By Jove, I think I’ve done it! The elusive long draw! I have some wool/mohair rolags that I carded a while ago. I thought I’d take it for a spin today, with the intent of using the single to practice my Navajo plying technique.
It’s the first time that I spun with rolags. I’ve also spun commercial rovings. One thing led to another, I did it! The long draw. I am so excited.
Unfortunately, I don’t have enough twist in most of it to be able to ply it (it keeps falling apart).
I was able to 2-ply a very small bit of it at the end because I finally changed to a higher ratio for spinning the single. That worked much better. It added the requisite spin to hold the fiber together.
And yum! It is sooo soft. There is so much more loft than spinning using the inchworm technique. I know a lot of it is because of the mohair content, but yum-mee!
I don’t know if I can do this with commerical rovings or if I would have to spin from the fold (another technique that I haven’t tried).
This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for experimentation. I know it not places where no spinner has gone before, but they are new to me.
On knitting … I’ve started shaping the shoulders of the front of the vest. I was planning on finishing it today and block it tomorrow, but I got carried away with the spinning. I’ll knit tonight while we watch LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring.
I saw The Two Towers yesterday. Wow! The imagery was pure magic! I also saw it at the right theater. We saw The Fellowship last year at a cineplex, small flat screen with okay sound. This time, I went to the Cinerama with a curved screen and state of the art sound system. I have to tell you, Paul Allen did a great job restoring that theater. You actually feel like you are in the middle of the battle, about to be trampled by the orcs.
Got some knitting done on Martin’s surprise present while waiting in line and for the movie to start.