First rovings that turned out

[Leanna Moore]

All the merino dread's I've tried to make have not turned out, no matter how many times I felted it... There would be huge cracks and they just wouldnt stay solid...
So I decided to try DreadstarMonstar's Machine felted dreads tutorial, and it worked amazingly well on the first and second try! They're nice and solid, yet pliable and there arent any cracks ^__^
I made these a few days go. I still have a few questions however:
If I wanted to make them straight do I just dunk them in hot soapy water and palmroll them again?
Also
How do you make those spiderweby accents on roving dreads? I just can't figure it out.
AND
Can I use corridale the same way?






Comments, suggestions, critique MORE than welcome.

[Vex88]

They look pretty good. Havent tried that method yet as id wanted to try and get smooth roving the last time.
Might give it a go next time round.

[Leanna Moore]

They look pretty good. Havent tried that method yet as id wanted to try and get smooth roving the last time.
Might give it a go next time round.

Thanks (: I'll post pictures when I smooth them out.



Do it! Its alot less work this way, and the result is really quite nice ^__^

[Librarynerd]

Those are lovely. Love the texture you get with Dreadstar's method.

[Leanna Moore]

Those are lovely. Love the texture you get with Dreadstar's method.

Thanks, I'm in the process of making a bunch more with all the merino and even the corridale I have ^__^
I quite agree, I can't stop touching them.
Now I can say that I CAN make roving! What a nice feeling (:

[Squidgy]

These are looking really nice... they definately felt up a lot more in the machine but they also kink a lot... stretching them after they come out of the wash should get rid of the kinks and give a bit more length... if you want the super straight i would also palm roll them back in to shape...

I would also try to get the widths of the wool more uniform when cutting, that is if you want that look!!

[MrsEss]

Looking good

If I wanted to make them straight do I just dunk them in hot soapy water and palmroll them again?

You can just palm roll em once they come out the machine - they'll straighten that way.

How do you make those spiderweby accents on roving dreads? I just can't figure it out.

I haven't tutorialed that.....as far as I know no one else can do it the way I do. Explaining it, is impossible, trust me I've tried on more than one occasion - same goes for felted trans, they are made in a similar way. (which by the way took me a few weeks to figure out & perfect!!)

[Leanna Moore]

These are looking really nice... they definately felt up a lot more in the machine but they also kink a lot... stretching them after they come out of the wash should get rid of the kinks and give a bit more length... if you want the super straight i would also palm roll them back in to shape...

I would also try to get the widths of the wool more uniform when cutting, that is if you want that look!!

Thanks so much ^__^ They do, and I tried stretching them out after the third washing cycle, but they didnt have much give x: I'm thinking 3 washes is too many. I think 2 would be about right.
But after making the third set (will post pictures) I only had them in for 2 washes and stretched them out and did a little palmrolling whilst they were still wet and they had a little bit of texture, but were mostly straight. I really liked how those ones turned out (: I'm even thinking of installing them for the end of winter