Forever in Blue Jeans

overall
impression

C= So soft, loved the color.
A= Very nice to spin and great knitted fabric
J= Light and shiny

C= I made a cabled. I divided the fiber into four, worsted spun singles, over plied first two 2-plys, then cable plied until original overplying was gone and the yarn was balanced.
A= Split and spun end to end, worsted
L= Long draw from the fold
J= Sliding long draw

C= cabled
L= 2-ply
A= 2 ply
J= 2 ply

C= 9
L= 8
A= 10
J= 8

C= Warm soak & hang
L= Quick warm water soak and some minimal whacking to straighten out the plys
A= Rinsed and whacked
J= Hot soak in SOAK and hang dry

C= No clumping with the bamboo, easier to spin than I expected, nice prep
L= I was skeptical of the nylon and bamboo but the end result was lovely. I think I would spin it finer next time.
A= It did what I expected. Iwas nicely prepared roving that was easy to spin and created a nice soft fabric
J= The fiber is exceptionally well blended. The bamboo didn’t slip or clump and the little bit of nylon gave the fiber a nice little bite.

C= Socks
L= Wee woolie baby togs
A= Sweater -- the fabric has a nice drape and is nice and soft
J= A fine gauge camisole to wear in winter under everything

merino top / merino lamb locks / soysilk / angora / baby alpaca / silk noil

Hellena’s Story

$15.75

overall
impression

C= Soft and beautiful
E= Ow! we want the funk, give up the funk, ow
K= I couldn’t wait to get my mitts on this batt! I was thrilled with the results I got.
A= Super fun to spin
J= Party in a batt

C= Split length wise twice, modified long draw

E= Long draw supported with the fluff and danced about with the funky bits.

K= Pulled off sections that contained different color combinations then pulled them into single lock lengths and sandwiched them in my hand for maximum color blending. I was a lot of work but well worth it.

A= I spun it in random chunks. I didn’t do much predrafting so I I got a yarn that had a mixture of thicknesses. I let the nepps and chunks of fibers roll into the yarn to get a yarn and fabric with texture

J= Corespun on wool laceweight 2-ply.

C= 2 ply
E= No ply, just a juicy single
K= 2 ply
A= 2 ply
J= Single

C= 10
E= 6
K= 12
A= 7
J= 6

C= Warm soak and hang
E= Hot cold thwack
K= Hot soak and hang
A= Soak and hang
J= Hot soak and hang

C= I don’t like making bumpy yarn – I like smooth yarn. I did my best to not pick out bits or smooth the yarn as I spun. I did it, but didn’t enjoy it, with no reflection on the batt – just my style of spinning. BUT I love the knitted sample it’s soft and cushy and took away all bad feeling about spinning the batt lumpy.

E= I sat to spin this bat of everything cool calm and comfortable. It was a pleasure. The novelty of batt surprise did not let me down.

K= Once I prepped the fibers, it spun super easy. Also, it was a lot softer than I was expecting!

A= It did what I expected. The batt had a great combination of fibers of different colors and textures this showed up in the yarn and fabric.

C= Oversized slouchy sweater
E= A cosmic hat with tassels
K= A funky cowl or hat
A= Fun hat, cowl or mitts
J= Tunic-type sweater with pockets and deep neck

50% Merino / 50% Tencel

overall
impression

E= Soft, subtle colorway, sophisticated glow
K= Fantastic shine. Great stitch definition.
J= Deep sticky color

L= Drapey and elegant
E= Dark heart goodness
K= Sleek like a seal
J= Steampunk shadows  

L= Divided in 4 lengthwise and predrafted a bit, then spun from the tip worsted

E= I aimed for nice tight twist and on the thin side. Worsted

K= Worsted

J= Sliding long draw, a little fluff and a little shine

L= 2 ply as always
E= Navajo ply
K= Navajo ply
J= Navajo ply

L= 12
E= 13
K= 10
J= 12

L= Quick warm soak and a little whacking, my finishing MO
E= Hot soak, cold rinse, thwackity thwack
K= Hot soak, a little wack and hang dry
J= Hot soak in SOAK wash and hang dry

L= It did do what I expected but I have spun a lot of this blend.

