Its all true, the boogie girl is real, and you've found her. She knits, sews, spins, does pottery and writes it all down in this blog.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
It's all in the pre-draft baby!
One thing I've realized is how important a predraft is to the final yarn. I've found a bunch of different ways to get even yarn and the one that seems to work the best is to pre-draft the heck out of something. It makes wheel time so much faster. There are 2 ways that I do this.
1. Split the roving into strips.This assumes that you are working with pre-prepared roving. I split the roving lengthwise into little strips. Basically you are making something akin to pencil roving. 
This is how I'm doing Mandy Red and most others that I don't need to keep stripesAs you may be able to guess, this will make shorter color changes. If you are trying to keep stripes, this just isn't going to work. It is good though especially if you are trying to get worsted singles. You don't have to fiddle so much wheel-side so you are less likely to overtwist or to make your singles too thin.
2. Just pull it til it cries. 
This is how I worked on Quinalt, a roving that I got from Roxi This is also the way I pre-draft when I've got rolags or batts. This helps keep stripes intact and is still a good way to keep the at wheel drafting to a minimum.
Both of these methods take a bit more time, but when I'm looking for a more even thicker yarn, this really helps. It's how it works best for me, anyway. We all find our own best methods after a while.
See how pretty Quinalt came out?
I have some roving I've dyed in brown and black. Together they should be enough to make me a cropped sweater. I'm too busy getting ready for the craft show this weekend to be able to spin it up at the moment. Tomorrow I have to set up and I'll be there Friday and Saturday 9am to 9pm and Sunday 9am to whenever I get the booth taken down. I'm tired just thinking about it. I should be able to finish a sock or 2 over the weekend even if by some chance it is busy.
**EDIT**
Adrian reminded me about nests. After I split my fibers, I wrap them into little "nests" as does she. Here's a little photo.
Now go split and spin
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