my latest purchase

[RebeccaVelasquez]

here is 3 pounds of roving i purchased that i need to spin. it is 100%wool/mohair so it will felt great (if that's what is chosen for it)

 

any suggestions on what i should do with it?

i'm so bad at making such permanent decisions for stuff.

i love to buy yarn, but then have a hard time turning it into stuff

 

Edit: guess i should include the picture

[Donna]

Love the colors! :wow But I don't have any suggestions off the top of my head.

[RebeccaVelasquez]

awww - donna, thanks for the forum.

 

and just to say, i will keep it 'strictly crochet' with my spun yarn (i still can't knit )---- you know, i don't think i necessarily want to learn that much anymore....

enough to do, i guess. :thumbsup

[Julie]

We thought you would like it.

[Donna]

You're welcome, Rebecca! :)h LOL, you're allowed to knit with the yarn you spin! !

[Guest SamplerLady]

any suggestions on what i should do with it?

Get it spun first. It'll be hard to decide what to make until you know what your yarn will look like. Once it's spun, blocked, and balled, then start thinking of what you'll make! )

[RebeccaVelasquez]

oh my gracious! my peacock roving came in!!!!

it is fabulously beautiful!

 

ms Lady, any pointers on how i should go about getting the most from my spinning? each strip of roving is stripey - should i just seperate the roving as normal into the strips they sort of make themselves (know what i mean) and go with it? i think if i try to be aware of how i'm working, it won't look as good. just let it fly or what?

i am ITCHING to spin this!

i haven't worked anything small enough to play, yet... it's all been worsted or chunky right off the spindle..... should i give it a trial run wit this? do you think it will look better that way? or just stick with what i know how for now???

 

so many decisions!! :yay2

the picture in the bucket is a truer color

[Guest SamplerLady]

There aren't any firm answers for your questions. Each way that you use the roving will change the outcome of your yarn and who knows what you'll like best.

 

Here's what I did in the beginning. I bought Brown Sheep Top and dyed it with Kool Aide and Wilton's food coloring. All kinds of colors. Then I practiced carding some colors together, spinning some colors separately and together...basically just played with it until I found out how I liked colors to go together in my yarn.

 

For the first several months, the yarn one spins is play stuff. It's learning how to spin different types of yarn, plying or not plying and all that. Mostly it's just playing. Getting to know wool types, etc. So just play and see what happens. Try to discipline yourself to keep a blog or diary on what you learn. Keep track of the kinds of wool you play with so you see what you like and don't like. Natural colors vs dyed colors. Train yourself to buy an extra half pound of roving for "playing purposes." Once you play with it, it's easier to decide how you want to spin it.

 

When someone says, "What are you going to do with it?" (for some reason we have to do something with everything) say, "It's for a shawl." Shawls are such a personal preference everyone leaves you alone. Actually, it's for the process of learning. But for some reason that's not an honored use of raw materials.....

 

Anyway, play, have fun, feel the wool, and let the process of learning to spin be a joy unto itself rather than a means to obtain a finished product. Finished products will abound in due time. Not everything we do has to have a tangible end product. Sometimes it's just the fun of honing a new skill.

 

Oh and don't get caught in the, "What if I ruin it?" spiral. First of all, it really can't be ruined. And what you spin as an undesirable yarn may very well become, when knit or crocheted, a desirable object and vice versa. Funny how it works that way. And....there is always more of it. Maybe not exactly what you have now, but close enough. And I can't stress enough....if you have two identical batches of roving like the peacock, the only thing the yarns you spin will have in common is they come from two identical batches of roving. The yarns will be different. Identical yarns comes from machines. Unique designer yarns come from human beings.

 

Stepping down off pyramid of soap boxes. )

[RebeccaVelasquez]

i shall bow to your wisdom

 

thank you. you can't possibly know how much weight you just removed.

 

 

i will just spin my peacock and see what becomes :)h

[Guest SamplerLady]

i will just spin my peacock and see what becomes

Good idea. And remember before you go buying any more gorgeous roving that the yarn won't look like the roving. Once it's spun it'll be a totally different animal. New spinners really fall in love with the gorgeous rovings and then when it spins up.....

 

Well, someone I know fell in love with this gorgeous Christmas Roving...Bright red, green and white. Do you know what red and green spins up to? Yucky brown. Really yucky brown. But, boy, did that roving look gorgeous!

 

If one is really looking for varigated yarn, one has to spin some of the one color and then some of the next. The colors can't be spun together.

 

That's why my spinning teacher told us to play with inexpensive rovings and Kool Aid before spending mucho money on those gorgeous rovings. I think it's good advice and I'm passing it on! )