Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Hiya!

Hey everybody! I'm Elizabeth and I'm a new spinner, just got my Majacraft "Rosalita" last November. To say that I'm addicted would be an understatement! I'm sure you can relate. I have tons of questions but right now I'll try to listen and learn for the most part!

Except for this one question (see, I couldn't help myself): is it possible, do you think, to spin Wensleydale for lace? It's just soooo pretty and has such a wonderful sheen that I immediately thought how pretty it would be in a shawl. But the hairiness! here's what it looks like on my bobbin:

The Wensleydale is in the back. I don't want to fight against the nature of the wool. I sampled spinning from the fold and also short draw (?maybe, it's how I normally spin) and short draw, low ratio, not a lot of twist produced a less-hairy yarn. Anything else I should try? Or should I designate this as "outer wear only." Thanks for your help! I'm really happy to be part of this group!


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hm. I can't answer for the Wensleydale since I've not spun it, and I'm pretty new to this process, but I wouldn't let "hairiness" stop me from testing it as a laceweight. I mean, there are laceweight *mohairs,* and lace patterns for mohair and mohair blends, and alpaca certainly isn't non-fuzzy. :-) I think I'd try spinning a yard or so for laceweight, plying it, giving it a hot soak, and seeing what I thought after it dried. If you don't like the texture after all that, then you won't have invested the fiber and the time in something you won't like after it's done. Does that make sense?

Anonymous said...

Wait, wait--I forgot to ask! What's that stuff in the front?!? Inquiring minds . . . :-)

Anonymous said...

Thanks Rhonna! I think I'm going to wind the Wensleydale off the bobbin, soak it, dry it, and then knit a test swatch. See how that turns out. It's only yarn, right? If I don't like it, I'll make more!

That's tussah silk on the other bobbin; it was a DREAM to spin and I love, love, love it!

-elizabeth

cyndy said...

Hi Elizabeth-

I once spun Wensleydale top, and plied it with tussah silk, and wove it into a Leno Lace shawl. It looked beautiful (even won a red ribbon)...but it does have a tendancy to shed...I'm not sure why, perhaps I didn't put enough twist into the single.

judy said...

I love Wensleydale. It is the reason I first began to spin. I wanted to knit with a Wensleydale yarn and wans't able to find what I wanted commercially. It is a hairy fiber. Hairy in the way mohair is hairy. It knits up much the same. If you enjoy a mohair lace arn, you will be happy. The sheen and drape can't be beat.