The unspeakable.

That's what I did.  It was scandalous.

I was spinning the other day - I got my Merlin Wheel back from Dave in Vermont and it is spinning beautifully (And fast. Really, really fast.  But beautifully).  I don't know why, because I worked out the ratios on it and the Vermont wheel once, and technically the Russo is faster by a tiny bit, but the Merlin feels fierce. 
I missed it and I am glad it is home, though the living room looks unbearably cluttered.  Need to rearrange. 

In an effort to reacquaint myself with it I grabbed a bit of this and a bit of that and spun a little of this and little of that and I tell you, I have some unsuccessful fiber around this house.

There's the giant bag of rambouillet I had processed which has two problems - one is that the fleece quality wasn't as good as some, a mistake of enthusiasm based on insufficient knowledge on the part of the purchaser (that would be me), and thus the roving is a bit raggedy.  Prone to lumps.  And the other is that the color is the flattest tan imaginable.  I was going to just use it as a learning tool, because it is also soft as a kitten, but I have struggled with it and struggled with it to get even a halfway decent yarn and then I started to knit a plain sensible warm shawl out of the skeins I have done already and it was so blah it was ugly.  Downright ugly.

And I have pounds of the stuff standing between me and good and beautiful things.

Then there is the really exquisite lilac cormo lamb and silk blend, which should be lovely.  But I bought it several months ago and when I took it out I discovered that the processor used some kind of sweet scented conditioner on it and it smells like the detergent aisle at the grocery store.  And worse, it's sticky.  It wasn't when it came in to me - I think they used fabric softener in the rinse and it left a residue that hasn't aged well. Or the fabric softener residue combined with some residual lanolin and made this gross filmy sticky coating that feels exactly like a dried up laundry soap spill you got on your hands from the back of a shelf.  And it doesn't soften as it warms the way lanolin should and is really rather disgusting.

This is too bad, but I can't see that washing the batts has much of a chance of success, and the whole time I was working with it I wanted to sneeze and wash my hands.

I just had a moment last night.  I could keep picking the lumps out of that rambo, I could try and wash the cormo.....and spend hours of my precious spinning time on it, all the while I have wonderful things waiting for me in trunks and boxes, things that aren't sticky, that aren't full of lumps, that custom will not stale, or not quickly anyway.  Taht will teach me something.  Why should I spend any more time working with things that I don't like, and don't think will come out well, when I could be actually improving my skill and working with good material?

Reader, I threw them away.  And it felt fantastic.

Comments

[lanea]

I know people who mulch with less than stellar wool. I worry that that would tell the moths where I live . . .

[Jessica]

Go you! Why bother indeed.

But I have to wonder, could it have been composted? Maybe not with all the sticky icky stuff...

[Rabbitch]

You just made me swoon.

[M]

Juno,
Have you read the Harlot's way she washes those little hunks of uncarded/unspun wool all wrapped up in the little towell in the roasting pan? Would that have worked ... maybe just soaking it in warm water without actually cooking it??

If it was just a conditioner/rinse then it should be water solulable(sp?). In fact, just stick a hunk in a glass and let it sit. That wouldn't be too time consuming to see if it would release any unwanted additives.

M

[anne]

i do that all the time . . work with sub-par stuff because i think i have to use it. and i end u[ with a lot of sub-par yarn.
i purged the worst of it last year; maybe you will embolden me to get rid of the rest of that crap finally.

[S.Kate]

I am crying over the rambouillet. Wonderful things could have been done with overdye and blending.

[Em]

I admire your bravery -- there really isn't much point in spinning bad fibre, especially if you've got good stuff in store! Yet there is a very frugal voice inside my head that says, "couldn't you have save the stuff for stuffing or felting?"

[Julie]

thanks for the inspiration. I needed to hear that today.

[elisa]

Dude. I love throwing things away. And you are right - our time for ourselves is precious enough not to spend with things that aren't right.

And although I've not seen your stash, I can only IMAGINE the good and lovely things you've got to play with.

I just gave myself palpitations thinking about your stash.

xoxo

[Sarah]

Glad you were able to remove something from your home that stood in the way of enjoyment.

[bellamoden]

Excellent! Life is WAY too short for that kind of hassle. Definitely.

[cedar]

Good plan, life is definitely too short to spend on soul sucking fibres...we want soul feeding fibres only. I'm lucky as where I live there are lots of fibre people of all different ages and stages, and a great recycle depot, so I just take those sucker right up there, and someone always thinks its a treasure ....all relative it seems, but it does save me a ton of guilt I could even get to righteous feeling...lol

[DebbieB]

Good for you. It wasn't wool - it was albatross feathers.

[Amanda]

Ahhhhh! I was going to say that, to remedy the problem of the flat tan fiber, you need to get into dyeing - but never mind!

And I agree with Bev - I've really come around on the beauty vs. comfort thing, and have learned to just toss perfectly good shoes that torture my feet, and perfectly good clothes that don't flatter. I'm old enough now to be over the need to impress while wincing all the while!

[elizabeth]

You know, while I was reading this I was thinking that I absolutely had to tell you to just junk the whole thing. Looks like you beat me to the punch. Congrats.

[Lindsey]

I recently did the same thing with some god awful yarn I was given years and years ago. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels bad throwing out - admitingly awful - fiber. Good for you!

[norma]

Well, not to say that your writing is anticlimactic, but honestly, woman: that was neither unspeakable NOR scandalous. It was exactly the RIGHT thing to do!!

[Margaret]

I'm definitely in the life's too short for bad fiber camp.

[Bevin]

KUDOS!! You should not keep anything you do not love, for it is just clutter!

[June]

Ha ha ha... I must say, that was a surprise ending!

[Gina]

Wow! The bravery! The liberation!

[Anne]

I know the feeling. Some of my yarn might get deep-sixed unless I can find a really really easy way to get rid of it.

[Barbara]

Thud!

Oh my gosh!

I have felt that way about a couple of purchases, but have found others that took what I didn't like and made something wonderful out of them.

My nieces especially love batts for felting.

I just made paper with a bunch of cotton that a friend tried and tried to spin. It's very cool.

[Linda]

Bravo! The only thing I think I would do differently is to offer such items where they may be appreciated, with a long list of warts and all, for the price of postage to send it on its way. Some people get creatively excited about such dilemmas. One man's ceiling...etc.

[stitchdom]

I bet that felt good!

I remember giving all my novelty polyester crap to my ex's girlfriend. So I know how good it feels to throw stuff out. :)