Every once in a while, the fact that I’m basically an optimistic person with a persistent nature bites me hard on the hind parts. Today would be one of those days.
I have once again spun something that is either terrible yarn or awesome bailer twine, although since I was aiming for yarn, I think it must be the former.
I’ve been working with that huge green and white batt that I showed you the other day, and I feel that I must tell you that I bought this batt of my own free will and under no duress several years ago, when I knew almost all that I know now, and I didn’t think it would be a problem then, and was totally blindsided by it now. The minute I saw that batt I imagined a beautiful circular shawl (odd, that… since I usually don’t care for them, resembling large doilies as they sometimes do) a beautiful shawl with a white middle that gradually shifted to beautiful green – like a blossom, and the minute this thing of wonder was fully visualized, I snapped the thing up and brought it home.
Now that’s not shocking. (Headline “STEPHANIE BUYS WOOL, NO-ONE STUNNED”) because I buy wool all the time. What is shocking is that this batt has characteristics that aren’t to my taste, have never been to my taste and will never be to my taste – and that somehow, I forked over the cash and loved it anyway.
The honeymoon had to end though, and this week the minute that I picked it up and started working with it, I thought: This is absolutely not going to work… and then carried on, still married to the idea of the shawl.
When I felt that the wool was coarse and difficult to spin, I reminded myself that I enjoy lots of breeds of sheep and that I’m not married to just the ultra soft ones. When I saw that it had lots of nepps I thought “That’s ok. I can pick them out as I go, I don’t mind that (much.)” When I realized 10 minutes later that this batt had a lot of VM (VM= vegetable matter- like grass, seeds, bits of hay etc.) I gave myself a little talking to about picking it out and not being such a baby.
Now, in it’s defense, this batt is Romney – a fibre that (while it’s the finest of the longwools) just doesn’t scream “soft and cushy” and isn’t ever going to be the softest thing you’ve ever felt. I’m fine with that. It usually has lustre and durability on it’s side instead, and is often a fleece I actively seek- although with real discretion for the quality – and the VM was there when I bought it, I just didn’t notice it. Holding the batt up to the light revealed how much VM there was.
Secondly, this is a big batt, not a combed top, and it makes sense that the fibres would be jumbled up and not draft as smoothly as it’s more elegantly prepared cousins, and I accept the presence of nepps (essentially knots) in a reasonable quantity… but when I found myself really struggling to get a smooth yarn out of it, I wondered (finally) If I hadn’t imagined a bad match between fibre and project. No matter what was happening in my head, this wasn’t what was happening between my hands, and I realized that this fibre was not ever going to be the yarn I want it to be.
At that point I sighed a little, and took a step back and thought it through. Okay. This fibre wasn’t what I was expecting, but I’m a flexible spinner and I’ll figure it out. I thought it would get better, or… I don’t know what I thought, but I do know that I thought that whatever was wrong with it was something I could overcome with skill somehow, and I kept spinning. I kept picking out the nepps, picking out the grass and doing the best I could, but I really wasn’t having fun – but I still spun into the evening and night – and went to bed pretty sure that somehow, even thought this batt was almost everything in a batt that makes it less fun for me, that the good times would start to roll any minute if I was persistent.
This morning I got up and looked at the singles – and in the proper light I noticed for the first time that the white was yellow stained in places. Spinning concentrates colour, and so a flawed fleece (if you think yellowing is a flaw – you might not it you like to dye- there’s a lot of yellow fleeces out there that hit they dyebath and ended up lovely) might not appear so until you’ve spun it. I certainly didn’t think this had as much yellow as it does. It looked to me like it was yolking (normal yellow stain of sheep sweat and lanolin) which usually washes out… so I kept spinning – even though now the batt had another strike against it. The imagined shawl was whitish/ivory in the centre. Not that pale yellow.
I finished the whole bobbin before I could admit that it probably wasn’t worth spinning another, but even then my optimistic nature demanded that I make sure. Maybe it was one of those fibres that really improved with the plying and washing. How could I come this far and not find out? I chain (or “navajo”) plied the yarn – since if I did move onto a second and third bobbin, that’s how I was going to preserve the colour changes, and because three plied yarn looks more even than two ply yarn… and this needed all the help it could get.
