Woolen Spinning from Rolags... I am working on the second set of batts I prepped for the SCF and Friends spin along, the blue/brown set.
I carded the blue and brown batts together and prepped them into rolags (well, fauxlags... more on this, later).
I wanted to spin with a very "woolen" process, to get a lofty, airy yarn. I worked on my English long draw technique, a process of pulling out a long width of the rolag and letting the "spin" into the drafted fiber while pulling out the yarn to the desired thinness. This is quite different to all the "worsted" spinning I've done, where fibers are drafted straight to the desired thickness and only then allowed to spin.
A video would be better, but here are some shots showing the basic process. Note that my hand placement isn't correct in the photos because I'm stopping to take pictures with my right hand...
1. After attaching a new rolag to the spinning, pull out and let a big wad of fiber into the drafting zone:
2. Keep pulling with the right hand, allowing the fiber to draft and spin AT THE SAME TIME.
3. The fiber will draft more from the thick places than it does from thin places, in a sort of magical looking way.
4. When it evens out to the desired thinness, allow it to wrap onto the bobbin.
I'm almost done with my fourth of four bobbins, and I should be ready to ply later today.
Here's a video of spinning rolags with long draw... not my video, though! This video calls them "fauxlags" because they aren't *really* a traditional rolag. A rolag is made with hand-cards. It is a more involved process than just making the tubes (fauxlags), but the fauxlags work well!
Happy Knitting,
Lisa Kay
I carded the blue and brown batts together and prepped them into rolags (well, fauxlags... more on this, later).
I wanted to spin with a very "woolen" process, to get a lofty, airy yarn. I worked on my English long draw technique, a process of pulling out a long width of the rolag and letting the "spin" into the drafted fiber while pulling out the yarn to the desired thinness. This is quite different to all the "worsted" spinning I've done, where fibers are drafted straight to the desired thickness and only then allowed to spin.
A video would be better, but here are some shots showing the basic process. Note that my hand placement isn't correct in the photos because I'm stopping to take pictures with my right hand...
1. After attaching a new rolag to the spinning, pull out and let a big wad of fiber into the drafting zone:
2. Keep pulling with the right hand, allowing the fiber to draft and spin AT THE SAME TIME.
3. The fiber will draft more from the thick places than it does from thin places, in a sort of magical looking way.
4. When it evens out to the desired thinness, allow it to wrap onto the bobbin.
I'm almost done with my fourth of four bobbins, and I should be ready to ply later today.
Here's a video of spinning rolags with long draw... not my video, though! This video calls them "fauxlags" because they aren't *really* a traditional rolag. A rolag is made with hand-cards. It is a more involved process than just making the tubes (fauxlags), but the fauxlags work well!
Happy Knitting,
Lisa Kay
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