Because it's nice
to know what other spinners think about a fiber
you haven't yet tried, welcome to the brand-new
Knittyspin Fiber Fiesta feature! Each type
of fiber is tested by three average spinners,
each with a different background and level
of experience. Each spinner is provided with
the same amount of fiber; everyone gets a different
color. 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!
Items are
rated on scale of 1-5.
Retail prices are in USD.
how much predrafting
was needed? 1= a ton – it was basically
felt;
5= none – just sat & spun
how did it
spin?
how did it
knit?
dye leak? 1= lots; 5=none
did the roving
behave as you expected it would? 1= not at all; 5= precisely
much easier to long draw; thought it
would fly apart
describe
it in one word
luscious
yummy
fantastic
how
did you...
spin
it
Lendrum DT ratio
8
Schacht Matchless 9:1, long draw
Schacht Matchless 9:1, thick
thin single, modified long draw
ply
it
nope
2 ply – s
from bobbins
lots of twist
WPI
11
10
15
knit
it
stockinette
right
off bobbin- no bias
Name
Spontaneous Spinning
Batts
Spontaneous Spinning Batts are $6 an
ounce. Average weight is
3-4 oz. There are also mini
Spontaneous Spinning Batts, called "Baby
Cakes",
usually sold in batches of 9.
Loop hasn’t
been in the fiber business that long,
but already has quite a smitten following.
Loop batts have even been on the cover
of Spin Off magazine.
Fiber
content
Each Spontaneous
Spinning Batt is unique.
Blue batt shown at right – alpaca,
wool, bamboo, mohair, tussah silk,
sari silk, silk noils, angelina
Black
batt shown below – suri
alpaca, sari silk, angelina
>
overall impression
Almost too pretty to spin, amazing colors
and layers
how
does it feel? 1= pot scrubber;
5= baby’s bum
Angelina/firestar a little scratchy
how much predrafting
was needed? 1= a ton – it was basically
felt;
5= none – just sat & spun
drafted quite a bit to control
color placement
predrafted the Angelina/firestar
to spread it out
just let it fly what ever it wanted
to do , colorwise
how did it
spin?
spun 1 ply thin and 1 ply thick – the
thinner ply is much less colorful
tricky to spin color mixture, but
fun
couldn’t stop spinning because
I couldn’t wait to see how
it would turn out
how did it
knit?
though the yarn was scratchy,
love the knitted fabric
softer than I expected
dye leak? 1= lots; 5=none
did the roving
behave as you expected it would? 1= not at all; 5= precisely
Surprised in a fantastic way, no
way to predict how it would lookl
Results are phenomenal if you take
care with color placement, not mindless
spinning
describe
it in one word
intoxicating
fascinating
experimental
genie in a bottle
how
did you...
spin
it
wheel, 1 ply thin
+ 1 ply thick
ply
it
plied thick/thin with extra twist
to create high texture
2 ply
WPI
8
9
6
knit
it
straight from plying; didn’t
finish it
stockinette on bigger-than-I-thought
needles
stockinette
other
comments:
None of us incorporated
the sequins that came with the batt,
mostly because we forgot.