Plied, the yarn still looked rough – especially in the colour department, but it hadn’t been washed yet. (It was also still really rough and itchy and full of VM – but somehow I had brought myself to believe that washing was going to fix all of that.) I immersed it in a sink full of hot water (hoping to scour the yolking out) and left it to soak for a good long time. About 60 minutes later, I rinsed it, pressed the water out of it, and hung it to dry, doing my level best not to judge it until judging time.
Just now I went and collected it from the back (It was drying in the squirrel proof system devised last year) and had a look and feel.
It’s crap. Whatever the yellow is (canary stain maybe? That doesn’t wash out) is still there. The VM is still there. I can see in the daylight that some red fibres are into the creamy part (that may be from hanging out in my stash- who knows what it was consorting with – although it was wrapped up the whole time) and it still possesses all of the softness of cheap steel wool or a high school vice principal.
In short: I hate it and although it goes against my very nature….. I’m quitting.
Life’s too short to spend on wool you don’t love, and since this fibre was wrong when I bought it and is still wrong now… I’m not doing it. I gave it a fair shake, but this batt is out of here. I’ll give it (and the skein of 250m of fingering weight bailer twine) to Denny who can usually find the redeeming qualities of any fibre and we’ll see what comes of it.
I hope it doesn’t let the door hit its arse on the way out.
PS. I finished some socks:
Leyburn, in STR lightweight Crabby McCrabbypants. They worked fine and can stay.
I am having the same sort of day of denial, only it’s with my To Do list. Heaven help the next person to walk into my office and ask for assistance or a meeting or anything. Can’t they see that I am already juggling flaming cats?
The yarn LOOKS pretty, but I’m glad you’re quitting. It’s like deciding you don’t have to finish a book that you hate reading, right?
Some days just need socks like that. Gorgeous.
I’m sorry the batt didn’t want to behave and be what you wanted it to be. Hopefully it will go on to be the yarn it wants to be. I love the socks – the pattern really works well with that yarn.
oh so lovely,If I just had one of those socks I would wear it always lol wish I could knit something besides cable socks, I got to get my big girl pantys on and just do it! I dare my self to knit that pattern lol thanks for sharein!
Well, Mark Twain would be proud of you. He’s the one who said “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then give up. No sense being a damn fool about it.”
And thanks — I’d been trying to remember the name of that sock pattern. Now THAT’s a good fit between yarn and project.
(And as a matter of record, I do not give a rip whether this is first or not.)
Love the socks!!!
Good for you to give the batt a chance – everyone and everything deserves at least one, don’t they?
(Suddenly thinking of Dorothy Parker advice’s advice to not set it aside lightly but hurl it with great force across the room…)
I’m glad that even an experience spinner, such as yourself, still occasionally makes twine. I’ve not been spinning for very long, but I have a skein of overspun, overplied, kinky, stiff, evil stuff sitting on top of my spinning basket to remind me both of what can happen if I don’t pay attention and of how far I’ve come when I (very occasionally) create yarn that I would want to knit with.
BTW, I love Rams’ Mark Twain quote! I’ve never seen that one before.
Formerly being in the food industry, wanted you to know that we call that “stuff” EVM — extraneous vegetative material. Still nasty whether it’s straw in a fleece or green bean stems! Good approach to resolution of the issue — don’t do it!
Sorry the spinning wasn’t happy-making, but at least you de-stashed somewhat, didn’t you?
The socks are terrif. I’ll have to wait to emulate them– I left all my sock needles in Oregon.
Hm. I can think of another fiber that’s much better and has proven results. And it’s right there in your stash waiting patiently for you…
Yeah — Romney — never gonna be a scarf. My favorite yarn for it is to spin a thick, soft 2-ply and then make felted clogs. That way, the VM gets totally ensconsed in all that felted wool … or gets joined by its cousins from your backyard when you run out their in your new felted clogs to rescue your latest washed fleece from those squirrels.
I have been there. I started spinning a gorgeous batt called Copper King from Crosspatch Creations, and it was so full of veggie stuff that I spent more time picking then spinning (not like Crosspatch Creations at all – I figured she was sold some bad fleeces). It was too bad, too, because the colorway was lovely and had enough of a coppery silk in it to shimmer on the bobbin. But I just canNOT bring myself to spin the rest of it. You are right, life is too short and there are tons of more enjoyable fiber out there to spin.
Well, the socks turned out pretty good, so at least something went right! Thanks for pointing out the pitfalls of fleeces. I’m getting a spinning wheel this Xmas, so will be careful not to go mad! And while you were doing your ‘back to school’ dance, I’ll just point out that us teachers were doing those 7 weeks ago! On the Friday evening that term finished, to be precise!
