Arco Iris Roving To Yarn...It Rocks!

Whenever something comes across my path that is 'Titled', I like to know as much as I can about it.  Such is the case with this 'Roving' I ordered last month, and just now felt I had enough spinning behind me to do it justice.  Now one of my all time favorite Spring flowers is the purple Iris.  So naturally, I had to check out the botanical species 'Arco Iris'.

Big surprise!!!  It's not a botanical species.  It's a human species...several of them.  Arco Iris (Spanish for Rainbow) were a rock group from the late 1960s until the late 1970s in Argentina and were influential in Argentine rock music history.  (read more HERE on Wikipedia).  How did a gal raised in the 60s not know this?  I was a 'Flower Child' wannabe, but on the wrong species side of the Iris.  Anywho, I spun a spool full of thick and thin single roving (picture one) and then plied it with a sparkly strand of mohair sock yarn and a Iris purple strand of lace weight mohair (picture two).

As I have mentioned before, the Ply part of spinning is my favorite technique.  I love the way it gives definition and added texture to the yarn.  With that in mind, it was a given that I would get a subscription to 'Ply' magazine.  2018's first publishing was all about 'Flax'.  If I were a spinner like my 5X Great Grandmother, who surely knew all about 'Field to Fabric Flax', I would have been more excited about this months magazine.  Since I'm a 'Sheep to Shop' spinner...heavy on the 'Shop'....it made for a good photo shoot.

All done! 

The 5ft. 4oz. braid divided into 8 strips spun and plied

yielded 40 yards of beautiful Arco Iris yarn.

It ROCKS!