Wednesday 4 May 2016

Batts and Roving

The last time I did a World of Wool order, I got some Botany Lap Waste. If you've not heard of this it's basically a huge bin they have at WoW, where they put the left over tops from the ends of carding runs, and when you order some they grab 500g out of the bin and you get what you're given, but it is cheaper than Merino or blends and sometimes you get a lot of the luxury fibre like yak, alpaca etc. This time it seemed I got the ends of someone's bizarre order of various greys, including what looked like natural grey Merino blended with trilobal nylon (why?!) I don't know why they can't have a 'neutrals' choice for browns, greys etc. The rest of my bag was a kind of dyed steel grey Merino,  some green Merino which looked like it was their Gooseberry shade, and some pinky pale lilac I didn't recognise. I carded them all up into batts then put them through again with other Merino to make some blends. I put the lilac through with various shades of purple and a few blues. Then I used a diz (a brass picture hook with 3 holes) to make roving:


I made another batt with the same colours, but added some orange, pinks, yellow, red, and some brighter blues:


This is what the roving looks like unwound:


I put the gooseberry batt through the carder with some green shades and light/bright blues. I meant to make roving, but forgot, so I might put it through again. One side:


The other side:


I put half and half gooseberry and grey through the carder, and made roving:


When I was putting the batts and blends away, I discovered some other odds and ends from when I did MakeFest last year. I might blend some of these greens with half the gooseberry batt I forgot to card:


I found some gorgeous (even if I do say so myself!) texturey batts I'd forgoten I'd made too. I might have to save these for when I get a spinning wheel to make some texturey yarn!:


8 comments:

  1. I loved the first one, then I saw the second one! That is a fabulous mix.

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    1. Thanks, Lyn :) Yeah, those extra few colours really make a difference!

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  2. They would all make lovely yarns Zed, can wait to see where you go with them. I'm guessing the first couple would loose their lovely colours if they were felted?

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    1. Thanks, Teri :) I did use the first two recently, and they worked nicely, kept their colours well. I altered one thing I made and fulled it harder, and then some distinction was lost.

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  3. I just ordered some Botany Lap Waste, too! I'll be curious to compare my colors with yours!! Hxx

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    1. I see a lot of Spinners on Facebook saying they go down to WoW where you can choose your waste, I think they get all the best shades!

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  4. I love these mixes Zed. Sounds like it could be worth having a day out to visit WOW and rummage through the waste bins! Then again I like the idea of a challenge and blending what I already have with whatever is posted out, as you've done here. They've worked out great!

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    1. Thanks, Karen :) You've got me thinking now, I was planning a WoW order, but maybe I'll just go there instead!

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