Get Your Spin On!

Recently I reconnected with my love for the long draw spinning technique. I’ve been using long draw from rolags to spin for my Magical Sweater and love how quickly I can fill a bobbin. This is important when you are spinning for a whole sweater. In trying to learn this technique myself I found a couple videos about preparing rolags and long draw spinning that I wanted to share with you.





Side note: If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you might remember the rolags that I’ve been carding for the Magical Sweater. They are quite a bit larger than the ones on the video. This is because I overloaded the cards with fiber and then instead of just one carding worth of fiber, I used 2. So, here’s what I did. I loaded the cards with fiber and carded as usual, then instead of laying them on top of each other and rolling up, I stack them on top of each other and set them on a table (no roll-up). I then repeat the carding process. Then, I use both carding sessions and combine these to roll-up which makes a huge rolag that I split in half. I did this because it gave me the results I wanted, no other reason. Make sense? I’ll do a tutorial.

I’m going to start spinning for another sweater (Mondo Cable Cardi by Chic Knits) real soon and wanted to spin from roving/top instead of rolags. My plan is to use 1 ½ lbs of “Black” BFL top spun to a worsted weight, spinning from the fold. I then plan to over dye the yarn a deep red/burgundy color. I found this great video on how to spin from the fold which encompasses a long draw technique.



I hope to start this spinning project this week, since I’m almost done plying the last 2 skeins for the Magical Sweater. At least I hope it’s the last I have to spin for the Magical Sweater.