You did give a great try – sorry it didn’t work out. Socks are awesome!
I second the Twain quote! And the socks? Amazing enough to make up for everything else!
Oooh, that Leyburn pattern really does look better in a stripy yarn than a dark solid.
Off to the frog pond I go.
Kim
ps….sorry about your spinning. I bet you could sell it and get $$ (even for charity) just because you’re you, and who wouldn’t want some yarn you spun, even if it was crappy??!
I made those socks! I love them. In fact I’m making a third one to give to a friend (I made him one red sock about six months ago, didn’t love the pattern, and have been trying to find another diamond-like pattern that will sort-of match the first sock…if you squint.). (That was totally a Yarn Harlot-esque parenthetical aside. I’m so proud.)
Take the squirrel protection off of it. A peace offering to the squirrel. Toss it all on the back porch and wait for him to come get it all! Then take photos, post on blog, write essays about it, and write the damn thing off as a business expense.
Having just devoured the new issue of Spin Off, I have only one suggestion–give it to Denny.
I like the socks. Too bad about the yarn you spun.
I just love Leyborn socks. Seeing them with yet another yarn… is inspiring.
Thanks for the lesson in finally letting go.
Nothing like the curative power of a great pair of socks! Knit on.
I’m just so very happy that this happens to other people, and not just me. 🙂 Sad, though. Especially since you had such a lovely vision for it.
Hurrah for you. “Life’s too short” to waste time on things that don’t work and aren’t going to give you joy. I think that may become my new mantra.
I have had to do that with some gift fiber. Some of it was very beautiful in color, others offered promise in different ways, but in the end, I had to let them go, lest I go even battier. I just try to remember that this is supposed to be enjoyable.
15 hours until school starts here. Just to keep you updated.
Did you knit the socks from the toe up? They look great!
You’re letting yourself keep a pair of socks? Bravo! And they look just like you.
I have a needle felting friend who is the beneficiary of all such fibers that ended up in my possession. They happen to the best of us (and that’s not me for sure, so I’ve had my share of happenings). Glad you called it quits – you’re right. Life is too short to waste on bad wool.
I know of several “rules of thumb” about not wasting time reading bad books: read 100 pages minus your age, read the first 3 chapters, read one hour’s worth.
So is the rule for spinning to spin one bobbin’s worth, plied and washed?
If Denny’s magic doesn’t work with this fleece, think about using it as a decoy with the squirrel …
So sorry that beautiful batt didn’t work out, but the socks sure did. I LOVE the socks! So much I just grabbed the phone and called Blue Moon and ordered a skein of the Crabby McCrabbypants before the rest of you can buy it all up.
Happy dance time.
You enabler, you.
Give it to the squirrels as peace offering….
I agree with you. Life is too short. I love the socks.
I, too, love the Mark Twain quote.
Isn’t it freeing to realize that you CAN get rid of a project that is making you unhappy on every level? that you DON’T have to stick with it until it’s finished just because you always do that sort of thing?
I am discovering this phenomenon in my life lately as well as my fiber stash, and finding it very liberating to just get rid of the offending article… woohoo for middle-age wisdom acquisition! (maybe it kind of makes up for the extra-arse-acreage acquisition that’s been happening as well…)
It’s sad that your shawl vision isn’t going to work out. I’ve not spun enough to run into such problems, but if I do, I’ll think of you! I was actually thinking of you today as I turned a heel in the car, bumping along, not thinking too too hard about it. 🙂 Plain vanilla socks in a very pretty Kroy yarn, Cascading Colours, and Stephanie’s sock explanation firm in my mind. Time was that socks took all the concentration I owned! Now they’re car projects, and with skinny yarn!! Now I’m learning lace, and that’s taking all the concentration I own. LOL You inspire me, woman! Another fleece will be better, and your socks will always be beautiful. 🙂
While I really like Carmen’s idea about giving it to the squirrels (like a diversion, maybe?) I also agree that Denny can do Anything – with Anything.
Outside of all that, would you consider felting it and making a great handbag? Just think about the opportunity to work out your frustrations on that darned thing – and you could knit straight from the batt. Forget the spinning part.
Just a thought …
Bummer about the spinning ~ but those socks rock!
