Friday's Fiber Play...Oct 28th

It started out looking like this...

It's a roving of Yak, Merino and Bamboo.

This combination is really soft and when spun it

has a kind of springy-ness.

To help you see where the fibers were "born"

read below.  =)

Yaks have a course outer coat that is used

for making things like rope.  It's the soft undercoat

that is mainly used for spinning. The softness

is often compared to cashmere.  But, the fiber

is short.  So, it is blended with other fibers

like wool and/or silk.

Merino...

 is very fine and very soft...in the realm of sheepdom.

It is a wool used to make garments that will be next to

the skin.  It is quite greasy tho and can become matted

easily.  So, processing it into fiber to spin...takes extra

effort and care.  But, imho, it's truly worth it.  I will post

more about the wide range of wool/sheep, in the future.

  And, about the wonderful and unique properties of wool.

Original Bamboo...

The bamboo content in the roving

I have pictured above - the one in the brown bucket,

...actually came from the bamboo plant.  Isn't that

amazing?  It's really hard for me to think that

the VERY soft shiney fiber comes from the stalk

of wooden-like bamboo.  This fiber has been

compared closely to silk.  But, it is less expensive,

a bit shinnier, and slippery-er.

Hanging around waiting for it's warm bath...

* two things learned*

I found out after the fiber was washed and

dried to set, that I tied the turquoise figure 8s,

that I tied too tight.  There were lines when

I took off the ties.  =( .  I think that if I rewash,

the lines might come out. I'll let you know.

Another thing learned from the last few

fiber-to-yarn experiences is that:

If I want to spin equal amounts onto the

bobbins, I need to divide the roving into

equal parts firsts BEFORE I start to spin.

Why would I need the bobbins to have equal

amounts of single ply yarn?  Well, when plying the

two single ply yarns...some would be left

on one bobbin, while the other would be empty.

Is that clear as mud? Or does it make any sense?