Fiber Fiesta - Knittyspin: Deep Fall 2010

by Jillian Moreno

Because it's nice to know what other spinners think about a fiber you haven't yet tried, welcome to the Knittyspin Fiber Fiesta feature! Each type of fiber is tested by 2-4 average spinners, each with a different background and level of experience. Each spinner is provided with the same amount of fiber, and each spinner spins, plies, finishes and knits each fiber as it speaks to them. Their feedback is collected on a standardized form and summarized below.

Fiber that did not receive good feedback will not be featured in Knitty, in accordance with our review policy, so if a fiber is featured here, it means the majority of spinners liked it!

Retail prices are in USD.

Three Waters Farm Lynne Vogel and Mary Ann Pagano have collaborated to bring you LV LTD at Three Waters Farm, an exciting new line of color designs for you to enjoy. Mary Ann, master dyer and color wizard behind Three Waters Farm's current line, is now dyeing Lynne's color designs to make them more widely available to the spinning and knitting public.
Fiber	75% BFL/25% Tussah Silk	Color	Canyonlands, River Twist
Weight	4 oz	Put up	top
Price	$22.95	# of spinners	4

overall impression	A The colors ot this roving really sang to me. They are intense and very earthy, aptly named Canyonlands. Buttery soft BFL with a hint of silk for the exotic. B Loved the earthiness of it. Delighted to see BFL crimp and shine in a fiber after dyeing. C Love, love love everything about it! The colors are vibrant and go together so well. D Cool fun colors, especially for fall!
how does it feel? 1= pot scrubber 5= baby’s bum		how much predrafting needed? 1= a ton 5= none
how did it spin? 1= fought me like Moby Dick 5= aaaaaah		dye leak? 1=lots 5=none
describe it in a phrase	A Amber and purple waves of canyonlands B Earthworms at a party D Cool colors, nice yarn E Spring Garden
how did you spin it?	A I split the fiber in half and then split each half into four or five strips lengthwise. I spun it up on the short draw side, worsted. B Divided lengthwise into four, spun long, slow and fat. C Thick single, worsted. D I spun worsted, one half of the fiber divided into bits to get as much color change as possible. The other half I spun straight from one end to the other for long color changes.
how did you ply it?	A I spun this up for a 2 ply with a tight twist. B 2 ply soft twist C N/A D 2 ply	WPI	A 20 B 5 C 10 D 11
how did you finish it?	A Soaked it in hot and then cold with a bit of SOAK. I thwacked it good on my wall of cement block and hung it outside to dry. B Hot soak hang C Rinsed and hung weighted D Hot soak and hang
did it do what you expected, or were you surprised?	A This fiber just spun itself into a lovely fine single. B Shook and spun zero clumping from the tussah, wonderfully blended. C I thought it would be great as a thick single – so that’s how I spun it and it turned out great – as I expected. D A complete delight to spin and knit.
what would you make with it?	A I would make a cowl or a shawl. B Sweater C Something wooly for fall time. It is soft enough to be close to the skin --hat, cowl D Anything -- hat, socks, mitts, sweater.

A Verb For Keeping Warm Spinning, dyeing, knitting, felting and weaving are just some of the verbs used to describe how humans have kept warm over the centuries. Our company honors these traditions by specializing in high quality, naturally dyed fiber and yarn suitable for all of your fiber needs. Made in our Berkeley studio, our fiber and yarn are unique and one-of-a-kind.
Fiber	50% merino / 50% silk	Color	Thai Iced Tea
Weight	2 oz	Put up	top
Price	$17.75	# of spinners	5

