Digitalis / Zara

overall
impression

K: Soft purple color and an easy spin. Love it!
R: Silky and smooth

C: I made my fail safe yarn with this. I wanted not to have to think about spinning and just enjoy the sensuousness of the fiber slipping through my fingers.

J: Spun woolen end to end dk-ish for the single, then chain plied, for a chunky yarn.

K: Spun fractally, i.e. Divided in half lengthwise, one half spun end to end, the other half stripped lengthwise and spun end to end.  Spun worsted.

R: long draw though it looks worsted as yarn.

C: 2-ply

J: chain ply

C: 11
J: 7
K: 15
R: 12

C: Rinse and hang
J: Soak, snap, hang
K: Hot soak and hang
R: warm water

C: Exactly what I expected.
J: Just knitting my swatch made the yarn star to fuzz and pill. So I would either make a finer woolen yarn or spin it worsted if I were to do it again. But it is delightfully soft!
K: It was just a soft spun as it felt unspun.  I did not expect it to be so easy to spin.
R: Easier to spin than I expected, color variances smoothed out to appear solid on finished yarn.

C: I want a giant, cabled blanket made from this. It has drape and warmth and on the coldest winter days I want to hide under it with a flashlight and read (also hide from the world).
K: Something lacy
R: Baby items. It  shows knitted patterns well, lots of stretch. It could be a throw or shawl for spring.

65% superwash merino / 35% silk

County Fair / Maggie May

$25.00

overall
impression

A: Silky smooth fiber, beautiful colorway
CK:  I loved this braid and I’m not always a fan of superwash merino. It was nicely prepared and easy to draft for thick and thin and low twist singles.
E: Cosmic goodness. Nice colorway. Lovely spin.

A: Divided in two and spun end to end worsted
CK: 3 z-spun low-twist singles, 1 thick-and-thin single plied into a 4 ply cable
E: I stripped the roving into two, and spun worsted
L: Split it to the thickness I wanted, did not draft, very low twist

A: 2 ply
CK: 2 singles firmly S plied and then the other 2 singles firmly S plied. Then plied the 2 2-ply yarns Z.
E : 2 ply
L : single

A: 11
CK: 4
E: 8
L: 10

A: Rinse and whack
CK: A nice soak, rinse and a firm whack.
E: Soak hot then cold then thwack then hung
L: Alternating hot and cold water and plunger action

A: Cool silky spin
CK: Soft, shiny sunrise
E: Butter soft
L: Purple and gold kittens

A: Something close ot the skin that loves drape like a shawl
CK: Squooshy hat, yummy scarf – anything that is soft, shiny and lovely
E: Hat, or cowl.
L: Softest shawl, gauntlets, hat

Superwash Cheviot

Flowershop Inferno

overall
impression

A: Loved the bold colors and how they spun up together; nicely prepared wooly fiber
CK: Was excited to try this unusual fiber and wasn’t disappointed. It was easy to spin into a smooth heavy twist yarn. I thought superwash might feel different but it didn’t. There were a few kemp fibers, which I didn’t know about Cheviot, so I learned something.
K: One of the fastest spins ever! 
R: Looks warm, super stretchy, boldly colorful, jazzy.

A: Split into strips and spun end to end worsted
CK: I split the top lengthwise into 6 strips to preserve color changes.
K: Split it in half lengthwise and spun the two halves end to end but reversed one to mix the colors.  Spun worsted.
R: Supported long draw

A: 2 ply
CK: 3-ply with enough ply twist to nearly balance the yarn.
K:  2 ply
R: 2 ply

A: 9
CK: 13
K: 13
R: 14

A: Rinse and soak
CK: Soaked, rinsed, thwacked
K:  Hot soak and hang
R: super hot water

A: It spun smother and quicker than I expected, the fiber was nicely prepared
CK: It was smoother in the finished worsted spun 3-ply than I expected.
K: Very well prepared.  It wanted to be a (relatively) fat single and I let it do what it wanted.
R: I was worried about the strength of the individual colors nad how they would look in the finished yarn, but the effect is great.

A: It produced coarse, durable yarn good for socks or outerwear
CK: Sock, socks, leg warmers, more socks!
K: It would make a great sweater, the colors are really great. Didn’t expect it to be so easy to spin
R: Great for socks, hats, mittens or a vest.

Border Leicester, Mohair, Bamboo, Tencel, Wool Locks, Angelina, Silk Noil

overall
impression

C: I’m a worsted spinner. I looked at this batt as a challenge to do lumpy, bumpy corespun yarn and stretch my horizons.
E: Artsy
K: It was a fun batt with great color combination

C: Core spun over lace weight yarn. Next time, I would up the size of the core to maybe worsted or Aran weight, something with a little more body.
E: I opened the batt and pulled off a inch wide strip and began to spin. If the fiber blend/texture got me cranky I flip it around and to come at the cranky from the other direction. Let my wheel just suck it in and have at it, slow and easy.
L: Short forward draw, worsted
K: Core spun over a laceweight yarn.

C: single
E: single
L: 2-ply
K: single

C: 13
E: 6
L: 11
K: 20

C: Rinse and hang
E: Soak, hang to dry
L: Quick dunk
K: Hot soak and hang

C: It was about what I expected, some struggle with the bits and bobs, but overall pleasant.
E: This batt spun up into a nice single.
L: The variety of fibers in the batt made it interesting and kept me on my toes. Not a zone-out-and-spin kind of fiber.
K: This was my first time core spinning and I think I spun too quickly because the core ended up showing through quite a bit.  I was lucky the hot pink core went well with the colors in the batt.

C: Something that showed off its gorgeous lumpiness: a stole, the back of a sweater with sleeves and a shawl collar in a smooth, single color – a canvas of fiber.
E: Border of a hat or scarf
L: Frou frou scarf, cute top for a tween
K: It would make great trim or a funky hat or scarf

alpaca, corriedale, firestar, milk, tencel, tussah silk

overall
impression

A: Nice fibers in a nicely prepared batt. How the batt was prepared allowed me to choose how to spin the colors.
E: This blend was not the evil step sisters of spin but rather Cinderella like. Purple and gold combination love. Blended just enough to lend to a great spin.
R: Dreamy, luxurious, very soft and glowing

A: Stripped by color and spun to maked marled yarn
C: Core spun over a lace-weight core. I was trying to get a smooth, corespun yarn and I mostly succeeded.
E: I opened the bat and stripped off a 2 inch wide section and spun in my worsted way.
R: Supported long draw with lots of slubs, some short forward draw too, just to try it.

A: 2 ply
C: single
E: 2 ply
R: 2 ply

A: 10
C: 10
E: 8
R: 5

A: Rinse and whack
C: Rinse in hot (to deal with the overspun core) and whack it a couple of times. Hang to dry.
E: Soak hot, soak cold, thwack and hung to dry.
R: Hot water

A: Nice smooth batt, colors spun up beautifully, it needed a little more predrafting than expected.
C: Performed exactly as expected
E: When I see milk fiber listed, I think slick. This blend was really smooth spinning
R: No surprises. The batt looked like Cinderella’s hair. It gave the spinning lots of drama – free form or random quality kind of like a Wagnarian opera.

A: Lighter weight mittens or cowl, or a spring sweater
C: A giant lace patterned cowl, I want to cozy it right up next to my neck to keep me warm
E: A cat hat, a cowl
R: Rib warmer, shrug or shawl for evening, scarf