E= This blend spun up strong and happy just as I imagined it would. I planned to Navajo ply my way out from under my typical 2 ply. Cables popped, stitch definition is right on. Shiny.

K= It was a dream to spin, beautiful shading

J= For as much shine as this fiber has, it wasn’t slippery at all. I wish I had spun it thinner and I wish I had done a 2-ply instead of a Navajo ply.

L= Scarves, shell for under a jacket, lace shawl if I knit lace, socks maybe – not sure about that much tencel for socks
E= A lightweight, casual-but-elegant sweater
K= Shawl cardigan – anything that takes advantage of the sheen
J= Vintage style cardigan with a texture stitch and lovely tiny buttons

RedEarth Roving:
75% BFL / 25% silk

overall
impression

C= My colors, mine!
K= The subtle color gradient is really beautiful. A delight to work with.
A= Loved the blend of fibers and the blend of colors
J= A spectacular color, just like a bug

A Separated in half lengthwise, spun from end and plied
B Pulled a quarter or less vertically and spun thin worsted, with the rest spun thick and thin. Used the worsted as a binder, reversing the colors.
C Long draw from small chunks from the fold in the color order it came.
D Woolen, chunky single
E I spun it worsted on a large whorl, scotch tension, with my regular tight-ish twist

C= I made a cabled yarn. I divided the fiber into 4 worsted spun singles, over plied first two 2-plys, then cable plied until original over plying was gone and the yarn was balanced.

K= Spun from one end to the other

A= Split spun end to end – worsted

J= Sliding long draw

C= 9
K= 12
A= 12

C= Warm soak and hang
K= Hot soak and hang
A= Rinse and whack
J= Hot soak in SOAK and hang to dry

C= Better than expected

A= I was a little surprised about how the silkiness came out in the yarn and knitted fabric – loved this about it.

J= There are a lot of BFL/Silk blends on the market right now, but somehow this one has much more shine than any I’ve seen. I expected it to be slippery and it wasn’t. The blend wasn’t compressed; I was able to get loft and shine.

C= 4-ply soft and cushy and knit on smaller needles than it needed – felt like plush fabric, not knitted. A cuddle couch blanket

K= A sweater or a cardigan

A= Anything close ot the skin with some drape – shawl, cowl, sweater

J= A fitted ballet-neck sweater

100% Polwarth

overall
impression

E= Sassy loud Polwarth perfection
K= A cheerful colorway. Love the Polwarth
A= Great vibrant color
J= A fibery fireball

E= A semi worsted single, on my medium whorl, scotch tension.

K= Split in half lengthwise. One half I continued to split lengthwise until they were pieces as big as my thumb and spun them in the same order. The other half I pulled into small pieces and spun in a random order.

A= Stripped lengthwise and spun worsted

J= Shook out the fiber and spun in a quick forward draw into a thick and thin single.

E= 2 ply
K= 2 ply
A= 2 ply
J= Single

E= 10
K= 10
A= 9
J= 8

E= Hot cold thwack thwack. Dried in the sunshine.
K= Hot soak and hang
A= Rinse and whack
J= Hot soak and wack

E= I wanted stripes with some blending in between them. The two ply gave me the combination of solids and blends I was looking for. The color changes are strong and give a great effect.

K= A nice smooth spin. Loved watching the colors mix when I plied it.

A= It did what I expected – fluffy springy roving made fluffy springy yarn and fabric

J= It made a great springy single. I may go back and full the single a little for more stability.

E= This wool calls to be a sweater vest.
K= A cheery baby sweater
A= Great for fall or winter wooly accessory – hat, mitts, cowl – or a cozy sweater
J= Fat, cozy mittens. The color would keep me extra warm.