Romney
Pin drafted roving.
Singles on the spool.
4 hanks and a swatch.
Spinner: RebeccaFiber: Pin-drafted Romney roving purchased on 11/04/06 from Spring Hill Farm, a quaint little farm in a valley near Port Ludlow on the way to Port Townsend, WA. The charming and knowledgeable sheep owner, Margaret Walters, talked about her Romneys, which all wear covers over their coats, and showed us the many bags of yarn, fiber, bats and unprocessed fleeces in her living/dining room area. Peggy and I chose a Romney pencil roving in the same grey color (just in case one of us needed more) for a total weight of almost 28 oz. At $2.25/per, we were excited to spin with a rather spendy fiber that neither of us had yet tried.
Details: Spun in March and April 2007 on my Russian
Olive Betty Roberts double drive wheel, 4 hanks of 2-ply at 14 wpi and a total of 1450 yards and 23.8 oz. There was considerable waste so I ended up spinning all of it, mine and Peggys. She generously gave me hers, claiming I had already given her a big bag o' black wool/alpaca. True, but still generous. She's like that, yes she is.
The results: The thing I learned is that 'no crimp = not soft'. Or another way to put it would be 'rope', but that's not entirely accurate because when I knit up a swatch on #5 needles it was somewhat silky and rope is not silky. I practiced spinning woolen to try to make it more airy and the resulting knitted fabric may do quite well for outer garments, so not exactly rope. I could try tightly knit slippers to wear over hand knit socks. Or another shawl. I could dye it, too! That would be fun, especially since it's not really my color. My promise: if I dye it I will do another post of that project. Heck, I'll do that anyway, for whatever I end up knitting!
An aside: To be fair to Romneys and to Margaret, the Romney yarn we saw at her farm was soft and airy but it was heavy worsted or bulky weight, which I don't usually knit. This in mind, I thought I'd just spin up some in my favorite weight - fingering/sport - and that it didn't turn out soft and airy is not the fault of the Romney or Margaret. Mia culpa.
A Romney Ewe in Maryland
An aside: To be fair to Romneys and to Margaret, the Romney yarn we saw at her farm was soft and airy but it was heavy worsted or bulky weight, which I don't usually knit. This in mind, I thought I'd just spin up some in my favorite weight - fingering/sport - and that it didn't turn out soft and airy is not the fault of the Romney or Margaret. Mia culpa.
They are a handsome breed.
A Romney Ewe in Maryland
3 comments:
Well, it sure is pretty, whether it's super-soft or not. I'm just now getting the idea of different methods of spinning to acheive different yarns (though it sounds like a Big-No-Duh, I'm a newbie!) so I appreciate your analysis of the results.
That's beautifully spun and would make a really nice and durable shawl. Does it feel like Shetland yarn? How about a nice Wool Peddler or a hap shawl?
The yarn looks lovely - can't wait to see what you do with it!
I love Spring Hill Farm Romney, especially in grey. Which probably explains why I have about 15 pounds of their fleece right now in the Basement of Wool...
If only I spun as quickly as both of you it would be done in no time!
Post a Comment