lisa’s place

I am one of the lucky 12 members of the Creatively Dyed Fiber Club.  Dianne put together the best package for the first shipment: beautiful roving, a calendar, a wraps-per-inch tool, and a great pattern.

The roving is a 20% milk protein, 20% seacell, 60% wool blend and it was so, so soft.  This is a special club dye lot:

I love that there are so many different colors in the roving.  One of my favorite things about Dianne’s roving is how different the roving and the finished yarns look.  The rovings are always very bright and (almost overly) cheerful, but spinning always creates a beautiful and serenely colored yarn.  You never know what you’ll get until you’ve finished spinning and plying the singles.

Without worrying too much about how I spun the yarn - I just tried to enjoy spinning such pretty, smooth, soft roving - I spun a 2-ply worsted(ish) yarn:

Look at all of those different colors.  Hard to think of a color you don’t see.

The softness and smooshiness of this yarn is quite indescribable.  I just love the slight sheen.

Now, I just have to decide what to knit with this yarn.  I’m thinking a cowl, perhaps.  Definitely something to be worn close to the face - gotta take advantage of all that softness.

Of course, I had to quickly spin up some of the fiber I received yesterday.

First, the specially dyed superwash roving that Carol sent:

I tried to spin a sportweight single with quite a bit of twist.

I just can’t get over how nice the colors are.  I’ve no idea what I’ll do with this, but I know I’ll be ordering more.  This may have been the easiest roving I’ve ever spun.  I think this would be great for a beginner.

Next up, a picture of the sample I’d spun yesterday of the Brown Sheep mill end rovings in browns (now that it is dry, it is soft and smooshy and most pleasing).

Finally, here is a bit of llama I spun (in the grease) a couple of weeks ago.

This yarn has grown on me.  I am really liking how rustic and handmade it looks now.

(Sorry about the formatting problems - will try to make this easier to read).

What could possibly be better than a fiber source that provides friendly service, convenience, a Ravelry group filled with information (moderated by one of the owners), and a fun surprise when you open up each package?

How about this? A small business that was started to use up mill ends from a large yarn manufacturer and provides them at very low cost to handspinners, felters, and knitters.

I first heard about this company, Sheep Shed Studio,on a ravelry group for Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel owners. Recently, a new group was formed for those spinners who love Sheep Shed Studio called Sheep Shed Fiber Lovers.

After seeing pictures of fibers that members had received, I couldn’t help myself. I placed an order for 5 lbs of Brown Sheep mill end rovings in browns. This roving sold for $7.50 per lb and shipping was a steal if you ordered more than about 2.5-3 lbs. There is even a handy shipping calculator when you add to your cart so you can decide how much fiber you should purchase to maximize your shipping dollars.

I received my order today. I was surprised by the size of the box (not that big) and was not sure how everything could possibly fit. When I cut through the tape, the contents literally spilled out. (More like gnawed through it with my teeth and my car keys (I was in the car, having just picked it up) because I couldn’t wait to get a look at it, a student walking by looked at me like I’d completely lost it).

For some, these colors might seem plain or boring, but I love browns, especially for sweaters to wear with jeans (which I wear almost exclusively). I am so excited by how nicely this spins up - very forgiving. This tiny bit that I spun up just to test only took a few minutes to spin and ply. It is still damp in the photo but it is already very soft!

There will be SO much yarn here, plenty for at least 3 sweaters, I think. How exciting is that? Three sweaters for about $50! Absolutely can’t beat that. As a bonus - rescued wool!

I can’t wait until I have a day I can spend in front of the wheel. I want to see how a worsted single would spin and wash up. This roving is quite easy to spin evenly and I think you could put a fair amount of twist on a single and end up with a pretty balanced yarn.

As a bonus, this specially dyed superwash wool was included in my package:

Carol dyes some of the wools in beautiful colors and sells them at very reasonable prices (and apparently shares samples with customers). I think my next order will include some of these wools (and maybe some superwash wool to dye myself).

Tags: fiber, handspun, stash