#rolags

[swords-n-spindles]

Rolag time!! (While I wait for the hockey to start)

[wonkywikipedia]

So I'm not doing TdF because I haven't really got the time... but Tour de France is not the only cycling race right now so consider me spinning along some of the shorter bike races.

Anyway... I got a blending board yesterday and here is what I made so far:

The orange rolags are mainly the BFL I dyed with Annatto a few weeks ago, mixed with various orange mill ends, including a little bit of sari silk. Its so soft and the colour is so peachy and creamy, reminding me of Bellini.

Then I blended a mix of different brown and green mill ends I had flying around, probably around 10 different types of fiber. It turned out absolutely perfect, deep and earthy browns and greens with lots of texture and colour variation. I have about 65g of this and I'm really excited to spin this!

Next is another test for my idea of a watermelon art yarn. The fiber content is extremely varied, a mix of several sheep races that I dyed two years ago. The initial fiber prep wasn't that great, densely carded with a lot of lanolin. The dyeing process didn't help any so now even carded again its not that pleasant to spin and I can't get it do draft evenly, but thats completely fine for this project. My biggest problem is with the black nepps, as they refuse to stay during spinning, losing a little bit of that watermelon vibe I'm going for.

Lastly I have a small test skein for a project I've had in mind for a very long while. Using hebridean wool (my beloved) as a base, I blended in small bits of scrap yarn that I have been collecting. I spun it long draw directly from the mini-batt and then i plied the two singles together. It worked way better than expected, especially considering my experience with the black nepps mentioned earlier. The resulting yarn is chunky and colourful. I might play around a bit with adjusting the size of the yarn scraps, maybe carding them by themselves first before adding into the batt. But first I'll see how it looks in a test swatch!

[ezekiellsplayground]

Last step of processing the swedish helsinge lamb is carding the thel (inner coat) into fluffy rolags. I’m using my extra large hand carders made by Celestial Farms.

[tyrhinosaurus]

Fibre Prep!

First fleece washing:

This chocolate corriedale was 1.6kg, low VM but very dusty. Approx 160mm staple length and strong. Maybe 23-26 micron? Weathered tips.

5x cold rinses, 1x cold scour, 3x hot scour (up to 90 degrees) and cold rinse again

It's not greasy at all! And stayed well structured too. I'm flicking out tops and tails of the locks with the carders, and tbh they're ready to spin. Higher wastage than hand picking the locks open, but significantly improved quality of spinning fibre

The jellybean was in love with the fleece in the big plastic bag, she curled up and made a nest inside:

Also carded some of the picked dark grey merino cross. 45 rolags look very pleasing together

[foragersfleece]

Every time I pull fiber off the drum carder it looks mildly surprised.

As if it just woke up mid-dream and isn’t quite sure what reality is yet. There’s always this moment where the fibers lift back into themselves. They're soft, unsettled, and a little disoriented from being held in place.

I think that’s my favorite part. Not fully formed, not fully undone. Just in-between.

I understand that feeling more than I’d like to admit.

[cozyhearthyarnworks]

Been playing with a lot of different ideas for the shop over this winter ❄️ pictured here: some experimental rolags in our Glas colorway - not ready for the public yet, but we're getting there!

[pigeonsparty]

Nebula pt 1

Part 2

33% 18.5 micron merino

26% merino/nylon glitz mix

25% merino/alpaca mix

8% recycled fibre

8% silk

To be woolen spun then woven into a scarf for fiancè

Stay fluffy, friends

[milkweedman]

Started carding my shetland x clun forest. This is maybe 2/3 of the colors I've dyed (with foraged natural materials).

I was fine until the 8th one and then did one more and now I regret lol. Next time I'll try 7. Hoping not to injure myself or make my condition worse so that's why I'm taking it so slowly.

(In the past I would do 50 rolags in one afternoon pretty regularly. Well, no longer.)