It is said never to look a gift Horse in the mouth and beware of Horses bearing gifts ... or is it beware Trojans bearing gifts? I forget.
Horse and I were discussing her latest project, which she is threatening to keep and make socks for herself. During our conversation she started using terms I did not understand. As her representative in Mountain View and on the Coyote's Blessings store site, I thought it would be good to learn about carding, spinning, ply and all the rest. So we had a brief interview.
Me: Does plying it make it stronger in the long run? Or better for projects?
Horse: Stronger, softer, and much more stable. Hand spun single ply is apt to either kink or untwist itself. The twist just isn't quite stable, it pretty much always ends up either over spun or under spun. Plying changes the twist (you ply in the opposite direction from spinning) and the two strands can balance each other out and help cancel most of the issues.
She mentioned she had more roving than she thought.
Me: Is that a good thing? Having more roving?
Horse: Roving is what you have when the fibers have been washed and carded and are ready to spin. So the more roving you have, the more yarn you can spin from it.
Me: Oh. Good to know. I don't know much about carding and ply and all the technical terms for what you are doing.
Horse: lol. Plying is taking two strands and twisting them around each other. Carding I have posted about in my lair. :) It aligns the fibers so they are all lying smoothly and pointing the same direction, making them fluffy and easy to spin.
Me: Thanks. Would you mind if I used your answers on CB's blog? We did a random interview and I thought it might be fun to put up. If it would be OK with you, I could link to your lair so any potential readers can learn more if they'd like.What do you think?
Horse: No prob :)
As she was about to leave, I managed a few more questions.
Me: Quick question. The stuff you sent us ... is it sheep wool or alpaca wool? I noticed in your lair you're mentioning alpaca. That's the 'in' thing right now, isn't it?
Horse: What I sent you is sheep. Romney is a sheep breed. The dyed stuff I have now is also Romney sheep. I don't know if alpaca is "in" or not, I just know that I got POUNDS of the stuff for free from a friend whose family used to breed alpacas, and it's wonderful stuff. It is actually warmer than sheep's wool, it's also stronger and lighter, plus much softer. And it's hypoallergenic. Total luxury fiber.
Me: People eat it up from what I can tell. If you have 'pounds of it' maybe we can post some on the site? Unless you're going to make socks from it?
Horse: I need to get it spun first!
Me: Haha. Ok.
Horse: Spinning is a slow process, and many times more so when you're on a drop spindle and not a wheel. But yes, that is ultimately what I will be sending down. The scarves were just to use up yarn that I didn't want to toss (and yeah, there are two more - the one that you have now is the least likely to sell). The Romney isn't fabulous spinning, and it's a little coarse. I didn't ply because even unplied it's barely long enough to do a lacy open-work scarf with. The colored Romney will be longer, but I may use it for socks. The alpaca is what I will be focused on.
Me: Cool.
Horse: But I can't do a whole lot of it until we're through the worst of the summer heat - it's next to impossible to card with a fan on you! Fiber everywhere except on the carders...
Me: hahahaha After seeing those pictures I'm not surprised.
Horse: Yup. Anyway, I've gotta scoot...
--End--
Thanks for the impromptu interview! Looking forward to seeing those socks and more scarves.
Would you like to learn more?
Check out:
Cleaning and Carding
Spinning
Horse and I were discussing her latest project, which she is threatening to keep and make socks for herself. During our conversation she started using terms I did not understand. As her representative in Mountain View and on the Coyote's Blessings store site, I thought it would be good to learn about carding, spinning, ply and all the rest. So we had a brief interview.
INTERVIEW
Me: Does plying it make it stronger in the long run? Or better for projects?
Horse: Stronger, softer, and much more stable. Hand spun single ply is apt to either kink or untwist itself. The twist just isn't quite stable, it pretty much always ends up either over spun or under spun. Plying changes the twist (you ply in the opposite direction from spinning) and the two strands can balance each other out and help cancel most of the issues.
She mentioned she had more roving than she thought.
Me: Is that a good thing? Having more roving?
Horse: Roving is what you have when the fibers have been washed and carded and are ready to spin. So the more roving you have, the more yarn you can spin from it.
Me: Oh. Good to know. I don't know much about carding and ply and all the technical terms for what you are doing.
Horse: lol. Plying is taking two strands and twisting them around each other. Carding I have posted about in my lair. :) It aligns the fibers so they are all lying smoothly and pointing the same direction, making them fluffy and easy to spin.
Me: Thanks. Would you mind if I used your answers on CB's blog? We did a random interview and I thought it might be fun to put up. If it would be OK with you, I could link to your lair so any potential readers can learn more if they'd like.What do you think?
Horse: No prob :)
As she was about to leave, I managed a few more questions.
Me: Quick question. The stuff you sent us ... is it sheep wool or alpaca wool? I noticed in your lair you're mentioning alpaca. That's the 'in' thing right now, isn't it?
Horse: What I sent you is sheep. Romney is a sheep breed. The dyed stuff I have now is also Romney sheep. I don't know if alpaca is "in" or not, I just know that I got POUNDS of the stuff for free from a friend whose family used to breed alpacas, and it's wonderful stuff. It is actually warmer than sheep's wool, it's also stronger and lighter, plus much softer. And it's hypoallergenic. Total luxury fiber.
Me: People eat it up from what I can tell. If you have 'pounds of it' maybe we can post some on the site? Unless you're going to make socks from it?
Horse: I need to get it spun first!
Me: Haha. Ok.
Horse: Spinning is a slow process, and many times more so when you're on a drop spindle and not a wheel. But yes, that is ultimately what I will be sending down. The scarves were just to use up yarn that I didn't want to toss (and yeah, there are two more - the one that you have now is the least likely to sell). The Romney isn't fabulous spinning, and it's a little coarse. I didn't ply because even unplied it's barely long enough to do a lacy open-work scarf with. The colored Romney will be longer, but I may use it for socks. The alpaca is what I will be focused on.
Me: Cool.
Horse: But I can't do a whole lot of it until we're through the worst of the summer heat - it's next to impossible to card with a fan on you! Fiber everywhere except on the carders...
Me: hahahaha After seeing those pictures I'm not surprised.
Horse: Yup. Anyway, I've gotta scoot...
--End--
Thanks for the impromptu interview! Looking forward to seeing those socks and more scarves.
Would you like to learn more?
Check out:
Cleaning and Carding
Spinning
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