” mode. Over the last few weeks, more and more yarn advent calendars have been popping up, and they are selling fast. Yes, we are aware that it’s only the beginning of July, but dyers need a lot of time to prep their calendars, and it has been normal for a few years now to pre-order your favorite advent calendar in June/July.
So, if you are on the hunt, now’s the time!
Pride!
June was pride month, and the fiberverse was filled with beautiful rainbow projects and amazing new patterns. One of those new patterns is the “Modular Progressive Pride Flag” by Kim Smith, designed for Alterknit Universe, a brick-and-mortar yarn store.
You can find the pattern on Ravelry here.
Beach Vibes!
The northern hemisphere is in full summer mode, and new summer patterns are released daily. Be it tops, bags, or bucket hats. They are having a definite comeback this year.
We love this trend and wanted to share some project inspiration with you. A few weeks ago, V from BTS was pictured with this amazing granny square bucket hat.
Isn’t it amazing? Because we like it so much, and it’s super trendy this season, we hunted for a pattern and found many. The one we want to share with you is the “Halcyon Bucket Hat” by Jess Coppom. It’s available for free on her website and can be found here.
We have a new playlist for you to get you into the perfect mood while working on this project. It compiles our favorite summer songs; you can find it on Spotify here.
If you don’t use Spotify, the playlist will be typed out at the very end of this newsletter. And if you missed any of our previous playlists, you can search for them on Spotify under “KnitLeaks.”
What you missed on KnitLeaks!
We have been busy on our website, talking about the upcoming classes for the Barcelona Knits festival, the difference between viscose and lyocell fibers, knitted bralettes, the book Travessia by Nós Manual, one of our favorite K-dramas “Hospital Playlist,” crochet cardigans and so much more!
What’s next on KnitLeaks?
In the upcoming weeks, we will talk about Loppemarkeder, the return of Black Mirror, a collection of summer knits, chitin fiber, and much more. Head over to the website so you won’t miss anything.
We hope you have a wonderful time with your crafts!
Tracy from KnitLeaks
Here is our summer/beach playlist:
Savage Love – Jawsh 685, Jason Derulo, BTS
Watermelon Sugar – Harry Styles
Two Princes – Spin Doctors
Follow the Sun – Xavier Rudd
Jamming – Bob Marley & The Wailers
Sucker – Jonas Brothers
Walkin´ On The Sun – Smash Mouth
Bicycle Race – Queen
Galway Girl – Ed Sheeran
Wannabe – Spice Girls
Permission to Dance – BTS
Californiacation – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
Easy Day – Bananafishbones
Easy – Faith No More
We are Young – FUN feat. Janelle Monáe