Dyefest preperation

Many things on the horizon. A week from Saturday is the dye fest held by our spinning guild. In preparation for the dye-fest I gathered some bare roving to play with and experiment under the tutelage of Janel Laidman, spinner, fiber artist, scientist and renowned author. What is all this? Well, I wanted to sort out some fiber to bring and the more I contemplated this the more involved it became. I pulled out all the undyed fiber and sorted through it. I measured five ounces of each and divided that into one ounce hanks ready for dying. Eight different fibers, BFL, Targhee, Rambouillet, Optim, Seacel, Cormo, Australian Merino, & Falkland.

Why five ounces? I was hoping to dye each package the same, and maybe if they turn out ok, I'll spin them into sock yarn. I'm being optimistic here so wish me luck. I'll post lots of pictures as I always do so all of you can come with us in spirit.

Wednesday I spoke to Paula Simmons on the phone ( it was really exciting to me) about the proper drum carder for the type of fiber I want to use. I learned that the problems that most people have with neps, is caused by the front drum ratio being too high. Fibers with lots of crimp and fine to extra fine need slow speed and a slower licker drum ratio. She said the Supercarder was the best choice because the licker drum is independent from the large drum besides I don't have $2,600 set aside for a drum carder. I've decided on the "Pat Green Beverly" at least for this week. :P I was all set to get something else but why buy a drum carder that I can't use on the fibers I want to spin or already have.

A little post script here... Ariadne or Stevie left me a comment about wanting to spin. We meet every Tuesday night from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Yarn Lady. Please e-mail me @ e1jerryt@sbcglobal.net if you want to meet up for more spinning. There are multiple spin groups in the area if you like.