Help a noob with harlequin roving?

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hairykiter
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Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by hairykiter » Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:30 pm

HIya :)

I'm making my first forays into dread-making with roving, been playing around a bit. Tis quite fun :) I'm doing double-enders, they seem easier? Anywayyyy....

I tried to make a harlequin today but can't seem to get the cracks out, even with twisting the hell out of it. Any tips? I'll try to get a pic, show you what I mean.

(edit) Here it is ... with a sharpie for scale :P

Image
Image

Cracktastic huh?

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ScarletLady
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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by ScarletLady » Tue Jun 07, 2011 6:32 am

Have you tried using a felting needle before and after you felt? That's what I use to get rid of cracks.
Here's some I made earlier :D

Image
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hairykiter
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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by hairykiter » Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:32 am

Oooooooh :D *jealous*

Stupid question maybe but what should I be doing with the felting needle? Where/what direction should I stab it?

Would be good to get these cracks eliminated

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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by ScarletLady » Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:36 am

You just sort of stab it randomly around the crack. Be careful of your fingers though as they're VERY sharp (I've jabbed myself down to the bone before, it nearly made me sick!)

Check out some tutorials on youtube, that's what I did. Just general needle felting tutorials, it'll give you a good idea of the technique needed :)
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hairykiter
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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by hairykiter » Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:41 am

OK I'll give it a go :) thanks for your help

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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by ScarletLady » Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:43 am

No problem...I've just found the channel that helped me when I was first starting. this has nothing to do with dreads but it will show you haw to felt, and if you ever want to get into sculptural felting, this is amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/user/feltalive
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hairykiter
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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by hairykiter » Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:34 am

So I'm kind of trying to "stitch" the crack closed ... is this right or wrong?

I get the feeling this is going to take a while. Got to get prevention figured out!

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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by ScarletLady » Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:57 am

Basically. That's why I said to do it before you felt. Obviously I'm talking abut future projects. It is possible to needle felt an already felted crack, I've done it, but it is time consuming
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hairykiter
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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by hairykiter » Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:17 pm

Well I've made some improvement to the cracked dread but urghh it's taking ages. I'll definately de-crack any future harlies/twists/whatevers before felting them up :)

Thanks again :)

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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by hairykiter » Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:23 pm

Sorry for double-posting but I threw another harley together (well prepped it, haven't felted it properly yet)
Just needled and dry-rolled, omg what a difference already! :D No more cracked dreads for meeeeeee!! ... hopefully lol, see what happens later.

Weirdly enough my brighter blue roving seems to just want to crack up, even on its own? It was a non-standard shade from Wingham Wools, I figured it best to practice on the cheapest I could find.


and I now have bright blue floof all over my black trousers ... oops.

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MrsEss
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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by MrsEss » Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:32 pm

Wingham wool is evil.

I find it far to soft & annoying.


Also, IDK if my technique is different to Scarletlady's (I'm guessing so) as I don't need to needle felt mine.

Granted, these aren't harlies, but made in a similar way:
Image

no cracks :D

oooh, no edit...strike that:
Image
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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by hairykiter » Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:39 pm

DreadstarMonstar wrote:Wingham wool is evil.

I find it far to soft & annoying.


Also, IDK if my technique is different to Scarletlady's (I'm guessing so) as I don't need to needle felt mine.
Really? Where would you recommend for wool? (those two blues I have were the cheapest I could find on t'internet at £2.56/100g in their special offers) I just didn't want to "waste" loads if I epically failed, y'know?

What's your technique, if I may ask? :)

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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by MrsEss » Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:26 pm

Sara's texture crafts. google her, her site comes up. She sells roving in 25g, 50g & 100g. Her wool is much, much nicer IMO.

Um, A LOT of palm rolling. I have a tute on here called "saspie-doo will share her secrets" Any questions, just give me a shot.
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hairykiter
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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by hairykiter » Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:38 pm

Cool, thanks :D I'll go read.

I'll try Sara's next time I'm buying, cheers for the recommendation. I keep finding tiny bits of twig in my winghams, wtf!!

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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by MrsEss » Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:40 pm

It's cos it's from a sheep, it does happen sometimes. I guess that sheep got stuck in a thicket or something.
If you buy natural roving it still smells of sheep!!
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Re: Help a noob with harlequin roving?

Post by MichelleBichos » Thu Jun 23, 2011 11:18 pm

I'm a noob with wool dreads too ... I've found a tip on here (I think it was from Miasma) about dry felting first before putting into the hot water. I had cracks in my first attempt, so tried this technique - even though palm rolling dry roving didn't create much shape, for some reason it didn't crack when I started wet felting. Success!

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