Sliver or Roving or Top

This week’s spinning fiber was one ounce of merino sliver. I generically refer to all my fiber as “roving,” but since this fiber was specifically labeled “sliver” I thought I’d try to pay attention to its preparation back when I first picked it up. I found an article in the Winter 2007 issue of Spin-Off magazine that discusses the differences between different fiber preparations.

The article says sliver is thinner than roving and, unlike roving, has no twist to it. Yes, I can confirm both of those with this merino, but I thought it was thinner simply because it’s only 1 ounce of fiber and I usually work with 2 ounces or more. This was far thicker in sliver form than the 1-ounce bits of pygora I spun up a few months ago. The fiber was very soft and easy to draft but I found it harder to spin evenly than the merino-silk blend and English Wensleydale Longwool I spun recently. In this case, it may have needed some pre-drafting (I very rarely do that, preferring instead to simply treadle and go). So I went for a more rustic-looking 2-ply yarn:

Fiber: Merino sliver
Colorway: none (undyed)
Supplier: friend of a friend
Quantity: 1 ounce
Finished yarn: 1 skein, 2-ply, 121 yards, 12 wpi (= double knitting)
Spun at 15:1 and plied at 17:1

I had been having no end of problems with Ravelry lately. It caused my computer to run out of resources very quickly and slowed everything else down considerably. I was also unable to link to old blog posts. Then Mr. MmmYarn suggested I try another browser. So, fellow Ravelers, if you, too, are using Internet Explorer 7 on a Windows XP computer that’s 4 to 5 years old, I recommend you try Ravelry in Firefox. What a world of difference!

In knitting news, Mr. MmmYarn’s socks are finished but not photographed so you’ll need to wait to see those. Perhaps I can get him to foot model up on the roof tomorrow after work. I am also working on a second hat for the family member who needs some hats. And Lily of the Valley (remember her?) sits in a crumpled blue heap in a corner of my desk, looking at me reproachfully for having done everything but tuck in 2 tail ends and block her after all these months. My hope is that by mentioning it here I will be guilted into taking action this weekend. Wait and see.