The Fibre Garden : natural roving
Showing 37–54 of 60 results
natural roving
Polwarth – White (Top)
Classification: FINEWOOL
Nice and clean combed top in bright close-to-white. It almost seems like Polwarth is the not-so-well-known alternative to Merino. It features so many of the same qualities, and is splendid for everything from next-to-skin clothing and beyond. The crimp is excellent, elasticity good and staple surprisingly long.
Micron count of our top is 21 to 24, with a staple length of 4 to 5 inches. Felting properties are high.
PRODUCT of NEW ZEALAND
Polwarth 85/Tussah Silk 15
85% Polwarth wool / 15% Tussah Silk Very clean combed top. A lovely soft blend from Ashland Bay that is just as beautiful in its natural ivory tone as it would be dyed. Polwarth is every bit as soft as Merino and much less commonly used in blends such as this one. NOTE: slightly more on the ivory/cream side than the photo shows.
PRODUCT of UNITED KINGDOM
Rambouillet (Rustic Roving)
Classification: FINEWOOL
Thick and chunky rustic roving with a moderate amount of vegetation in our current supply.
Lovely off-white in colour. In the Merino family, Rambouillet developed as an offshoot in Northern France in the late 1700s and was soon brought to North America where more changes made this a distinctive breed.
The fibre is similar to Merino but with less lustre and more loft. Staple is in the 2 to 4 inch range and especially well-suited to woolen-style spinning. Plenty soft for outer, midrange and against-the-skin wear, with a micron count in the 18 to 24 range. Wet felting properties are excellent. A good core wool for needle-felting.
PRODUCT of CANADA
Ramie (Top)
100% Ramie.
Very clean combed top, in pencil-roving width. Staple length is 7 to 8 inches. Ramie comes from the stem (bast) fibre of a tropical plant. Typically it is bleached to an almost pure white. Our supply is very fine and soft. Ramie can be spun by itself or used in blends. It's well-suited for lighter summer wear, from against-the-skin to outerwear. An intriguing fibre for those that can't wear wool. <
Since this is a plant or cellulose fibre dyers must use fibre reactive dyes. Natural dyers can resort to techniques used on cotton, such as alum-tannin premordanting, or Aluminum acetate. We don't know how Ramie responds in an indigo vat.
That being said, when blended with protein fibres, acid dyes will leave the ramie alone during dyeing, which makes for some wonderful streaky or heathered effects, depending on how well the fibres are blended.
Rideau Arcott (Rustic Roving)
Classification: MEDIUM WOOL
Thick and chunky rustic roving with a moderate amount of veg. A Canadian breed developed by Agriculture Canada in Ottawa, a complicated crossing of Ile-de-France, Suffolk Cheviot and others. Primarily a meat sheep but deserves more consideration by spinners. Makes a good CORE WOOL for needle felting.
Though technical details are hard to find, what we have is creamy-white in colour, with a nice bounce and loft and a bit of lustre. Staple seems to be in the 2 to 4 inch range and it feels plenty soft for midrange garments. We're guessing this could be put to many of the same uses as Clun Forest or North Country Cheviot, and it might work great for a warm and cozy pair of socks, spun woolen or semi-woolen style. Wet-Felting properties are not known to us, but we're guessing it's pretty good.
PRODUCT of CANADA
Romney – Light Grey (Roving)
Classification: LONGWOOL
Clean, carded and somewhat chunky roving with very little vegetation. Light grey in colour, marled with softer ash-grey and dark-grey throughout, and just a hint of brown. Romney is a longwool with a good crimp and relatively short staple and slight sheen. It spins well either woolen or semi-worsted styles. Suitable for midrange to outerwear. Being roving this has excellent loft which many needle felters love.
Micron count on this fibre is around 36 (but it feels softer) with a staple length of 4 to 5 inches. Felting properties are very good.
PRODUCT of NEW ZEALAND
Romney – Medium Grey (Roving)
Classification: LONGWOOL
Clean, carded and somewhat chunky roving with very little vegetation. Medium grey-brown in tone, liberally sprinkled throughout with ash grey. Romney is a longwool with a good crimp and relatively short staple and slight sheen. It spins well either woolen or semi-worsted styles. Suitable for midrange to outerwear. Being roving this has excellent loft which many needle felters love.
Micron count on this fibre is around 36 (but it feels softer) with a staple length of 4 to 5 inches. Felting properties are very good.
PRODUCT of NEW ZEALAND
Romney – White (Roving)
Classification: LONGWOOL
Thick and chunky carded roving, with very little vegetation. Creamy-white in colour. Romney is a longwool with a good crimp and relatively short staple and slight sheen. It spins well either woolen or worsted style. Suitable for midrange to outerwear, this particular roving being softer than average.
Micron count on Romney ranges from 32 to 39 with a staple length in the 5 to 8 inch range. Felting properties are very good.
PRODUCT of NEW ZEAlAND
Shetland – Black, Fine (Top)
Classification: DOWN-TYPE WOOL
Very clean combed top with next to no veg. The colour is a gorgeous and very dark brown-black with the odd grey hair sprinkled in, and it has a lovely and soft handle. This is a very old breed used in everything from traditional Shetland lace to rugged tweed fabrics and midrange to rugged outerwear knitted garments. It technically has a double coat but they are nearly always carded together.
Micron count on the fine hairs varies from 12 to 20 microns but is difficult to assign in a blend. Staple length is in the 2 to 4.5 inch range. Felting properties are moderate.