Too bad it didn’t work out! I love your start-to-finish spinning/knitting project updates. Hope Denny can salvage it!
NICE SOCKS, BY THE WAY!!! 🙂
Was reading the blog Iraq Bundles of Love. I highly recommend it – great idea. There was a deadline on sending wool/fabric/etc., but they’re working on extending it, so do check it out anyway. Someone wrote and said “you don’t need knitters?”. The answer “Send yarn. Send needle thingies. Send the Yarn Harlot”. I was impressed. By the way, the socks are gorgeous.
Bad batts make bad yarn, and this in no way reflects upon the spinner. Kick-arse socks, however, bring down glory upon the head of the knitter. Your spinning experience reminds me of the times I tried to read F. Scott Fitzgerald. I tried, it sucked, I quit. No shame. Awesome socks, though.
Too bad about the wool. I could just see the shawl you described, white flowing gently into green…but this is not the wool you seek. Persevere, dear Harlot, and someday, yea, the fabled wool will appear and be transformed in your fingers to the mystical shawl of your dreams.
(I have no idea where all that came from. The socks rock, by the way.)
The socks are great, gorgeous even and they by far make up for the bad wool. I gotta say though, I don’t much like multi-colored oversized doilies, although I can appreciate the effort that goes into making them. Maybe you should look at the bad yarn as a good thing that kept you from spending even more time making something that you wouldn’t just love.
In a day somewhat like yours I have knitted 5 starts to some sleeves; plain, garter edged, ribbed, picot – none of which were right – then I referred to my Epstein book and have started with a bobble garter edge and finally have success.
That’s ok then … now 3.5 sleeves to go and I’ll have my twins jackets done!
The issue is not what goes right, it’s more the persistence it takes to keep going until it is finally right.
The thing is, until I read YH I never had the persistence before.
Thank you
x
Bummer about the fleece, the socks are gorgeous though! Hopefully their beauty helps make up for the disappointing fleece.
I really laughed at Headline “STEPHANIE BUYS WOOL, NO-ONE STUNNED”! I’m sorry about the crappy batt, but the socks are absolutely beautiful!
That’s right. Make Denny deal with it.
Can’t wait to see what Denny does with the second-chance-skein. Will the batt follow the skein right out the door? (the perfect way to make room for more fleece!)
I, also ignore my inner knowledge for longer than is reasonable. I keep knitting after a mistake, row upon row, being sure that it will somehow look better with a few more rows. When I finally come to my senses and have to rip out the now, many rows, I am even more annoyed with myself. It is nice to hear that the problem is called “optimism”. I’m thinking that may be an optimist’s view of what the problem is…. LOL. Thanks for the help with the perspective.
I agree with bethh… give it to the squirrels and expense it off. 😉
Felting… its the only way to make ugly yarn useful.
Gifting it is a better idea that leaving it to take up precious stash space. You know that even the m*ths will bypass it in favour of something much yummier so it won’t even work as a distraction. I have a bag of sheep stuff here that someone “gifted” me when I was learning to spin – horrible stuff, but I know a felter who will use it for the cores of her creations. Perfect! Thanks for reminding me.
I’m guessing that we all now know why the Lindenhof mill is no longer with us.
Life’s too short to drink bad coffee, sip crap wine or use nasty yarn. Well done for turfing it!
OH MY GOODNESS! You and I are having the same freaking day! Well, I was knitting some socks, not spinning. But I just had to frog back 2 turned heels and all the way back to the mid foot area before the gusset (toe up socks). All because after knitting the toes, the whole foot, the gussets and turning the heels, I finally thought, “Hey, I wonder if these will fit my big ol’ wide boat feet?”
Long story short – They didn’t fit. They were wide enough but not nearly long enough. I don’t know why I thought that my feet were only about 6 inches long, but there ya go. I kept thinking as I was knitting the gussets that these will be fine! I kept thinking as I was turning the heels that these will be beautiful! Um…. no.
Well, they will be fine and they will be beautiful but, for now, they have been half frogged, their stitches picked up and now they will cooperate and become what I want.
Pretty socks. Too bad about that batt. I could totally picture the shawl you had in your head.
Maybe the squirrel would like it. 😉 Nice socks!
Socks are gorgeous.
Perhaps you should let the squirrel have the batt and be done with it. I’m sure it can keep some babies warm during the winter. Plus maybe he’ll leave the rest of your stuff alone if you give him more than he can handle.
