Cash-strapped college student resorts to desperate measures

Ever since I spun with those little sample-size bits of roving, I've been craving the stuff. Roving is so much easier for me to spin (consistently!) with than the locks of alpaca that I've been using. I'd love to be able to make roving out of my alpaca, but that requires the use of expensive equipment. The combs used to process the fiber are (at the lowest price I've seen) at least $45, which is outside my meager budget at the moment.

So...I started thinking.

Combs are used to process this stuff...

I have combs...that I use to process my hair...

I don't have a diz, but I do have a needle sizer...

Hmmm...

Desperate times call for desperate measures, my friends.

Shown here are two wide-toothed combs (that I already had), my needle sizer, and one of the bags of alpaca.

Before I show the rest of these pictures, I have to say that yes, I know that this isn't the best way to prepare my fiber, and there's probably a billion reasons why I probably should not be doing my fiber prep this way, but I'm impatient, and..."creative", and it was fun. That's my disclaimer

First, I loaded up one of the combs with some fiber.

Next, I took the other comb, and brushed the ends of the fiber, gradually working my way inward, until I had most of the fiber moved from one comb to the other.

This was about how much I had left on the brush after the first combing:

I smoothed out the brushed hairs into a cone-ish shape, twisted the end slightly, and pulled it through one of the holes on my needle sizer (I think I used size 6, just for the sake of hilarious detail).

I took the brush away from the fiber and brushed out the end I hadn't pulled through the diz yet. I repeated these steps and added to my "roving" by twisting the joins of the fiber together a bit before pulling them through my "diz". I ended up with about 5 feet of "roving" which I then spun.

It fell apart in (surprisingly) only a couple of places. It made spinning faster, easier, and more fun! I love how easily the alpaca pulls apart when I'm drafting. I was making much more consistent yarn, and I spun a TON in a small(ish) amount of time.

I've also knit 3 rows on been working on the back of the cable luxe tunic...I don't know why it's so hard for me to work on things I'm making for myself. You'd think that I would have more fun when I know what I want and can make exactly what I want...but progress is unexpectedly slow.

So is the progress on Nathan's shedir...I'm not sure why...I love the yarn, I love the dude, I love the pattern, and yet it is still not past the first repeat of the pattern. Sorry, man.

Lastly, my auntie has asked me to design a baby blanket for a friend! And I need yarn ideas. She has specified that it needs to be machine washable and dryable, and should be white - maybe sparkly. She wants it to be about 4 feet (square). I get to choose any kind of design I'd like. Anyone have any ideas?