Yarn Post!

[helwen]

Finished making a second spool of the autumn colors roving and plied them together this afternoon.

Tanka from 6 November:

A grey day outside
Inside there is tea and cats
Winds blow leaves about
I catch all Autumn's colors
spun in yarn for winter warmth





This is the roving. On the right is how thick/wide it is when I got it, although I've made it into shorter lengths -- originally it was one long thing, which I folded up to try to find the repeats in the painted-on pattern, then divide it so that all the pieces will look about the same. Couldn't quite do that so I ended up with two types, one with bright yellow at one end and one all darkish.

On the left is how I break it up into thinner pieces for spinning, sometimes called "splits".


This is the yarn with two singles plied together. Since my splits are only approximately the same and also because of the odd dark bits, the distance between the yellow highlights isn't the same on each yarn. This made for some interesting contrasts between the yellow and the darker colors.



And this is some wool dyed with indigo and walnut. It isn't as bright as in the picture -- I think that's the flash. I got the roving originally from... Shirkshire Woolies, I think... I know her when I see her at the shows -- all the rovings are dyed with natural dyes. I just wish she used less nubbly wool, but it's probably fine for the spinners who like making fluffy yarn with lots of loft.

Comments

[gardengirl6.livejournal.com]

*yarn envy*

That is GORGEOUS!!! I can hardly wait to see it live and in person... someday.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Thx :) It could happen! First L has to turn it into something though...

[freya46.livejournal.com]

Oh my..that's just gorgeous.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) We do have some fun when we manage to make it to a sheep show!

[oakmouse]

*drools*

[helwen.livejournal.com]

LOL! In general or those specific colors?

I did run into a small problem with the second bit of yarn I made, in that I plied it tighter than the first one (pictured). I have more experience with spinning than with plying, although plying them both in the same quality of light might have helped (one by lamp light and one by daylight). So, will have to see if I can make the first one a little tighter.

[oakmouse]

Yes. *g* I lovelovelove the autumn dyed yarn, and since I'm spinning now (I haven't blogged about that yet, I've been feeling rather reticent of late) I feel a distinct urge to get good enough to produce yarn that smooth and thin. I've been consoling myself with the thought that the yarn I'm spinning now (a bit slubby, and overspun in spots) can be used for tapestry weaving even if it comes out uncrochetable, because the thought of making unusable yarn is very frustrating. I'm also consoling myself with the clearly evident fact that practice makes perfect; the last couple of feet of yarn are much better than the first couple of feet, that's for sure! So if I keep practicing it's going to keep getting better, right? More or less, anyway. And I bought practice rovings in colors that will work for a tapestry project I have in mind.

I haven't tackled plying yet. I need to get the rest of the current roving spun before I try. *is nervous*

Depending on what you want to use the yarn for, you might try using the more tightly plyed skein for "fitted" areas of a garment --- bust, waistband, cuffs, neckline, other places where the tighter ply might be of advantage. I ran into a recommendation to that effect on a spinning website somewhere in the last few days and it makes sense to me at my present limited knowledge level.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Yes, practicing does mean it will get better.

BUT!

No matter how good you get, there will be... interesting... days.

AND,

Different fibers behave differently. Even within a "same" type of fiber, there will be differences. Wool comes in different lengths, crimp, softness, and preparations. Same with silk, and linen too. Bamboo is generally consistent, or so I've found so far. Cotton I don't have experience with yet. I have some but I haven't had time to play with it.

Merino can be nice but regular merino will shrink on being washed -- which means do something where that's okay or dry-clean or make it into something that won't be washed.

Superwash merino has already been shrunk so no worries for regular projects -- but you can't use it for felting.

Dyed rovings can be a little stiff, so I usually prepare some splits and ease them out a little, gently pulling on the split as I go along the length of it, which makes it a little longer (not bad prep for spinning anyway), but also unsticks the fiber.

I started with Romney, a long-fibered wool, and it's still one of my favorites. You'll probably have favorites as well, as you play with different things.