PRODUCT of GREAT BRITAIN
Shetland – Grey, Fine (Top)
Classification: DOWN-TYPE WOOL
Very clean combed top with next to no veg. The colour is a blend of soft ash-grey and deeper charcoal, likely to make a beautiful heathered yarn. It has a lovely soft handle. This is a very old breed used in everything from traditional Shetland lace to rugged tweed fabrics and midrange to rugged outerwear knitted garments. It technically has a double coat but they are nearly always carded together.
Micron count on the fine hairs varies from 12 to 20 microns but is difficult to assign in a blend. Staple length is in the 2 to 4.5 inch range. Felting properties are moderate.
PRODUCT of GREAT BRITAIN
Shetland – Moorit Brown (Top)
Classification: DOWN-TYPE WOOL
Very clean combed top with next to no veg. Moorit is one of the official colour classes for Shetland sheep. The colour is a blend of medium-brown sprinkled with soft grey which sort of softens the overall effect. Micron count is 24 to 29 microns with a staple of around 3 inches and a medium-soft feel. This is a very old breed used in everything from traditional Shetland lace to rugged tweed fabrics and midrange to rugged outerwear knitted garments. Felting properties are moderate. From Ashland Bay.
PRODUCT of GREAT BRITAIN
Shetland – White (Top)
Classification: DOWN-TYPE WOOL
Very clean combed top with next to no veg. The colour is creamy white. This is a very old breed used in everything from traditional Shetland lace to rugged tweed fabrics and midrange to rugged outerwear knitted garments. It technically has a double coat but they are nearly always carded together.
Micron count is in the range of 25 to 26, with a staple length in the 3 to 4 inch range. Felting properties are moderate. From the Shetland Islands.
PRODUCT of GREAT BRITAIN
Sock Blend – Superwash BFL/Nylon Top
80% Superwash Blue-faced Leicester wool / 20% Nylon
Not suitable for wet felting!!
Very clean combed top. Staple length around 5 to 6 inches. BFL is not as soft as Merino, but has excellent durability in a sock yarn. Spin Off Magazine did a whole sock issue a couple of years ago and BFL was the winner so far as the best choice for spinning your own sock yarn. We have the mill custom-blend this for us, to save you from having to do the tedious job of combining wool and nylon together in a thorough way. This dyes up beautifully, either before or after spinning. The ovory-white colour is also real nice just as it comes. Would also be a good choice for kid's clothing.
PRODUCT of CANADA, made from imported fibre.
Sock Blend – Superwash Merino/Nylon Top
80% Superwash Merino wool / 20% Nylon
Very clean combed top. Staple length is around 4 inches. Like our BFL/Nylon blend, we have the mill do this up for us because it's an ideal no-brainer blend for spinning sock yarn. Takes dye beautifully, though the natural creamy-white is also lovely. White nylon is a pain to thoroughly blend into white fibre, so we've already had it done for you.
Not suitable for wet felting.
PRODUCT of CANADA, made from imported fibre.
Sparkle-On Natural Snow
100% trilobal Nylon. We also label this as Sparkling White Icicle.
Extremely clean combed top, and very white but with a wonderful reflective sparkle. Staple length is about 3 to 4 inches, the fibre very fine. Absolutely wonderful for adding some glitter to any spin, and also a favourite of felters. Trilobal nylon is triangular in cross-section, rather than round. These flat surfaces are what cause it to reflect light and appear to sparkle. It is sold under various brand names, including Firestar™.
Though it works nicely in "natural" white, this dyes beautifully with acid dyes. In blends this is carded at around 5 to 20% by weight, and just a little bit does the trick.
Our "Sparkle-On™ Natural Snow" and "Nylon - Sparkling White Icicle" are cross-listed here together. The only difference is the size of the bags offered.
PRODUCT of ITALY
Suffolk (Rustic Roving)
Classification: DOWN BREED
Thick and chunky Rustic Roving, with a moderate amount of vegetation debris. Creamy-white in colour with mottlings of darker shades here and there. Suffolk is the most common breed in North America, used widely for meat production. This is a versatile fibre with low-lustre wool but plenty of loft for good insulating value. Great for mittens, socks, outerwear and rugged sweaters.
Micron count is in the range of 25 to 33, with a staple length around 2 to 3.5 inches. Wet-felting properties are poor. An excellent core wool for needle-felting.
PRODUCT of CANADA
Superwash Merino 50/Bamboo 50 (Top)
50% Superwash Merino / 50% Rayon from Bamboo
Lovely and clean combed top. Staple length around 5 to 6 inches, the colour creamy-white. A favourite of dyers for making fancy hand-painted braids for spinners. This is a very soft and luxurious-feeling blend, carded in a streaky manner that helps to preserve the sheen of the bamboo. Use it to spin everything from against-the-skin garments and beyond. Very pleasant in the hands!
Because only the wool will strike with acid dyes, the effect is exotic and streaky both in the top as well as the finished yarn. The Superwash component makes for absolutely no felting during dyeing, and later during laundering. A tip for dyers: when presoaking and rinsing, keep this top in a mesh lingerie bag to help hold it together.
NOT SUITABLE FOR WET FELTING.
Superwash Merino 50/Tencel 50 (Top)
Lovely and clean combed top. Staple length around 4 to 5 inches, the colour is a streaky blend of ivory and white. A favourite of dyers for making fancy hand-painted braids for spinners. This is a very soft and luxurious-feeling blend, carded in a streaky manner that helps to preserve the sheen of the Tencel. Suitable for a wide range of yarns.
Because only the wool will strike with acid dyes, the effect is exotic and streaky both in the top as well as the finished yarn. The Superwash component makes for absolutely no felting during dyeing, and later during laundering. A tip for dyers: when presoaking and rinsing, keep this top in a mesh lingerie bag to help hold it together.
NOT SUITABLE FOR WET FELTING.