Totally sympathize. I’m spinning some roving that I had envisioned being big, thick, soft singles. Well, due to VM, fairly short staple and some nepps — I had to spin thin (in hopes of grabbing most of the VM before it leaves my hands) and a bit more rustic than I like (the resulting singles are a bit fuzzy and bumpy) The pluses that having me continuing are I like the colors (jumbles of purples and grays), there’s only 8oz, and it is a soft shetland. Although I don’t know what to knit with it yet…
You have helped me make up my mind about some spinning I have been doing. It could possibly become nice yarn, but I am not enjoying spinning it at all, mostly because of the color. It has helped me get more even with my spinning, but I am never going to love it. I will ply what’s left and the rest goes back in the stash until I can find someone else who would like it, or something else to blend it with. Thank you.
…and thus inspired, I will resume the square I’ve started FOUR times. Great socks!
The socks looks great. And I bet Denny loves her gift! At least she can start with very clean VM in the finished skein!
Yay for socks! I would say that it was a bummer about the enormobatt, but now it’s less wool in your stash and you can move onto something fun!
Good for you! You know when to quit a project when you see there is no way it’ll work out. Gorgeous socks!
What IS it about some projects–ones that we really really hate–that makes us stick to it for the long haul. You’re totally right– life’s too short! (And I HAVE that yarn! Roxie sent it to me, and my daughter wants me to make a hat from it!)
i’m having similar issues (knitting, not spinning).
i have ripped back 4 1/2 times.
i remain optimistic that i can solve this.
Well, a person never knows when they’ll need twine! And the rest of the batt….pillow stuffing!
But yeah, the socks are much prettier.
Hi Stephanie,
Very pretty socks indeed. I’m not a spinner so I only understand some of your problems with the batt. I hope that when your friend has spun it and made something you will show some photos. I thought the batt was lovely. I also like heavier wools. Best regards.
I’m not a spinner nor a grower of sheep, so I know exactly nothing about fleeces. But the yarn you are describing sounds exactly like Reynolds Lite Lopi, which is bailer twine if ever there was such.
Been there, but I was stubborn enough to draft it out, braid it, felt it, sew it up and call it a seat cushion (directions were from A Shepherd’s Rug)
Good choice on sock pattern, at least! That’s one of my favorites.
Bad wool? Kick it to the curb! Better — as you did — kick it to someone who’ll actually enjoy doing something with it. (There’s an art teacher at my school who’s always happy to receive gifts of fiber, so that’s where all of my wooly malcontents go.) If you’re doing a thing for the joy of it and it’s not giving you joy, why bother?
Hate to point out the obvious…but you DID say that mill was now defunct…me thinks I know the reason….
Oh yeah,…pretty socks. But then, you knew that.
Good for you! I have no patience for bad yarn (or, in this case, soon-to-be-bad yarn). Life? Too short.
Good for you! Sometimes walking away is really the best thing. Not wasting your time on futile exercises is not the same as quitting. And fantastic socks, too!
You know, sometimes it is more courageous to end something than to go forward. Congrats.
Ah, you were working on those socks last week! Lovely. And as far as the spinning goes – perhaps the Almighty and All-Knowing Denny can fix it – after all, she made yarn from leftover spinner’s fuzz picked up off the floor. I’m a much less experience spinner, and yet I’ve given up on fiber that, while not exactly crap, just didn’t feel fun to spin. And is it isn’t fun, why bother??
About to throw away some partial skeins because I’m never going to use them. What I made with the rest of the yarn is okay but it’s not something I’d ever choose to knit again so best to get the remainders out of the house before they create more clutter.
Your description of your adventures with this fleece pretty much describes my first marriage.
The socks are lovely 🙂
Perhaps you’d feel better if you worked on another Pretty Thing Cowl.
Sorry about the batt. Love, Love the socks.
Can you use the wool for a felting project? Maybe die it, spin it, and knit felted slippers for one and all? Or market bags? Or weave and felt placemats?
I just hate to think of wool going to waste.
“Flaming cats,” “big girl panties:” YH, you are funny but your readers are a friggin’ riot!
For years, whenever I started reading a book, I would finish it, no matter what, even if I had to drag myself to the bitter ending. A few years ago I decided that my time was worth more and, if I was not enjoying a book, I should put it aside and choose another from my to-be-read shelf. After all, maybe it just wasn’t the right time for that book or it just would never be the right time for that book. Life IS too short! Journey on!
