Thank goodness for the mail, or I'd be surrounded by nothing but grey skies and cold weather. These firey little red bundles arrived not too long after I got back from Hawaii and they are a definitely a ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy place. It's 16 ounces of hand dyed corriedale pencil roving from Crown Mountain Farms in the colorway "Ruby Slippers". I picked this colorway for it's almost solid dyeing -- it seemed like in a two ply, it would make a beautiful shawl, with lovely subtle color variagations. I'm definitely looking forward to playing with it on my wheel.
While I was in Hawaii I did almost nothing fiber related. Something about the sunshine and scenery just kept me away from my carry-on full of yarn. I managed to get a couple of rounds done on the start of a sock for John, but not very much else. It probably turned out to be a good thing that I decided not to bring my wheel along after all, since I probably wouldn't have found any time to use it.** Now that I'm home, I haven't gone too far without a set of knitting needles in my hands. So that grey cool weather, while not exciting, seems to be stimulating my interest in fibery pastimes. Definitely time to spin up some ruby red corriedale.
**At the last minute I decided that I just didn't think that the large soft-sided suitcase that I had for the wheel could protect it from the hard knocks that luggage inevitably takes on a trip across several thousand miles.
Have you spun with pencil roving before? I've been wanting to try it and I'm anxious to hear about your experience.
Just as well, now you can knit & spin with all the gusto of (being on vacation!)
I have a question for you. When you spin the pencil rovings, do you split them again, or just spin them as they are (after predrafting, if you do that)? If you were spinning it on a spindle rather than a wheel, would that effect whether or not you split the roving again?
Sorry, I know that's more than one question!
I have been considering getting that color roving in a while, but I was worried that it might be really pink instead of red, and I am not a pink fan. Does yours seem pretty saturated with red
That's the same roving (different colorway) that I'm spinning right now, and I love it. I haven't had to pre-draft it at all, and the colors are beautiful. CMF is definitely becoming one of my favorite places for spinning fiber!
I definitely knit and spin more in cold weather.
Welcome home.
I'd be interested in learning more about the process of spinning with pencil roving. I can really see that roving as a gorgeous lace shawl as well. That site you linked to has just too many gorgeous things for words!
Its gorgeous... Can't wait to see it all spun up. =)
Now, that is some gorgeous yarn.
I LOVE that shade of red.