overall impression	A This fiber has a definite silk texture quality, it smells of intense silk, and the color is of the earth, even though it is has a moniker of Thai Iced Tea. B The color makes you melt. Looks and feels more like silk than merino. C Loved the color and the subtle variations made the yarn interesting. D Jillian didn’t get it out of the box before I grabbed one - beautiful
how does it feel? 1= pot scrubber 5= baby’s bum		how much predrafting needed? 1= a ton 5= none
how did it spin? 1= fought me like Moby Dick 5= aaaaaah		dye leak? 1=lots 5=none
describe it in a phrase	A Silk does merino with a Thai iced tea on the side. B Soft and cozy D Tweedy E Dreamy
how did you spin it?	A I split the fiber in half and then split each half into four strips lengthwise. I spun it up on the short draw side, worsted. It flowed right along. B I spun it worsted. As long as the silk was pulled apart, it spun smooth and fine. C Worsted with a little drafting D Over-twisted single
how did you ply it?	A 2 ply with a tight twist. B Navajo C 2 ply DN/A	WPI	A 22 B 10 C 9 D 20
how did you finish it?	A Soaked it in hot and then cold with a bit of SOAK. I thwacked it good and hung it outside to dry. B Hot bath and hang C Rinsed and thwacked on the bathroom floor D menaced – hot/cold felted a la Judith MacKenzie
did it do what you expected, or were you surprised?	A I expected this to be a tough spin to be blamed on the silk when combined with the short staple of the merino. Not so. B Wonderfully prepared fiber lead to a wonderful to spin yarn. C I thought the merino would make the silk more manageable. It made my hands hurt to spin D A little balky, I had some silk clumping.
what would you make with it?	A I think that a wee shawl would be just the thing. The drape aspect is alluring. B Something that needs good stitch definition C A cozy garment -- would be nice and soft for a baby sweater D Lace shawl, mitts

Natural Obsessions Since I've discovered the art of hand dying and spinning fiber and have found myself totally consumed by the passion I feel for these arts. The ability to create exactly the type and color of yarn for a project has turned my love into a true obsession and I'm very excited about the opportunity to share the results of this adoration.
Fiber	100% Tencel	Color	Magnetic
Weight	8 oz	Put up	top
Price	$20.00	# of spinners	4

overall impression	A Stand back from the Tencel. The sun bouncing off this fiber will blind you. Intense hues ahead. B Drool worthy color intensity C Fun shine and great vibrant color. D Beautiful, I could see the weight, drape & shimmer.
how does it feel? 1= pot scrubber 5= baby’s bum		how much predrafting needed? 1= a ton 5= none
how did it spin? 1= fought me like Moby Dick 5= aaaaaah		dye leak? 1=lots 5=none
describe it in a phrase	A Brilliantly stubborn and strong. B Fun color and shine D Tricky Minx E Shiny, drapey, weight
how did you spin it?	A I danced around with this fiber. Working it into submission. It spun up mostly nicely, and then poof it would break and getting it started back up again was a definite challenge. Experience and experimentation are what is needed in future. B Worsted baby, shiny mcshine pants. Less twist than I originally though, to keep it soft. C 2-ply worsted with some predrafting D Worsted singles. There were moments of frustration when I couldn’t anticipate the moment when the ends would just came apart.
how did you ply it?	A I spun it up as a single. B 2 ply softly C N/A D 2 ply	WPI	A 18 B 12 C 16 D 12
how did you finish it?	A Soaked it in hot water and hung it up to dry. B Hot soak and hang C Rinse and hang D Hot soak and hang
did it do what you expected, or were you surprised?	A I expected this fiber to be crabby and it was crabby, simply because it is a different beast than what I am used to spinning and in the raw no less. With no assistance from other fibers as blending agents, it is stiff and fluid all at the same time. Its staple length is long but not blended. It spun up much thinner than I expected. B I compared this in my spinning brain to the 100% milk fiber which was fluffy on the end and would drift apart if you didn’t tend to it. This had to be managed for the right twist – too much left it wirey and too thin. Definitely sample before to spin a quantity. But I enjoyed it and enjoyed figuring it out. C My finished yarn was thicker than I expected. It spun quicker than I expected. I would like more practice to get my yarn more consistent. D Yes, more or less I expected some fussiness. I really liked the resulting yarn.
what would you make with it?	A A shopping bag. B Lace edging or a shawl C The fun color and shine would be great for a fun accessory like a cuff or small purse D Shawl or scarf -- something that needed drape.