I had to be taught by a boyfriend many years ago to cut the failure of a weaving project off the loom and throw it away. It still goes against the grain of the frugal New-Englander-turned Alaskan. A good lesson, though. I wouldn’t want to have to count the number of UFO’s around here.
I could look at your post two ways. One would be the spinning focus for which I pass you a good chocolate, some stout beer and maybe a nice wedge of cheese in consolation – spinning ventures gone awry are just.no.fun.
The other is to see through you completely and know that you are, again, tempting me to throw caution to the wind, ignore the WIPs of socks on the needles and KNIT LEYBURN RIGHT THIS MINUTE. It doesn’t help that I have empty dpn’s lying about. No, I will not be tempted so cruelly. I’m going back to the forty pairs I already have in progress. Seriously, you can’t make me knit Leyburns just because yours are fabulous:)
Good move Stephanie. It took me a long time and some urging from Rita Buchanan to realize that sometimes the best thing is to cut your losses and throw the damn fleece away – or make a bed for the cat – or give it to the stupid squirrels. More power to you (and gorgeous socks too).
Sounds like a delightful batt to donate to someone who might like to re-wash, pick and maybe card it with another fiber. Or maybe there’s a needle felter in your life who would love the matting qualities of rough fiber.
Yolk doesn’t wash out. It’s caused by by bacteria and does not wash out (voice of experience), despite what 2 out of 3 websites say. The only thing to do is to overdye or avoid the fleece in the first place.
Steph, you did the right thing. Yolking is a flaw that does not wash out and it makes the fleece weak.
However, I have rescued several lovely fleeces with vegetable matter like you showed us, or worse, with hand combs. Take the roving or strips of batt and process it with 2 row mini combs or even the serious-looking 4 or 5 pitch (row) combs. I don’t bother with a diz, I just pull it off the combs and roll into a little bun, then spin it worsted. The vm, nepps, short fibers, stay behind the combs and the wool in front is perfect. I prefer my 2 row mini combs, but when i was serious volume, I use 4 pitch English combs. I made a lovely prayer shawl out of a rambouillet/romney/angora roving that was FULL of crap and the rambouillet fibers were weak and neppy. It’s one of the most lovely things I’ve ever made and I’m really glad I didn’t throw it out. But yolking, nope, serious flaw.
The picture of the VM makes me feel better about the “mystery batt” I picked up at Black Sheep a couple years ago. I now know that the “mystery” is how much VM I am willing to pick out and vaccuum up off my floor… that being very little.
Still, it does make for a pretty skein of yarn- however scratchy and blotchy it may be.
I think this is what’s referred to as “denial” ….I have it, too, even though I’m not a spinner. Most of the time “denial” slaps me in the face when it comes to gauge. One would think I would learn but I don’t. (My Mother refers to this as having a hard head)
You gave it the old college try, but you do know that the batt’s final revenge will be that in Denny’s hands it will become something awesome, just to spite you!
Uppity fleece is like that……
Batts like this also work well as mulch in the garden. You tried, it sucked. See if anyone else wants it, if not, you have a very colorful flowerbed.
Wanda
This is supposed to be fun! Don’t spin it if you don’t enjoy it. You gave it a fair try.
Love the socks. Good thing you do, too. They looked nervous about their probationary period!
I can see what you were imagining. Perhaps if you knit a white shawl and then painted it like this:
http://www.theanticraft.com/archive/imbolc09/melusine.htm
Hair – wool – is full of nitrogen, if I recall correctly. Bury it where it will fertilize something naturally. Just not lilacs – too much nitrogen and they don’t bloom until it’s used up.
Been there. Done that. A friend suggested that I comb an entire sheep worth of purple batts to get rid of some nasty VM & neps. I did. (What can I say. . . loved the color.) Combing worked to remove the VM & neps but the fiber was still best suited for Brillo pads. I knitted an entire shawl out of that two-ply Brillo pad yarn. Then I decided I didn’t like the color that well anyway so the whole lot went into the dye pot. I still have the shawl. It’s burgundy now. I wear it camping. I look at it as a rite of passage. . . never have to do it again. Ever.
Two words,
COMPOST… (oops three)… winter spinach.
(or lettuce, or carrots or turnips or beets…….)
Ugh! I was going to agree – Compost that batt!
