pmpknpunk - yup very squistastic, I just love them and tend to spin alot of them

isamax - sorry about the shows, I have gone to markets a few times and even at the same one it would be hit and miss, one time I would sell almost everything and the next almost nothing. Your yarn is very pretty so don't get discouraged.

Here is my contribution to fiber friday - three of the last weeks yarns - all spun from hand dyed merino

Fifties Fling


Harmony


Annabelle

Friday evening here in Australia. I have not posted anything in Fibre friday for ages - these are from the last two weeks. The yellow one is superwash, the rest are merino.

Hello back fellow aussie spinner.

Boy oh boy are those little guys cute

Yup - the ones plied with the laceweight were dyed after they were spun as I wanted the laceweight to match. I have also done it other way round as well.

i had the same kind of problem (on singles not 2 ply). I split my roving into thicker pieces if i want thicker yarn (I know it sounds kind of obvious but i always draft a bit as i spin so this helps keep it chunky). I switched to a lower ratio, less twist so you don't have to treadle heaps slower. The first skein after spinning thin takes a bit more concentration but the fingers tend to remember after awhile

I just do what I normally do but bigger and slower and it tends to work

I would also recommend commerically prepared combed top (you can then dye it or buy it dyed to start with) and that should help with the fuzzy problem. I also use a low ratio when spinning thick singles (3:1 ish) it gives me more time to get the size consistent and gives more control over the amount of twist that goes is.

I do not pre draft - I split my roving and draft further as I spin. I treat commercially and hand dyed roving the same (that said i dye my own and it turns out full and fluffy, if it was roving with felty bits I might treat it different).

JamyKate - Landscapes are Aussie dyes and I just love them. I generally dye before I spin, that way if I don't like something as much as I thought I would it goes to the bottom of the stash and I haven't wasted spinning time. If you are worried about messing stuff up when dyeing the Dyeing Discussion boards can be really helpful.
Landscapes are made by these people www.kraftkolour.com .au

JamyKate - I used Landscapes Dyes. Being an Aussie we don't have wiltons and they are really easy to use - just add water and heat.