Long fibers give you a little more time to play, are more forgiving of the spindle slowing down a little, and can sometimes be smoother because of there being fewer fiber ends per inch.

But sooner or later you'll probably play with shorter fibers. Why? Because silk tussah is often mixed with some very pretty-looking fibers. And angora is relatively short, as are some cottons. Even some wool preps can be on the short side -- I tend to avoid those if possible.

Once you can get up to a decent speed and consistency though, even the short-fibered preparations won't bother you too much. I have some silk tussah and yak (undercoat) that will someday be something amazing -- it's going to take awhile though, because I'm practically making thread with that stuff.

L decided to not have my try to tighten up the skein, so I think he's doing to do what you read about -- and what I was also thinking about, if only from a design point of view.

Have fun!

[oakmouse]

Thank you for the advice! I appreciate it a lot. *adds to memories*

Right now my practice rovings are dyed Romney. I like it, and the long staple is making it easier for me to practice drafting (which I'm not so good at yet, but practice etc...). I've been making it into splits and then drafting those a bit before I begin spinning them. I haven't yet managed to be able to tend the spindle *and* draft the split I'm spinning, and given my neurological challenged I may not get there for a while. For now I pre-draft the splits to what I think is close to the correct amount of fibers, begin spinning, and sort of go "draft six inches --- whirl the spindle and spin the six inches --- stop the spindle --- check the yarn and fix any big slubs --- wind yarn onto the spindle as necessary --- lay the spindle on my leg --- draft another six inches --- repeat".

I also bought 2 oz of "merino top", whatever top is (I know what merino is, at least! *g*), for future reference. I want to play with silk and cotton and soy fibers at some point but I don't think I'm anywhere near those yet. I also want to find a source for Shetland rovings, particularly moorit and mogit, which are my favorite natural Shetland colors, but here again it's not time for that yet. *wants to do sixteen things at once*

I admit it, I'm hooked. Spinning and weaving are here to stay. *g*

[oakmouse]

*sigh* That should be "neurological challenges". I'm too sleepy to type...

[helwen.livejournal.com]

I figured it out... we all have our moments... I have them when I'm "awake" too :D

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Romney is an excellent fiber. And an excellent sheep too. Although in this country they are probably mostly kept for their wool, they are actually both wool and meat sheep. They have better resistance to hoof rot than some other sheep -- side effect of growing up around Ely, I expect.

Hm, best I can find for a definition of 'top' online is that it's processed so that mostly you have the longer fibers -- the fluffy short cut bits that happen when shearing have been removing during the cleaning processing.

Merino is nice stuff -- does sometimes require tighter twist than Romney - different crimp, behaves differently.

You may or may not "get" drafting and spinning at the same time, but that's okay. There are a variety of ways to spin, and in fact in-hand spinning was done medievally by at least linen spinners and I think silk spinners too. Not something I've really done, although I think L might be able to do it -- he's good with fiber, plus I think his experience with twine-making helps.

I think you'd like bamboo as well -- it would be similar to working with soy or some preparations of silk. Silk's only issue is that in warm weather you can't work with it for as long because it picks up the sweat from your hands and gets difficult to work.

Glad you're enjoying the spinning and weaving :)

[oakmouse]

Thank you for the definition of "top"! I didn't try to ask the saleslady who cut it and rang it up for me (which I would normally have done) because they were in the first day of a huge January Sale and the store was a madhouse.

Thank you for the other information also! I want to try to get to the point where I can either draft and spin at the same time, or learn how to pre-draft to the point that I can prepare a length of fibers and then spin the whole length without having to stop and draft out the thicker spots. The stuff I spun from the hanging spindle was smoother and more even in texture, twist, and diameter.

I may also get a smaller spindle to play with because the one I'm using now is a 3" and heavy enough that I've had to struggle to maintain a balance between keeping the spun stuff thin enough to be yarn instead of cable and keeping it thick enough to not break from the weight of the spindle. They have a nice 1.5" that I have my eye on for next month's allowance (or birthday gift $$ if I get any). *g*