Also – if that is a laceweight/fingering/dk skein (can’t exactly tell from that picture) then you spun the singles too fine for the Romney to *not* feel wirey. Dig? Leave the laceweight to the shorter staples. They’ll feel better.
I feel your pain with the shitty quality. God, I hate bad fiber and yarn.
As I read in your first book – crap in, crap out!
Is there some reason the sheep don’t get a shampoo before shearing? They would enjoy it and the fleece would be nicer.
P.S. – nice socks. I like the colorway.
Stephanie… you are my hero. Such hope against doubt, such stick-to-itness and such common sense.
What size needles do you use for your socks. I know it should depend on the yarn, but on average what size needles work best for yarn weight socks. Thanks.
Wool is wool and yarn is yarn… and as a die-hard knitter I would have a hard time getting rid of either… Of course it doesn’t mean you have to use it, especially if you don’t enjoy it…
Let’s see what your friend can come up with it…
I did spun something similar, but then it was purely for practice purouses… I thought I can always knit something and felt if it is too coarse, scratchy or whatever…
Those socks are…….yummm… looking at yours, I think I might have to knit my own some day…
Love the socks, both pattern and yarn.
As for the wool – can you send it to a processor to get it cleaned up? Probably not worth it, but if you could, get it overdyed? Again not worth it. Put it out in the spring for the birds – and maybe the squirrel.
I had some fleece like that once. A CVM that was a lovely natural oatmeal color. It was soft and pretty. The shop owner warned me that it was neppy, but I spun up a handful in the shop and it seemed fine. She gave me a really good deal on it, and kept asking me as I loaded it into the trunk if I really wanted it.
I should have listened. I gave it to my friend, who gave it to her mother in law, who passed it on to a friend… as far as I know, there is still 5 lbs of a lovely oatmeal color, very neppy CVM being passed around in the midwest fiber community.
Good choice Stephanie. I have fallen into that same trap myself, and finally realized that it it is okay to say “this purchase was a mistake”, and hand it off to someone else to spin. I recently cleared out some wool stash and some yarn stash for that very reason. There are only so many hours in the day, so why waste them on something that just frustrates me. Both culls have made some other people very happy.
Why not give the batt to the squirrels. After all, they’re due since you’ve instituted your new anti-squirrel process. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind have the VM line their nests (birds, too!)
Having struggled through 2 (yes, 2…sigh) batts from the same mill, I salute your wisdom.
P.S. I have some VM and nepp ridden twine that could come hang out with yours…
Use the yarn in a rug and felt the rest of the batt!
You are right, life is too short to spin bad wool!!!
Thanks for making me laugh out loud, at your “its crap”, brightened up my morning.
Congratulations on recognizing your limitations with the wool. I’m sure whatever Denny creates with it will make you jealous.
I’m currently working on Leyburn myself and am wondering what heel you use?
The socks look lovely; I’m so glad you had them to feel good about.
Thanks for sharing this, it is really interesting! I haven’t started spinning yet but it’s really helpful to hear what it’s like when it’s not going so well.
You gotta love a craft that uses words like nepps and nupps.
After reading your article in Spin-off it’s easy to see why you are giving your batt to Denny.
Speaking of squirrels, have you seen the “Crasher Squirrel”?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/09/minnesota.crasher.squirrel/index.html
Probably a ridiculous question, but…
How many pairs of socks do you own now? Any idea?
Debbie
You are too funny woman. Your post was very entertaining to me today – – probably because I’ve been thru the same damn thing. Not necessarily with buying a batt of wool and spinning it but just buying yarn. I can get myself in such a frenzy with purchasing and love it, love it, love it and then start knitting with it and think, hmmmm, not exactly what I expected, but I’m going to keep going because 1) I’ve already but some of my precious time into it and 2) maybe I will grow founder of it as I spend more time. Then I finally come to the conclusion that I screwed up, I hate it, and I’m never going to love it and then rip it out – – ahhhh, so satisfying. Then like you – – hope it doesn’t hit its arse on the way out!
I love your blog so much. If even an accomplished knitter like yourself can have that much trouble… well, somehow it encourages me to just roll with it and keep going.
Thank you for sharing, sorry it turned out so badly! But the socks are *lovely*!!