Sweetgeorgia Driven by an obsessive, passionate and often tumultuous relationship with colour, Sweet Georgia is a small artisan yarn company based in Vancouver Canada.
Fiber	75% BFL/25% silk	Color	Midnight Garden, Pomegranate, Stella
Weight	4 oz	Put up	top
Price	$20.00	# of spinners	4

overall impression	A With its sonic luster, intense color and softness, this blend was a luxury spin. B Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name? C Baby’s bum doesn’t begin to describe how soft this spun. D Love the colors
how does it feel? 1= pot scrubber 5= baby’s bum		how much predrafting needed? 1= a ton 5= none
how did it spin? 1= fought me like Moby Dick 5= aaaaaah		dye leak? 1=lots 5=none
describe it in a phrase	A Vibrant BFL/Silk love. B A roll in a cottage garden D Forest pond E Quick spin
how did you spin it?	A I split the fiber in half then split it length wise. I spun it up short draw, worsted. Keeping the twist in front of my hands. B Long drawn single ( that sounds like a country song) C Worsted. Spun half in bits of color. The other half straight as it comes in the roving, then plied. D Over-twisted single
how did you ply it?	A I spun thin for a delicate 2 ply with a pretty tight twist. The wool is as soft as can be. B N/A C 2 ply DN/A	WPI	A 18 B 12 C 10 D 16
how did you finish it?	A Soaked in hot water and Soak, followed by a second soak in cool water. I then thwacked it on my cement block wall and hung it to dry. B Hot soak and whack on my front steps C Hot soak and hang D Menaced – hot/cold felted a la Judith MacKenzie
did it do what you expected, or were you surprised?	A I expected the silk to be a bump in my road…instead it was lovely to spin. There being 25% silk to the 75% BFL. Nice ratio.The colors blended in a nice muted way even with a 2 ply. B The colors stayed bright after spinning – it’s magic. C I loved mixing the blue and green together. Great combination. Can’t wait to knit into something. D Tussah didn’t clump! Happy surprise.
what would you make with it?	A A delicate cropped cover up. B Bright lace C Anything soft and lofty D Anything -- it would make a gorgeous sweater!

Yarn Hollow Luxury fibers hand dyed in luminous colors inspired by western Michigan.
Fiber	50% merino / 30% tussah/ 20% angora	Color	Shock Rose
Weight	4oz	Put up	top
Price	$28.00	# of spinners	4

overall impression	A Subtle dyeing tones, interesting textures make this top awesome. B Gorgeous colorway roving so beautiful I almost didn’t ant to spin it. C Not a pink girl but love this version of dirty pink. D Beautiful bright colors. Love the way it spun, very fluffy with thick & thin bits.
how does it feel? 1= pot scrubber 5= baby’s bum		how much predrafting needed? 1= a ton 5= none
how did it spin? 1= fought me like Moby Dick 5= aaaaaah		dye leak? 1=lots 5=none
describe it in a phrase	A Bunny’s adventures with Tussah and Merino. B Delicious beets C Beautiful and soft D Muddy princess
how did you spin it?	A Every once in awhile I would run into a clump of angora and be reminded that I was spinning a blend of goodness. Either way this spin was great. I split the fiber in two and then split the halves in two. I then spun the top semi long draw with lots of nice 45 degree twist. B I tried to get the colors to mix more when plied, but it didn’t work that way. I would work harder at that next time. C I forgot just how short angora is. I was completely frustrated trying to spin slow loose long draw until I added more twist & released my sweaty death grip from the fiber – then it spun like the lovely fluff it is. Spun more semi woolen. D Worsted 2-ply with minimal predrafting
how did you ply it?	A 2 ply with tight twist B 2 ply loose C 2 ply D 2 ply	WPI	A 20 B 10 C 10 D 8
how did you finish it?	A I soaked it in hot water and SOAK for 20 minutes and then in cold water for 10 minutes, then thwacked it and hung it to dry. B Hot soak and hang C Just rinsed D Hot soak & whack
did it do what you expected, or were you surprised?	A I expected the angora to be more subdued, but once it was plied and skeined I could really see the fluff come out. Knitted up the fluff aspect stood out even more. . B I thought the colors would blend more. C I forgot how short bunny fiber is my usual spin didn’t quite work. Completely surprised at how light the yarn is. D Not surprised. It was soft and fluffy roving and it made soft and fluffy yarn.
what would you make with it?	A Mittens. B Big drapey cowl C Anything next to the skin D Cowl, something soft and cozy

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