My plan was to dye some roving using tin foil to make a little solar oven. When I went to buy the roving at Sweet Grass Wool, Patti asked if I was going to use black plastic bags. Well, I think her idea was much better so I did indeed use black plastic bags. It's been in the 90's lately so not only is it hot enough to dye, everything dried quickly. First I made trays out of old card board and black plastic then laid the roving in them. I squirted on the dye and then covered the whole thing with another black plastic bag. I kept going out side and touching the black plastic to see how hot it was getting. It got very hot, even to the point that it hurt to touch them! I could feel the roving inside and knew that there was enough heat to process the dye. I tossed all the cardboard and plastic in the trash afterwards for an easy (and wasteful) clean-up.
I went with fall colors so I would have something to spin when I move in the fall.
Even though I said I'd just be doing fiber prep now and spinning later, I just couldn't help myself. I started spinning the sweater yarn that I recently carded.
I know my profile says I live in Seattle, but I'm actually in Montana now. The plan goes as such: my family and I are moving all our stuff to Seattle in a week or so. They will stay there and I'll fly back to Montana to work* until Sept. During the time that I'm in Montana without my family I will have a lot of time to spin. So I'm getting all my projects together now.*As some of you know, I'm a midwife. I only have 2 births left this summer in Montana so I'll have a lot of time to sit around and spin and wait for the babies.
4 comments:
Hope you get some time to do some weaving on the RH loom before you leave the state! Your fall colors would look great as a scarf.
Lisa
Traci I have a question or two since I know nothing about this subject but I really really wanna learn. I wanna know what is roving? What are the steps from the sheep to the knitting? This just looks like something I would really love to do and I have lots of time on my hands and lots of sheep and goats around here where I live.
Roving is commercially prepared wool (or other fiber) that is in long strips ready to spin. You can buy it at many places in person or on the internet. When I spin from "batts" that's fiber that I have prepared myself from washing the wool and running it through a drum carder. There's tons of information on the internet on how to do all this stuff. I watch youtube videos on how to do different fiber related things. Read the magazine "Spin-Off" and you will learn so much.
Well thank you so much! You have been so nice and helpful. The photos of your work are amazing....Oh if I could do what you do I would be quite content to live in the desert with camels and sheep for the rest of my days. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors you have used!
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