Knitting/Crocheting from unspun wool

Posted by Jenn on October 2, 2006, 1:23 pm

Hi Ladies.

I am mostly a lurker in this realm, but I have been crocheting for 16+
years and knitting (Self taught) for almost a year now.

I picked up this month's (actually November's) Crochet! magazine and it
had a nice article on crocheting from unspun wool. So I go to the
local Farmer's Market for the first time over this weekend there is a
YARN BOOTH. All local hand dyed yarns, most spun already, but some
'Fluffs' as she called them. I made a beeline for a bright as the sun
yellow one.

So my question is does any one here knit or crochet from unspun wool
and just how hard is it? I do have a hand spindle that was a wedding
present from three years ago along with some undyed natural wool, but I
am not brave enough to use it without major instruction (which doesn't
appear to exist in my area). So if push came to shove I could spin it,
but I'm not excited about using this yarn for that test.

One other question - I HAVE a huge problem with dry hands (don't let me
touch silk or microfiber - it gets caught) mostly because I wash them
regularly due to working with yarn on a regular basis (and I cross
stitch) and I don't want to get anything on the fibers. Can you
recommend anything other than udder cream?

Thank you,
Jenn in CA

FYI for those interested the yarn is from a shop called Royale Hare in
Santa Rosa CA.

Posted by Jenn on October 2, 2006, 1:38 pm

My apologies for leaving out the Gents. Your input is equally welcome.

Jenn

Posted by Wooly on October 2, 2006, 1:53 pm

:

show/hide quoted text

I do, sometimes. Most of the "unspun knitting" patterns call for
pencil roving similar to White Buffalo stuff - it's been made ready
for spinning and drawn out into a fine strand but doesn't actually
have twist insert into it. Working with it is about as difficult as
working with White Buffalo or with unspun Icelandic. There have been
several articles about it in both SpinOff and Knits during the past
couple of years.

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Posted by Eastern Edge on October 2, 2006, 5:45 pm

Wooly wrote:
show/hide quoted text

The White Buffalo is my 'new find' and I've been enjoying it. I do
tend to twist it as I crochet as it's fairly easy to pull apart as you
apply tension. I've also used an improvised drop spindle with it to
add some twist.

I find the biggest issue is breakage; I'd recommend (not that I did,
though) a swatch or two, just so you can get used to how much tension
you can apply to the wool before it breaks...my first attempts had
plenty of splicing. Even just twisting it slightly as you work (does
it on its own if you're working crochet back and forth) makes a big
difference.

Michelle

Posted by Wooly on October 3, 2006, 1:29 pm

spewed forth :

show/hide quoted text

Yep, both the White Buffalo bellyband (ballband? cake topper?) and Meg
@ Schoolhouse Press recommend inserting some twist into the unspun
stuff as you work it up. Doing so helps the pencil roving hold
together and also provides a little extra strength in the FO.

+++++++++++++

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This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%.
Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...

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