Dudleyspinner Tie Dye Roving, Let it Rip, Let it Fly

I am spinning quite a lot lately. I have so much fiber dyed, picked. Ready to card and blend. I decided to start spinning batts that are  a blend of wool, alpaca, silk, mohair.  It is  a change from spinning combed top.

I usually skein the yarn on a niddy noddy, wash and dry with some weight. Not a whole lot of weight, a few ounces most of the time. This is to block the yarn, like you would any thing made with yarn. I have been finishing my yarn this way for the 30 years I have been spinning.

I recently posted  about drying my yarn with weight in a forum where how to treat yarn is a subject of much discussion.  There were people that told me I was doing it wrong, that yarn should never be dried with weight, and if I was selling this yarn I needed to tell my customers that it was dried this way and that it would shrink when it was made into something. I could not believe that someone would actually tell me that!  Seriously, I have made so many things with yarn treated this way. Hats, scarves, sweaters, socks, etc.  Nothing has ever shrunk unexpectedly when I washed it.  I don't have any problem with the yarn acting weird.  I tend to over spin my singles a bit. Especially when I am spinning from batts that I process myself. There are bits of VM that need to be picked out while spinning, so I am flicking and spinning and sometimes the yarn is spun a little tighter. Drying with weight helps to straighten the yarn. It does not stretch it. It won't shrink when it gets wet again.

I really resent being told what to do by people that have no right to do so. I had a bumper sticker on my pickup truck that said "QUESTION AUTHORITY". I have always felt that fiber arts are something to explore, experiment. To play with wool and yarn and string and sticks is enjoyment for me.

   I have been finding many voices of authority trying to tell me I should be doing this, or that, and NEVER do this.  I actually had a well known spinning teacher Abby Franquemont.   just go off on me in a Ravelry forum. She was mean and nasty. I disagreed with her and told her so. She got very personal and mean with one of my online friends. Very out of line for anyone, especially for someone with a huge fan base.

I have decided that all these teachers, makers of DVD's  and books and classes are just one voice. I can choose to listen to them or disreguard  the opinions they are espousing. Most of the stuff I hear from them is just bullshit. So many rules and ways of doing things that make life harder, not easier and more enjoyable. They are trying to sell books and DVD's. Making spinning more difficult is to their advantage, it sells books and classes. The more popular teachers are like celebrities, people hang on every word they say and believe they are the one true voice  of how to spin.  I don't buy into this. When I started spinning there were very few sources  of how to information  available. I am self taught for the most part. I had a  fewvery good teachers Rita Buchanan, and Janine Glaves to help with my fiber education. I like the yarn I spin and will continue to do it MY WAY!