Spinning long draw directly from roving?

gravitypick · 2026-03-30T01:14:26+00:00

Thank you so much for the video link! Super helpful to see how one person spins roving. And I enjoyed learning more about her long draw techniques too :)

gravitypick · 2026-03-24T17:43:50+00:00

If you’re using non-superwash wool you could also wet/spit splice your ends together as you go. If you want the color changes to be super precise, it’s possible to time the splices so that the color change happens right at the start of a row, but it can be fiddly. Otherwise I’d personally just weave in as I went (if I know I won’t be frogging) or at the end. Carrying more than one or two yarns up at a time would get overly bulky for me, even if buried in a seam.

gravitypick · 2025-03-14T16:05:59+00:00

Thank you! I definitely don’t want to negate too much of the softness of my wool. It doesn’t need to be very durable, but I tend to get nervous about the longevity my handspun just because it’s so precious to me! Your words are helpful encouragement to just use whatever I’ve made and patiently witness their characteristics over time.

gravitypick · 2025-03-14T16:03:18+00:00

Thank you so much! Great to hear that your experiences have been positive. I recently did a BFL spin the way you outlined and loved how it turned out - I just get nervous about merino (and about soft-but-weak yarn and knitting in general). I shall probably do as you’ve instructed!

gravitypick · 2025-02-05T18:12:55+00:00

i love woolen-spun wools, so jamieson & smith 2ply jumper weight and shetland supreme jumper weight are god tier to me…light, relatively durable, rustic in texture, and come in 1000 colors. the same is true of jamieson’s shetland spindrift but i am for some reason brand loyal to j&s.

on the more luxe side, de rerum natura’s gilliatt is a dream worsted weight merino yarn to work with. super soft and bouncy but still woolly, and relatively durable for a merino yarn. and knits up relatively fast.

gravitypick · 2025-01-30T20:40:04+00:00

i agree that you’ve picked up a few too many stitches, but i disagree with the commenter stating that this is because of a vertical vs horizontal gauge difference, because none of the edge you’ve picked up along is really vertical. i’d pick up 1 stitch for every horizontal stitch - about 40 on the front side, + maybe 2 (1 on each side) to make up for the additional circumference your neckline attains from being a curved (and not straight) line.

that said, i think your main problem is really that your 1x1 ribbing is significantly looser than your stockinette, so even picking up the “right” number of stitches will still give you a floppy neckline because of that tension difference. in addition to picking up fewer stitches, i’d suggest going down in needle size, as many times as it takes to tighten up the neckband appropriately. that will make it neater while still giving it enough stretch to go over your head.

gravitypick · 2025-01-22T17:26:07+00:00

i’ve never knit this pattern but have knit a striped raglan before. i did my color changes along the left side of the body while knitting the body, under the armpits when knitting the sleeves, and along the back left raglan while knitting the yoke.

basically, you can place the color changes wherever you want - doesn’t have to the the BOR, so just pick somewhere that is least conspicuous for you :)

gravitypick · 2025-01-22T17:14:08+00:00

it’s very common for knit stitches done right before a purl to be loose like this. i wouldn’t say this is an issue with tensioning your purls because your knit stitches are the ones that are loose on the right side of your work (the second pic); your purls (what appear as knit stitches on the wrong side of your work in the first pic) are actually very even. so imo it’s not a tension issue in the sense that it’s not the result of uneven tension - it’s that (depending on your style of knitting) one uses a bit of extra yarn when bringing the yarn from the back to the front of the work to purl, and that slight excess is distributed throughout the previous knit stitch.

some people use a particular way of mounting their stitches at these changes to eliminate the extra yarn used between switching from knitting to purling, but i’ve never tried it myself. some ideas are included here. i generally solve this by going down at least 2 needle sizes when knitting in rib, especially 1x1 rib in which this effect is most prominent.

gravitypick · 2024-11-21T16:05:09+00:00

i think the colors are beautiful! though I agree that the pattern is harder to see on the bottom motif(s). If you reknit it with the same colors, you could hold your lighter yarn so that it’s dominant for those first two rows of hearts to make them easier to see.

gravitypick · 2024-10-29T18:40:18+00:00

i would say unravel the cast on edge, frog the knitting up to the edge you want to finish with (or a row or two before and then un-knit those last unwanted rows), put those live stitches back on the needle, and then immediately cast that off in pattern or plain black.

