A couple weeks ago I saw a posting on facebook by a friend. The picture was eye catching and I just had to click on it.
That picture was this ~~
It was linked to her Etsy shop. That friend and her shop is Silver Sun Alpacas. Seriously awesome spinning fibers. I've bought from her before and she's speedy and her fibers are the best! I love her stuff so much that I have to purposely avoid her shop most of the time.
Anyway, I had to buy it. It's 3 different 1.5 oz bamboo rovings. I've worked with bamboo when I've mixed it with alpaca, but I'd never thought to spin it alone. The price was great so I had to give it a try.
It arrived in the mail in 4 days and I was ready to go. Of course I had another project on the wheel at the time so it had to wait a few days.
Eventually I was able to sit down and give it a try. Right away I could feel it was far slipperier than the wools and alpaca I was use to. I got it started with little difficulty and was going along good when *BAM* it broke (or rather pulled apart). Grrr. I got it going again and a few feet later it broke again.
This happened several more times until I had what looked like a little pile of white worms hanging out on my lap. I walked away and left it for a day.
It stared at me as I knit, making me feel guilty for leaving it all alone so I sat down at the wheel again to give it another whirl (haha).
I stubbornly kept at it and finally found a rhythm that allowed the fiber to flow through my hands and still give it enough twist to stay together.
I'm so glad I finished it because now it looks so gorgeous. The white is spun, the black is nearly finished and tomorrow I'll finish the wine colored bamboo.The lesson here is obvious....don't give up no matter how "evil" your fiber may behave.
Oh those are great colors. I haven't tried spinning pure bamboo either, thanks for the heads up that there's a bit of a learning curve with it.
ReplyDeleteI have had the same problem with silk, I found it easier to spin over the fold after looking up articles and serching youtube for any help. Took me a week to find this little trick out ,but I didnt give up, i use this technique now to spinn all slippery fibers. Brenda W from facebook
ReplyDeleteI had a similar problem with some milk protein fiber a while back; you have encouraged me not to let it win. :)
ReplyDeleteJess
WHOA, those colors are AMAZING. What a find. That's an inspirational blend...I may have to try making a blend with those colors myself!
ReplyDeleteI haven't spun pure bamboo but I did recently blend some with some of my alpaca and I love it!
Wow...that inspires me to want to learn how to spin!! Beautiful colour combination!!!
ReplyDeleteMaureen