eBay Buyer Beware... Great Wool, Dirty Roving

Currently, I am going through my inventory of raw fleeces, rovings, etc. and processing them for winter spinning. No better time of year to scour dirty fleeces, dye fibers, and prep them for processing than summer, when the sun is hot and the fibers dry in a flash. In doing so, I ran across this old roving which I bought ages ago (around 2002) from an eBay seller.

When I first received this purchase, I was flabbergasted (and more than a little annoyed). I took one look at this horribly dirty roving, heavily laden with vegetable matter, and tossed it in one of my wool bins for a time when I could stand to look at it. Today is that day.

The fiber itself is a deliciously soft wool (can't now remember breed, it has been too long ago), but my guess is merino blended with some lesser wool. It is truly next to the skin soft. However, the amount of veggie matter left in this fleece and sent to a processor for roving is mind blowing! It is apparent to me that the seller of this wool had little care for the quality of the fiber they were selling, they just wanted it sold fast. While I certainly don't mind picking fleeces, one does not expect to have to pick a commercially prepared roving. Shame on the eBay seller, who will remain nameless.

In any event, I have now combed, carded (again and again), and picked this roving to the point of usability. I purchased a bit over 3 lbs and it has taken a great deal of time to get it to its current state of affairs. I am now blending this wool with baby Suri alpaca, 60% alpaca/40% mystery roving. Even at this stage, I will still have to pick out vegetable matter while spinning. It is unbelievable to me that this roving, commercially prepared, was sold in this very filthy fashion.

Moral: Be very, very careful what fibers you buy from eBay! Know your seller!!

First Magic Loop Socks

I have been toying with the idea of trying the magic loop technique/method of knitting small circumferences, rather than using double points. A small project seemed ideal for my experimentation -- eureka!! SOCKS! After deciding on the needle technique, I had to decide how I wanted to knit the socks; from top to toe or bottom up. Bottom up always wins with me, since I hate fiddling with the toes at the end and am not a big fan of grafting. The beauty of knitting socks from the toe up is that you can try them on while knitting to ensure a great fit. I decided on a great toe-up cast-on technique called Judy Becker's Magic Cast-On. Then I rummaged through my stash and found some sock yarn. For this project, I used Knit Picks Kettle-Dyed Stroll for the toes, heel and cuff and Red Heart Heart & Sole. I discovered that the Magic Loop is an awesome way to knit small circumferences and, I tend to prefer it over both double points and the two-circular method. Give it a try! You'll love it!