I hate to say it, but I love that you persevere onward and onward. It makes me think I might still be sane to want to see something through to the (usually already known) bitter end. Be interesting to see what Denny does with it. Hey! Maybe you could just parcel it out to those rat-bastards outside and they’ll leave the rest alone! The socks more than make up for it though, gorgeous.
so yes we have all done this, I agree, I wouldn’t finish spinning the rest if it doesn’t suit your fancy, in fact I would be likely to stick a free sign on it at the LYS or spin shop…. but, this one little ball I believe can be redeemed by a nice dye job then knit into something that isn’t a garment like a teapot cosy, TP roll cover, oh hell, I don’t know… something.. but to waste a skein of sightly imperfect yarn would just be sacrilege 😉
Have you ever thought of putting the wool away, and saving it for a day that you want to sit in front of the tv and do something totally mindless? When that day comes, just get a little garbage bag, and sit there, pulling out the extraneous matter. You don’t need to do it all in one sitting. That also might be a good task for an older child or teenager who wants to earn some money. I suspect your children are too old to buy into that one. I know it sounds bizarre, but the day might come when there is a use for this future yarn.
As far as the texture goes, who knows? You might want to use this for weaving, not knitting. Maybe it is placemat, tablecloth or tote bag quality.
I had the same experience with Romney, only I finished the whole batt. The texture was pretty much fence wire and it was completely unwearable except as a hat when knit up. I avoided the Romney after that.
If Denny spins it up, my vote now is for a feather and fan rug, felting the rug a bit after it is knit up. If interested in a pattern, contact me.
Myrna A.I. Stahman
Put it out & let the squirrels have it. They can use it to stay warm over the winter.
Use that batt to mulch your blueberries. It won’t go to waste.
Give it to a felter who can felt it immediately into a green and white outdoor doormat. No VM removal required, it’ll be used to wipe VM off shoes. When it rots, who cares?
I’m glad you were able to cut it loose. I’m not so good at that. Life is too short, and really it’s not like you don’t have something else to spin right?
Don’t throw out the batt. Keep spinning, get a floor loom and make a rug!
Stephanie, I’m chiming in a little late here to mention that although Romney is called “the finest of the longwools,” that’s a generalization. What matters are the specifics.
Depending on where it comes from, Romney’s micron counts range between 29 and 39. (First shearings may be even finer, soft enough for next-to-the-skin.) 29 is soft enough. 39 is not.
You could have, say, a 36-micron Romney there (hypothetical). That would means that it’s coarser than (depending on where they came from) some Lincolns, Leicester Longwools, Cotswolds, Wensleydales, and Teeswaters.
I’ve had lovely, sleek, soft Romneys. I’ve also had very sturdy ones.
The VM and canary staining can be major problems, possibly worth working past and possibly not. With your color vision for that batt, and its preexisting dye job, hard to manage.
Why don’t you auction off that baler twine here online? And donate the funds to some deserving recipient?
Tell Meg that fun’s not life-threatening until you’re over 35.
Hrm. It’s too bad that the batt wasn’t working out for you. I have to wonder when I see something like this how people (well, sheepy people specifically) determine to what level to process a fleece. How many washes it needs to get clean, how to card etc., because it obviously was something you liked when you bought it, but there were some drastic flaws for you in there.
does the name of the sock yarn colorway in any way reflect your feelings about that batt?
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27377259
This link will take you to some flaming orange that could be mixed with your yellow stuff. I read that spun loosely, it could be softer.
Just a thought.
I’m not a spinner but recently, I was in the middle of knitting some socks and I fell smack out of love with the yarn. It was nice yarn but I think it’s just kind of like falling out of love in a romantic relationship. It was just OVER. Every time I went to touch it, I felt a sort of distaste. Perfectly nice yarn for someone else but I was not spending time on one more stitch. Not a rational thing at all but luckily, it didn’t take me years of marital therapy to figure it out. I gave it away, the half finished sock still attached.
And then I booked a Date Night with my husband.
I have a question, you make spinning look like a lot of fun. Can you recommend a good wheel spinning book that I could check out to learn all the lingo and process? Also i love the way your yarn looks after you pile a few colors together. The skein is so pretty but i just started to wonder what the actual yarn looks like when it is knit. Could you post a picture????
Sounds like you spun rug wool–do you weave yet?
Ugh. Scratchy yarn.
I knit up an entire sweater in it, thinking it would get better with washing…yeah right.
Good to stop now. Before you have a finished garment on your hands!
This problem is readily solved by simply removing the squirrel proofing…..
nice socks 😉