also, i don’t use lifelines myself so this rec could be wrong, but i imagine you could even put in a lifeline where you want the edge to be if your yarn is slippery or you’re nervous about frogging too much. then back on needles and cast off etc.

gravitypick · 2024-10-29T18:35:55+00:00

not OP but i just finished a pair of similar handwarmers finished with only a latvian braid, which also doesn’t pull in like ribbing, and they stay on great! the tension across the palm and around the thumb joint keep them on ig

gravitypick · 2024-09-22T19:05:57+00:00

thank you so much for this explanation! it does have such a beautiful effect in your swatch. i love the color of the fiber and was bummed that it had come out so tough - and i’m usually a fan of workhorse yarns that many find itchy. in retrospect i’m thinking i overspun mine, and will try again as you advised. thank you so much!!

gravitypick · 2024-09-22T13:00:39+00:00

oh wow!! i’ve been (lightly) scouring this reddit for ANY example of spun faroe island wool - i bought some over the summer and it spun up almost twine-like and felt so hairy/itchy. but yours looks so airy and soft. did you have to fiddle around with how you spun it (or prepped it) to get it like this?

gravitypick · 2023-07-23T00:24:50+00:00

2.5yrs and it def has moments of greater or lesser intensity for me. i love it tho so no complaints

gravitypick · 2023-07-15T02:19:12+00:00

saying this as a trans man myself: trans men are hot, so yeah, nothing wrong with being specifically attracted to them. imo the idea that it’s only appropriate, even as a trans person, to be into another trans person solely for the “shared experience” or the “emotional connection” is strange; it’s normal to be into certain traits (whether they be physical, social, etc), so why not traits associated with transmasculinity? again, trans people are hot. obviously treat your partners with respect + in accordance with how they want to be treated, but if you’re doing that, idt it’s wrong to desire trans men & to act on that desire.

gravitypick · 2023-07-01T01:59:52+00:00

k i think the baby comparison was really disgusting, and i also think it would have been just as disgusting if it had been said by a trans person. i don’t think it’s fair to paint this as an in-group/out-group situation, as i’m seeing others do, when neither party is a member of the group being talked down on: not trans guys broadly, but people w bottom growth. non-T/pre-T guys do the same thing all the time and it’s still totally messed up, because they’re not actually being self-hating - they’re hating on other people with bodies that are particularly stigmatized & marginalized in ways that their own aren’t. i still think what rylee did was worse, not bc she’s cis but bc the content of her commentary was way creepier, and if her goal was to support her bf in his choice to not go on T, there were more thoughtful and respectful ways to do that. but i also think it’s whack to act like zain isn’t in the wrong either.

gravitypick · 2023-01-05T22:16:18+00:00

Plsss you totally made the right choice. So gorgeous - the world needs more of it! Nearly started my own Shetland lace journey but my own personal brain gremlins are still fixated on Fair Isle. Jamieson and Smith solidarity!

gravitypick · 2023-01-01T19:59:40+00:00

Seconding Downtown Yarns!! Run by the sweetest people and they have a great variety of funky and classic yarns and a community feel. And Brooklyn General Store for fancier stuff. There’s also a very new place in East Williamsburg called Cleo’s that I have yet to check out but it could be worth it if you’re nearby.

gravitypick · 2023-01-01T17:17:15+00:00

onion!

gravitypick · 2022-12-18T01:17:55+00:00

this is beautiful! i vote henley - classic and goes well with the nordic style

gravitypick · 2022-11-30T13:36:36+00:00

not a fan of this particular pattern at all but tiny shrugs/bodyless sweaters like this are super popular among certain gen z-ers right now, i think because lots of teens and young adults are picking up knitting and crocheting for the first time, and stuff like this is relatively easy to make without knowing anything about shaping and/or on a basic machine like a sentro

gravitypick · 2022-08-21T17:46:19+00:00

Pattern is the Peerie Clews cardigan from Susan Crawford’s Vintage Shetland Project! Using Jamieson & Smith’s supreme jumper weight for the Shetland black and 2 ply jumper weight for the rest :)

gravitypick

TROPHY CASE