School of Yarn – Koigu Rovings
Today our guest blogger is Sue Frost. Sue is one of our unofficial staff members, she is always ready to help and is a talented knitter and spinner. I always feel a little like Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence when I ask others if they would like to do a blog entry. But Sue beat me to the punch and offered – Thank you Sue.

Sue here:
Everyone was rather excited when the Koigu rovings arrived. I was lucky enough to be allowed to play with a braid. Someone has to evaluate the product, right
?
Koigu rovings are Targhee wool. The Targhee sheep were developed in Idaho in the 1920s. This breed was created by crossing Rambouillet and Columbia sheep. Targhees can take the mid-west weather while still producing quality meat and, more importantly, fleece. Here’s a link to more information: http://www.ustargheesheep.org/
Koigu braids are combed top, leaving the fibres beautifully aligned and prepped. They are scoured, to be as white as possible before being painted. The fibres are approximately 60 ct, even finer than the Koigu Merino top, and 2” to 3” long. As you might expect, the colours from Koigu are lovely. The Targhee fibre has a very matte finish – don’t expect the sheen of the Koigu yarns.
As we petted the rovings in the shop, we all noticed that there were matted, gritty bits throughout the rovings. Fortunately, these turned out to be dried bits of a powder and by the time I had pre-drafted the braids, they were all gone.
I took my braid home and contemplated the rainbow. Deciding on a three-ply yarn to give me different colours in each ply, I broke the full braid into three pieces and then started splitting each into pencil roving. Then I pre-drafted and rolled what would be each ply into a ball. (Here’s where I give you the reminder about weighing out your fibre – a scale is your friend!). I did notice a fair bit of dust flying so if that’s an issue for you, you may want to use a mask. I tried to arrange my three ply-balls so that each would start in a different colour.
The rovings were lovely to spin – hardly any nepps or bits. And that pesky matting? I just spun my no-brainer yarn and didn’t aim for too fine a ply. As soon as I started plying I realized that my attempt at having three colours (a different colour in each ply) wasn’t working. (Prep? Fail.) I kept going. Towards the end I noticed that I had a lot of yarn left over on one bobbin (Pre-weighing? Fail.) Not wanting to waste a bit of the fibre, I simply did a three-ply for as long as possible then switched to a Navajo-ply to use up all the ‘leftovers’. Navajo-ply gave me colour blocking (since you’re folding the yarn back on itself) so there’s a bit of contrast yarn that might make a nice edging or highlight in whatever project this skein becomes.
To finish, I soaked the skein and whacked it on the counter. I believe this sets the twist but it also serves to loosen the strands in the skein. After drying it (no Sir Cat, you may NOT sit on it), I weighed and measured – 3.7 oz and 227 yards of deliciousness.
My skein is on ‘display’ at the store if you need to pet a finished product. It’s also going to be auctioned off at Knit In Public day.
The Koigu roving was a pleasure to work with. It certainly appears to be felt-able, so hand-washing will be needed. Run, don’t walk to get some of your own. You’ll have to run faster than I do.










