After our successful trials of our ‘Evolution’ projects, it was time to move it into our main group page and share the fun with even more people. So the challenge was begun! The instructions were as follows:
Yes my fellow fibery gods and goddesses, this is a whole new world of rampant rolly rolags, fantastic fluffed up fiber, mixy mashups of mightyness! The rolag is our focus for the next three weeks. Are you up to the challenge!? Then read on…. This challenge is going to result in many roles (surprise!), but I want us to really explore ALL the possibilities there are in rolags, share that with each other, and evolve our knowledge about rolling rolags. Please read to the end to also learn about the prize giveaway pack and how to enter! Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to start exploring every way you can find of making rolags. You can use ANY tool you can possibly think of that will help you make rolags, or even no tool at all if you can figure a way to mix some fiber and roll it up to spin!
And so began the Rockstar Rolags challenge!
There was a fantastic response and we have enjoyed seeing a wide range of rolags made in many different ways and with many different tools (and also no tools!) I really love it when we can share our processes like this, there is always something to learn, for example I had never thought of rolling rolags off my hackle! Ineke De Brouwer shared the way she created her rolags from her home made hackle (and she has promised to share a tutorial on how she made that soon too). She made her Rolags with super soft Merino mixed with waste silk and angelina.
Jeri Powtak used a ‘no tools’ method to create some very pretty rolags, her instructions were: “Pre draft your fiber, then draft out a staples length on a hard surface, I then added a little bling, do another layer of staple lengths halfway down the first row, repeat until you have as much fiber as you want, roll it between two knitting needles or dowels, slip it off, TADDAAAH!!! A rolag!” and look at the awesome result..
Jane Stevens entered the draw and posted this photo with her collection of fibers made into rolags using the traditional hand cards.
Janes description: “Rolags decreasing in size right to left on normal carders Navjo Churro, on cotton carders White cotton, on mini carders (brushes) tan coloured cotton and lastly silky milkweed fluff.” I think this is an awesome example of experimenting with different kinds of fibers and finding the right tool to match the fibers.
Christy Rogers posted her rolags made on a blending board, (so pretty!)
Lots of tips were shared for things like keeping rolags loose when drafting and rolling them, its always good to get alternative ideas and new ways to do things, I am grateful that everyone was so open in sharing this kind of information!
Myra Kness posted some really cool and unusual colour combinations, as well as lots of amazing texture:
Laura Abbott was super proficient and trialled a whole bunch of different ways to create rolags. Her gradients were particularly stunning!
A last minute entry was Trudie Dekiejzer with her lovely rolags in whites
and Annette Montgomery shared her very lovely Alpaca Cria and silk rolag blend AND how it looks spun and knitted! I cant say often enough how making sample quantities and doing something like this is SO useful! Developing a record journal of these things is such a great thing to work on too.
These are just a few of the images and experiments that were shared, please do go and check out the Fiberygoodness group page for more!
And now, without further ado (there is a prize draw with this challenge!) The winner of this months Evolution Rockstar Rolags draw is…………………………… Jeri Powtak!! Congratulations Jeri! I will contact you for postal information, and this prize pack will soon be coming your way!
THANK YOU to everyone who took part in this challenge! It was wonderful to see and share in your fiber creativity 🙂 I hope you will continue to join us for more Evolution Challenges coming soon!
Congratulations Jeni!