About a year ago I bought an Ashford blending board and had a dabble with making arty rolags with it and I wasn't that impressed. In fact I had decided to sell it and left it in my work room under a table. However I have watched a couple of classes over the internet which has changed my mind! Both of these are by
Esther Rodgers, one is a
Craftsy class and the other is an
Interweave DVD. I am now hooked! My latest project uses an assortment of hand dyed locks from a range of fleeces. Some are longer and some are a bit coarser but all are the remnants of other projects or colours that I decided not to use at that time.
I split them in to locks, flicked them out a bit and blended them a couple of times on the board. Then I pulled off a roving as Esther demonstrated and I ended up with a huge ball of multi-coloured roving. I then spun a lofty singles yarn which I am using as a weft in my Saori weaving.
I have lots of ideas for more colourways and I am currently blending some naturally dyed tops with added sparkly bits/silk and some alpaca. I am so glad to have found a use for my blending board as they are not cheap to buy and I can also find a use for all those odd bits of wool.
