# "Nubby" roving



## Silverpeep (May 3, 2016)

I recently bought some Cormo roving (I love Cormo) that is somewhat "nubbly". As I spin I stop to pluck them out, which slows me down and makes me look like I'm shedding little balls of fluff. Just wondering if anyone else does this. I've done this with other roving too. I sometimes think I should not buy nubbly roving, but I have trouble walking away from some colors and textures.


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## desireeross (Jun 2, 2013)

Those nubs drive me insane. I got some from blending alpaca with merino.


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## Condia (Jul 24, 2012)

Slubs come from second cuts and are quite annoying I steer clear of all roving/fleece with second cuts. Makes pills on your knitted items too.


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## spins2knit (Jul 29, 2013)

Cormo is very fine fiber and if you get second cuts or it is not processed correctly it can be a bear to spin. There is a Cormo herder locally who had a great deal of trouble trying to find a mill that could process find wool properly.


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## Condia (Jul 24, 2012)

You are correct, if slubs are left in the roving it has not been processed properly, even though you may find a couple here and there it should not be prevalent in the roving. The carding process should have "caught" them and weeded them out. When I am carding some fleeces that have been sent to me for spinning it seems the second cuts are even more than the good fleece. But the carder catches them and is not a problem other than A LOT of wasted fiber.



spins2knit said:


> Cormo is very fine fiber and if you get second cuts or it is not processed correctly it can be a bear to spin. There is a Cormo herder locally who had a great deal of trouble trying to find a mill that could process find wool properly.


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## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

Yes, second cuts! They can make the spinning annoying and more time consuming, plus wasted fiber that you paid for.


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## Condia (Jul 24, 2012)

When doing commission spinning for customers I only charge for the finished weight of the yarn simply because of this problem of wasted fiber from second cuts. I don't want to charge my customers for something they didn't receive. There have been times for example that someone has sent 2 pounds ( of what I consider not good enough to mess with fiber) and by the time I am finished with carding and removing those nasty second cuts ended up with only about 1 pound of usable fiber. Most places that do custom spinning charge for the incoming weight and go from there. I don't do do that.


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## shepherd (Feb 25, 2012)

Where did you get the Cormo roving? There are a couple of ways those nubs could happen and the most likely is that the shearer did a more "commercial" than "spinner" job. I trained my shearer who asked me to tell him how to shear for spinners. Now I have trouble getting an appointment from him but I get a discount! When shearers shear they try to get close to the skin without cutting it. Many times if they make a shallow cut they go back and cut that spot again. When they are finished the sheep looks nice, but the fleece is full of those "second cuts". The second cuts are what makes the nubbies. If Hoyt goes too shallow (which he seldom does because he is so good) he just goes ahead and makes the next cut. When he is finished I take the fleece away and if the spots he left behind bother him, he goes back and takes them off. The first sheep he did for me looked like a small child had attacked her with play scissors! That was because if he started to go for a second cut I yelled at him. Now his sheep look pretty good because he never goes back, but his cuts are closer but not too close.

The second culprit is in the preparation for the mill. If you have a lot of second cuts you must lay out the fleece on a skirting table and pick them off by hand before you send it out. Mills cannot mess around with that or they would have to charge a lot more. One of the mills I have used called that "monkey-picking" - exactly what it looks like. Nowadays I pick my fleeces but do not have second cuts to get out (thank you Hoyt) - I pick out any VM (vegetable matter). My fleeces are pretty clean because my field do not have much brush, so it is easy. I do have a friend who is manic about VM and picks it out for DAYS, every tiny shred.

Summary: 1. Shearer left second cuts
And/or: 2. Shepherd did not pick it carefullly


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## Condia (Jul 24, 2012)

shepherd said:


> Where did you get the Cormo roving? There are a couple of ways those nubs could happen and the most likely is that the shearer did a more "commercial" than "spinner" job. I trained my shearer who asked me to tell him how to shear for spinners. Now I have trouble getting an appointment from him but I get a discount! When shearers shear they try to get close to the skin without cutting it. Many times if they make a shallow cut they go back and cut that spot again. When they are finished the sheep looks nice, but the fleece is full of those "second cuts". The second cuts are what makes the nubbies. If Hoyt goes too shallow (which he seldom does because he is so good) he just goes ahead and makes the next cut. When he is finished I take the fleece away and if the spots he left behind bother him, he goes back and takes them off. The first sheep he did for me looked like a small child had attacked her with play scissors! That was because if he started to go for a second cut I yelled at him. Now his sheep look pretty good because he never goes back, but his cuts are closer but not too close.
> 
> The second culprit is in the preparation for the mill. If you have a lot of second cuts you must lay out the fleece on a skirting table and pick them off by hand before you send it out. Mills cannot mess around with that or they would have to charge a lot more. One of the mills I have used called that "monkey-picking" - exactly what it looks like. Nowadays I pick my fleeces but do not have second cuts to get out (thank you Hoyt) - I pick out any VM (vegetable matter). My fleeces are pretty clean because my field do not have much brush, so it is easy. I do have a friend who is manic about VM and picks it out for DAYS, every tiny shred.
> 
> ...


 :sm24: :sm24: :sm24: :sm24: :sm24: :sm24:


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

shepherd said:


> Where did you get the Cormo roving? There are a couple of ways those nubs could happen and the most likely is that the shearer did a more "commercial" than "spinner" job. I trained my shearer who asked me to tell him how to shear for spinners. Now I have trouble getting an appointment from him but I get a discount! When shearers shear they try to get close to the skin without cutting it. Many times if they make a shallow cut they go back and cut that spot again. When they are finished the sheep looks nice, but the fleece is full of those "second cuts". The second cuts are what makes the nubbies. If Hoyt goes too shallow (which he seldom does because he is so good) he just goes ahead and makes the next cut. When he is finished I take the fleece away and if the spots he left behind bother him, he goes back and takes them off. The first sheep he did for me looked like a small child had attacked her with play scissors! That was because if he started to go for a second cut I yelled at him. Now his sheep look pretty good because he never goes back, but his cuts are closer but not too close.
> 
> The second culprit is in the preparation for the mill. If you have a lot of second cuts you must lay out the fleece on a skirting table and pick them off by hand before you send it out. Mills cannot mess around with that or they would have to charge a lot more. One of the mills I have used called that "monkey-picking" - exactly what it looks like. Nowadays I pick my fleeces but do not have second cuts to get out (thank you Hoyt) - I pick out any VM (vegetable matter). My fleeces are pretty clean because my field do not have much brush, so it is easy. I do have a friend who is manic about VM and picks it out for DAYS, every tiny shred.
> 
> ...


Thank you for this. I would love to see a shearing I had very little vege matter in my fleece I was luck I am still picking little bits out but it is ready to be mixed with something else.


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## Silverpeep (May 3, 2016)

I got the roving at the wool festival in Rhinebeck. Though it's a bit of a pain to spin, it is so soft and light. Ready to start a second bobbin.


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## Condia (Jul 24, 2012)

Even with the problems, it is lovely spinning and a gorgeous color.


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## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

Oh how pretty. Is it mixed look a little darker then the roving on the picture.


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## Cdambro (Dec 30, 2013)

Beautiful spinning


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## shepherd (Feb 25, 2012)

What a crime - it looks like should have been awesome to spin. Looking at the light color on you can see the second cuts - the whiter spots. I rarely buy roving (having a field full of potential roving) but if I buy any I look at it sort spread out - you can spot VM and second cuts. The beautiful roving I bought on KP was fine, tho - You can trust a KPer! Next Saturday my friend who has a mill is delivering $330 worth of roving and coming for lunch (don't I have great friends?). I will have to get a hustle on my bustle and list it on my website w/ pictures!

Yesterday and today were busy - a young woman came from Ohio to pick up a ram lamb for breeding and today another young gal came to see a wether that was a bottle baby given to me. He is a Cheviot, but a Border, not a Mini. He has gotten very big and his fleece is not at all spinnable. But her 6-month-old Chincoteauge (sp/)pony broke 2 vertebrae in his neck and will be in a stall all winter so this guy will make a great companion for him. He is already people-friendly and will spend the next few weeks with my old Quarterhorse to get comfortable with horses. I paid $15 for him and am passing him on for that - she will have enough vet bills without paying a lot for a companion! Then we had ordered 60 bales of horse hay but DH's back is out so my hay man and his son borrowed our flatbed trailer and brought it over. I love country folk!


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## kwharrod (Jul 24, 2012)

Your yarn is lovely. I have picked out lots of nubs with tweezers from some fleece as I put it tIrough my drum carder. What a pain and I'm not sure I will ever get them all out.


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