Dudleyspinner Tie Dye Roving Teaches at Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza Sept 18-20 Hot Spgs. Arkansas

This is the hat I am working on for the Free Form Crochet Class. I used the flower loom with Unspun Roving  the flowers are then crocheted around and attached to each other. I have a method of decreasing that works very well to take a flat shape like this and shape it into a hat.  This hat may become an earflap hat. It seems to be heading that direction.

Dudleyspinner Tie Dye Roving, Unspun Roving Flower Tutorial, Free Form Crochet Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza, Hot Springs, AR Sept 18-21,2014

Wrap the unspun roving around the pegs, I went around twice

Pull a loop through to the back, slip stitch around the center until it is secured.

I used a needle felting needle to secure all the ends, making a tidy little flower.

I will crochet through the loops to create the next scrumble.  Though each loop, chain 3 seems to make a nice smooth piece. 

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Dudleyspinner Tie Dye Roving Teaches at Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza, #ArFiber2014 Sept 18-21

 The progress on the scrumble that started with the UNSPUN ROVING  flower loomed and needle felted flower. I used a thin yarn and a large hook to crochet around the flower working through all the loops. The next rounds were some double crochet and bullion stitches.
The ball of yarn I was using evolved into art yarn towards the end. It got a lot thicker so I switched to a smaller needle. The color changes are all in the yarn. The scrumble is about the size of my hand. By making several of these I will have the basis for my hat. The yarn behind  for sale in my dudleyspinner.com  facebook page
This hand spun yarn  is a wool alpaca two ply.
You might want to snatch it up
 because it  looks like it is a perfect
coordinating yarn with my colorway for this hat.

Dudleyspinner Tie Dye Roving Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza, Hot Springs Arkansas

This little plastic flower loom can be used with unspun dudleyspinner roving.
I just followed the numbers and wrapped the unspun roving around each peg in a figure 8 pattern. Then I took a coordinating yarn and stitched over two loops, then under one loop until the loops are all secured. to fill in the center I took some of the yarn and used a felting needle to secure the center. To use this little flower in a free form piece I will just hook through the loops and build around it.  I love to visit thrift stores and have a collection of little tools like this. This is one of the scrumble starters I will have at my class at the Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza, Hot Springs Arkansas Sept 18-21. It is a very easy method of making a little flower shape. The possibilities are endless.

CREATE WITH UNSPUN ROVING ~ Handpainted Combed Top/ Wool Roving by dudleyspinner

CREATE WITH DUDLEYSPINNER TIE DYE ROVING

dudleyspinner@yahoo.com

Available on Etsy

It is easy to knit or crochet with unspun roving. The results are well worth the effort. The fabric
you will make is very soft and warm.

Take a good quality roving that hold together well, my dudleyspinner merino blends are ideal for
this. If the roving is space dyed, look it over, decide how you want the color repeats to be placed.
If you split the roving many times, the repeat will be shorter, a few times, it will be longer. This is
the same principal that applies to spinning.
If you see that you have a color repeat that is fairly consistent, or it does not matter, pull the roving
apart at the same color. DO NOT CUT IT. Making shorter sections of roving makes it easier to
work with.

What you will be doing is actually the preparation part of spinning, called drafting. The
roving will usually be compacted in the dying process. Roving comes in a large roll, so even if it is
not dyed, the pressure of being in a roll will also compact the fiber.

Look at the roving carefully, you will notice there are two sides that are almost folded to the
center. Carefully pull the roving apart, along the fold, you will be unfolding it, making it about 4
inches wide. After you have pulled apart about a foot of roving, split it in half, lengthwise. You
want a long continuous piece of roving. Roll the split portion up gently, donÂ’t twist it. Continue until
you have completed the section that you have decided you want for your repeat. If you want the
repeats to be consistent, when you get to the end of your section, turn the roving around and go
back down the roving. You are making a thick yarn! Continue to split the roving until it is about
the diameter of a pencil. If you have left it thicker, put your hands about twice the length of an
individual fiber, apart . ( This will vary from roving to roving). Gently, stretch the fibers , easing
them into a long yarn like piece.
If they should come apart, overlap them, fluff the fibers out and gently stretch again.

Most of the time I will split a roving into 1/2, then 1/4,thenn 1/8, then 1/6. Each time it is
split, gently roll the fiber up, do not twist. If it is important to you, always start at the same end,
keeping the repeat in order.

When you have split the roving to pencil size, the last time you have split it, go ahead and
twist the fiber . This will naturally happen if you roll it into a ball. DonÂ’t work the fiber into the
final drafting too far ahead of using in your project. Only draft out a few yards at a time, then work
up. This gives a nice rhythm to your work and it is fun to see the color progression grow. If you
like an effect, keep trying to repeat it. If you think two colors from opposite ends of the roving
would look cool together, try it. YOU are in control and can use this roving any way you want.

Knitting or crocheting with unspun roving takes a little care, try to work loosely. Once
you have an inch or two worked it gets much easier to control, just be patient. This method takes a
little practice, but the results are well worth the effort.