[Cheviot]

Hi,
Since joining the forum in Sept, and reading through the crafts section I find that I am becoming increasingly interested in wool and fibre, I have just ordered a drop spindle, really just to play around with, as they are so inexpensive, it doesn't really matter if I find I don't actually use it much.
Now to my question, I have seen on the forum people talking about butts, tops and rovings, I haven't a clue what any of them are, can anyone enlighten me?

Regards
Sue

[Fleecewife]

 
Hi Cheviot and welcome to fibreland.   Um.....it's batts not butts    but I quite like the mistake 
 
Batts are what comes off a drum carder so carded fleece presented a bit like a Santa Claus beard.
 
Tops is a similar preparation but comes from a commercial carding machine and is presented as a long fluffy endless strip.
 
Roving is a thinner preparation, for example pencil roving is about the thickness of a pencil and can be spun without further drawing - sounds a bit boring     I turn my tops and batts into rovings by hand before I spin them.
 
All of them have the fibres running roughly parallel to eachother for worstead spinning (batts rather less then the others), but can be turned into rolags for woollen spinning....or something 
 
'Butt' is a fibre word, as well as the obvious US meaning, and means the end of a wool staple (bundle) which was closest to the animal before shearing.  The other end is the tip.
 
There are so many fibre and spinning words to learn - it should keep you happy for ages 

[Lesley Silvester]

I've always called what comes off a drum carder as a rolag.

[jaykay]

Oh, I thought a rolag was the little tube you made off hand carders?

[Fleecewife]

It is jaykay, but if you tear your batt or tops into small sections then you can roll those into rolags and woollen spin them.
 
It looks as if there are going to be as many alternate meanings for fibre words as there are for sheep
words 

[Lesley Silvester]

I think ex and I just assumed that they were rolags whether they were big and off a drum carder or small and off hand carders.

[Cheviot]

Hi,
Thanks for replying fleecewife, as you probably guessed, I am a complete novice in the world of wool ( batts not butts ), and at the moment it all seems very confusing, I watched a video on you tube with someone spinning wool on a drop spindle, and she had what looked like a wool rope to spin with, I take it that is a roving or rolag.
I can't knit or crochet, so have never really had a great interest in what you can do with fleece, however I also ordered a peg loom and some weaving sticks, so hopefully if I ever manage to spin any wool I will be able to use it, to hopefully make something useful  . I also just spent all my Christmas money .
Regards
Sue

[Lesley Silvester]

Good luck, Sue but be warned.  Weaving can be very addictive.   

[Fleecewife]

Hi Sue.  You won't need to spin the fleece for using your peg loom as you can draw it as you go.  This will also help you to learn how to draw fleece for spinning.  It will be a much chunkier end result for the pegloom, but you will start to understand the way fleece and fibres work.
 
Using a spindle - I find it easiest to make rovings before spindle spinning, then wrap the roving into a little birds nest and push my hand through it (otherwise you end up catching the roving in the spinning thread where you don't want it).
 
I feared spindling for years until a very kind and skilled person showed me how easy it is  .  Now I often spindle in preference to using a wheel, especially if I only need a relatively small amount of yarn.
 
You'll love it 

[Lesley Silvester]

Maybe I need showing.  I've never got the hang of it.  Just when I think I'm there the wool separates.

[Fleecewife]

Oh MGM that's what it's all about    but eventually you get the knack.  I hold my two hands at the same height and draw horizontally, with spun yarn hanging over a little finger, so there is less weight on the unspun part. Then I lower one hand carefully to let the twist run up.  If the drafted fibre gets too thin, or if your spindle is too heavy, then the yarn will break.  It's a great excuse to have lots of spindles of different weights 

[Lesley Silvester]

*sighing loudly*  that's what I was taught, FW.  It must just be me.  I'm giving up now though because bending down to pick up the spindle is not easy.  Nor, come to that, is standing up for very long and if I try it sitting down, there won't be time to get going before it reaches the floor.  *sighs again*

[jaykay]

Yeh, I can see why they're called drop spindles 

I am very pleased I learned to draft on a spinning wheel before I tried to use a spindle - I think if I'd done it the other way around I'd have killed someone.

[Fleecewife]

    Yes, I learned on a wheel first     I think for learning with a spindle, you start with a heavy one so the yarn is thick and less likely to break.  But if children can do it..........
 
I do love being able to spindle spin - it's so simple and basic, using the most uncomplicated tool.
 
MGW - perhaps you could try the 'park and draft' method - there are Utube clips of it.  Sallyintnorth was using that method initially so maybe she can summarise...... I do sympathise with the effects of ill health you are suffering.  Not being able to do things you have been doing for much of your life takes a whole lot of readjustment.  I'm at that stage too, but always hoping that things will go back to normal (which realistically they won't, for me  ).

[SallyintNorth]

Just wrote a pile about Guilds, supported spindles, park and draft, and plying over chasms, and lost the lot 

I'll do it again later if and when my stupid cursor decides to stop being stupid.