January 5, 2006
A Gift for My Wheel
I got one more wonderful fibery gift from my mother this year:
It's a pretty subtle looking bundle sitting on my end table, but it gets a lot more exciting when you get a little closeup shot:
Y'all know how I love silk. And this pound of natural colored roving is half silk, half wool -- and comes from the same place as those incredible handmade sheep do. Not sure what wool is meant by "fine wool" but it feels very soft. At first I was tempted to dye it, but the more I looked at it, the more I liked the idea of spinning it and enjoying it's natural color.
It even inspired me to do a little spinning tonight. It's taking me a little bit of time to get the hang of working with it -- it's got a little VM in it as well as some slightly nubby bits that I think must be from the silk. But I figure I've got a whole pound, so I can have fun experimenting a little bit. And I have a feeling that if I need more, my mom would probably know how to help me find it.
Ohh,that's purty! I think the "fine" is referring to the grade of the wool. there's a grading system based on micron count, the lower the micron the softer and nicer the wool. Fine has to have a micron somewhere below 22, I think; anything below 18 or so is considered "superfine." anything above 22 is considered medium wool; which I don't think is every used for knitting (more like rugmaking and such)
It sounds so lovely! Seems like all the knitblogs I read wind up involving spinning somehow, and I am really getting tempted to pick up my drop-spindle and try it again.
Oh, YUM!!!!
As far as the label goes, the wool is blended from a number of different sheep breeds but it all has a micron count that is considered "fine."
The nubs are the noils in the silk. I think you would really have dun dyeing at least a smal part of this roving since silk soaks up more dye than wool and would give you a little bit of a tweeded effect depending on how well the silk is blended in... :) I think noils are really fun to spin into yarn. It gives almost a boucle feel if the yarn is thin and the noils are slightly larger than the diameter of the strand. Really fun to knit with too!
And since I am catching up from the holidays, I hope you are feeling back up to 100% both mentally and physically very soon. I'll be thinking and praying healing and peace for you.
Pretty pretty!
I'm with you on the natural color. I really do love the natural colors and do NOT get bored spinning (or knitting) them (yet). Most other people disagree with me. Having said that, I bet that combo would take dye like nobody's business and give you a very exciting result.
Another silk lover here...that is really gorgeous roving! Can't wait to see what you make with it...
I spun some last night, this is my first few weeks spinning and I have a knot in my left upper arm! I am feeling the pain, but well I guess I am using muscles I normally don't use (considering I am a computer geek and don't do much in the way of physical activity).
Enjoy spinning your silk! I can't wait till I get some to spin to. I want to try some alpaca, but its expensive!
That wool is sure purty! It's great to have a mom that understands the fiber pursuits. What is silk noil?
I really like the vase and the flower arrangement in the background too.
YUM. Lucky you!