Call a Pro, Part 2

Back in the fall, Alpaca Kathy and I had hosted a plying workshop with Barbara Clorite-Ventura in my kitchen, and it was one of the highlights of my spinning apprenticeship so far.  When she mentioned that she was going to be teaching a coloured roving workshop at my pal Marsha's, I started a mental countdown to the day, looking forward to it the way Paris Hilton looks forward to throwing up.

And it was almost as fun.

Marsha lives in the same town as this house and this house, and the three of us, Kathy, Germaine and I, were there in about an hour.  We found our way to Marsha's spinning room (doing our best not to be distracted by the looms (three!), and the great wheels (two!), and the floor-to-ceiling fiber book cubbies, to be greeted by new and familiar faces (Hi Marianne!), and by the pile of bliss Barbara had brought for us all to mess around in.  We made samples according to her instructions all morning, and broke for lunch to admire our collective progress.

It was a lesson in surprise and experimentation, to take that delectable roving and spin it in a way so that all the magic that seduced you in the first place would survive through the spinning to the knitting.  I won't give a lot away, because you really owe it to yourself to take this kind of a class either from Barbara if you can, or from your local spinning deity.

But here's a taste.  At the end of the day, she handed out some striped roving from Ashland Bay; you know the kind -- that looks so pretty and interesting and has all these gorgeous colours. . . until you spin it and it turns into mud?

Barbara had us spin some as it came, just drafting it straight, then spinning from the fold, and then pulling out colour chunks and spinning them separately (I Navajo plied that last one).   I have decided to forgive Ashland Bay for the muddy results I've had in the past, and will lift my personal boycott now that they blend their colours less and I better understand how to bend the stuff to my will.

It's funny how that knowledge/power-over-fiber ratio works out, hm?  It's practically a life lesson.

Comments

[Stacey]

It's amazing how the same roving looks spun different ways!

[Norma]

I need that knowledge. What I get is MUD.

[Martha]

You know, I looked at my Ashland Bay roving to see if I could separate the colors, but it didn't seem possible. They were so mixed in, and it would just be a couple of strands of green, a couple of strands of red, etc. So I spun it as-is and got a flecky heathered sort of mud. Sigh.

[Laurie]

Very interesting results. I agree with Norma's mud. I think it's time to be more active in what meets the twist.

[Beth S.]

So those three yarns in the last photo were all spun from the same roving? Wow. Knowledge certainly is power!

[Pumpkinmama]

Sounds like a very frutiful workshop. As with the dyeing, I just never have the patience to make myself do those excersises on my own. Cool stuff.

[Manise]

Wow! Sounds like you learned a lot along with the fun! What a great setting too!

[Judy]

Hey, don't keep those little workshops a secret. It sounds terrific!

[Carole]

I can't believe how different the yarns look depending on how the roving was drafted. Amazing.

[Beth]

I need to practice more with spinning from the fold - so many more possibilities... :) I could really use one of those workshops!

[liz]

I have no clue as to what "spinning from the fold" means (you could say folding from the spin and I'd still just smile and nod), but that one is darn pretty.

Sounds like you had a fun weekend!

[benedetta]

well, now i know it's not just me who's getting mud!
good to know there are alternatives, although they look not really within reach right now.
looks like you had way too much fun, as usual!

[Kristen]

ah ha! there is a method to the spinning maddness... all are beautiful but knowing that there is a way around the mud is spectacular.

(the wedding cake house? I drove by it, daily, during my first year of grad school...I miss living so close to the ocean.)

[elisa]

Kellee warned me away from the Ashland Bay at NHS&W because of the MUD. I'm glad to know there's a remedy, but probably I'll wait until I have more of a clue about what the h*ll I'm doing. :)

That said - what a great and fun workshop!

[Monica]

Sounds like a great workshop!

[Kellee]

Oh holy crap! Wouldja lookee there?!?! That's amazing. AND gives a new hope for a new life to the AB rovings shoved into the back of the fiber bins. Thanks for posting this.

Also? What Judy said. ;)