BYFC - Random Tip #9

 BOOKS!

There are So Many good books and magazines out there that were written by really experienced and real live fiber artists and teachers.  They have put incredible amounts of time into researching, writing, photographing and marketing their books and you can learn so much from them. 

Take the time to learn directly through them, not by reading an unethical AI synopsis.  You'll get better information and enjoy the journey so much more.  You can find great selections in stores, your library, your guild's library, estate sales, friends houses...

BYFC - Random Tip #8

"This yarn sucks."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's all over the place, thick and thin, lumpy and bumpy, underspun in spots..."

"Just knit a swatch with it."

"Why would I even want to waste my time?!?"

"Hmmm, where are all those bad spots now?"

* * * * *

Don't hate on your early spinning.  Go ahead and knit a swatch with it.  You might be very surprised.  

That being said, if you've spun something that looks pretty, but when you knit a swatch you aren't super happy with your fabric, figure out why and fix it.  One common issue with new spinners is putting too much twist in your singles or plies.  When you knit with yarn like that, you may not be happy with the softness, or lack of softness...but you won't know that until you KNIT A SWATCH ;-).

You'll learn more about spinning by actually using your yarn (even for just a swatch) rather than just spinning and spinning and spinning.  

BYFC - Random Tip #7

 Another sheep tip...that may seem familiar if you have a dog.

All the Punkin's Patch sheep stay here for their entire lives.  Old age for a sheep starts around 10ish.  Smaller sheep can live longer, like smaller dogs, but they all face many of the same old age maladies as old people, dogs, horses...

One of our oldest sheep right now is Krista, who is probably 14.  She's gotten pretty arthritic and is now on a daily dose of meloxicam.  She comes out to get a little breakfast with three other old sheep each morning, but instead of trying to keep her breakfast, with her dose of ground meloxicam mixed in, separate from the others, I just make her a little jelly sandwich ;-).

While this looks like burnt toast for some reason, it's actually just one slice of whole wheat bread (to make it healthy ;-) with a spoonful of grape jelly smeared all over and the ground meloxicam sprinkled on top.  Fold and go.

Going...

Gone...to Bea's dismay.

What makes this nice is that I don't have to stress her (and me) by catching her every morning to stick a pill down her throat.  She comes running for her "treat" and I come out looking like Mary Poppins ;-).

To prep your sheep to take medicines like this, start by having some plain bread parties.  Sheep love bread once they figure it out.  You may want to do a practice run with the jelly too in case of any super suspicious characters.  

Feeding medicine "treats" is a great way to handle many situations with sheep, but you still need to get comfortable giving shots and oral drenches when needed.  

And remember, I am not a vet.  You should always run something you read on the internet by your vet first...but I'm pretty sure if you ask a vet about this, they will probably tell you not to feed your sheep jelly sandwiches ;-D.

BYFC - Random Tip #6

 Speaking of roving...

If you are spinning right along and everything is going well and then you pick up a new length of roving to join on (or from the start) and all of the sudden things go off the rails and the fiber is not drafting smoothly and you are getting a bunch of jagged thick and thin spots and what on earth is going on here...?!?

Turn the roving around and spin from the other end. 

Most of the time you can run your hand loosely down the roving and feel that it's catching or grabbing a little if you are working from the wrong end. Sometimes you can't.  Regardless, at least try spinning from the other direction.  

If that doesn't work and you really can't see anything physically wrong with the roving, stop and take a break.  You'd be surprised by how much a cup of tea helps your spinning (or anything else) sometimes :-).

BYFC - Random Tip #5

When you are first learning to spin, don't be tempted by those beautifully colored braids of combed top.  Well, you can definitely be tempted and it's perfectly fine to add them to your future stash because...beautiful.  I just don't recommend trying to learn to spin with one of those.  

I'm not saying you can't learn to spin with them, but if you are trying and you are getting frustrated and not having fun, switch to roving.

What is the difference between combed top and roving?  Combed top has been...combed...and roving has been carded, which is more like brushed.  

Top is all the same length with all the super smooth fibers lined up side by side all matchy matchy.  At home I make that with actual metal tined wool combs.  I'm not sure how the commercial mills process it...now that I think about it.

Roving is all mixed together and can be different lengths and the fibers are all swirled around in less organized fluffy...fluffy-ness. This brushing can be done by a commercial mill with huge multi-drum machines or at home with a hand cranked drum carder or even using hand cards.

The picture above is roving.  See how it's fuzzy and airy and even a little messy looking?  This is Mini Moose and not only has it been processed as roving, but his wool is what I think of as a perfect medium wool.  Medium length, medium amount of crimp, medium fiber strand thickness, medium softness...  

A perfect learn to spin wool :-).