buying fiber for spinning

I have been spinning. But have nothing really to show for it yet. Holidays and long weekends make it difficult to focus on more solitary pursuits.

I have one bobbin of superwash merino from Sakina Needles spun up. It spins and drafts just like the previous superwash merino from Spunky Eclectic. However the colors are less intense and the roving has lots of white patches. There were more white patches than were shown in the braid even. After spinning, I would say that the dye job on this roving is unsatisfactory because the color did not penetrate well and there is a consistent core of white throughout. With that much hidden white when the braid is undone, it looks like the buyer is being deceived by packaging. Caveat emptor. Admittedly, I have only unbraided two of the rovings. It is possible that both of those were abnormal. Perhaps I will unbraid the third and check. [ETA. The third one is actually worse.] It is also possible that other types of fiber from Sakina Needles are more intensely colored with fewer undyed swaths, since all my purchases of that brand have been superwash merino.

I realize it is impolite to negatively comment on businesses, but I have positively reviewed places that deserved it and refuse to stay silent and imply a recommendation by saying I have purchased something when I was unhappy.

I do not plan to return these, and I was very satisfied with the service from Loopy Ewe, but will not be buying Sakina Needles products in future. Hopefully the Tempted brand roving (from that same Loopy Ewe order) is better. [ETA. I wrote and complained because all the SN rovings were poor quality. Loopy Ewe was polite and grateful for the information. And they said they are looking for dyers who could provide a steady source of rovings. If you know someone good and responsible, pass on the referral please.]

Last night I placed another order with Spunky Eclectic. The product has been very satisfactory, but placing the orders is hard. I would not buy without knowing the owner because it is so much work to fight the system. I did email the owner with several suggestions and concerns, so I am not talking out of school entirely. Very very nice hand-dyed roving, but there is no space to specify which custom color you want when placing the order (I have sent email both times.) and most of the colorway thumbnails cannot be clicked for a larger view. [ETA. Once the order is in progress though, there are no problems. I got email back refining my custom color choices within the same day, even though there is a huge warning plastered all over the site saying everything is gone for the show.]

If we could combine the Loopy Ewe online store with the Spunky Eclectic products…..

I am going to be at Stitches West on Friday. I hope to find new and fabulous things there.

I am considering buying from Susan’s Spinning Bunny next. I was all set to place an order when the price went up 50% and it was on an unknown-to-me fiber, so I was a lot less enthusiastic afterward. I like that I can get a discount if I buy a pound of hand-dye in the same colorway.

I have looked at a number of places, but most of them do not specify shipping charges. Some of them say your order will be amended after they have figured the shipping charges. But all of them have cancellation fees. So you pick out what you want, give them your credit card information, then they slap you with a shipping fee, but if you protest, you forfeit the cost of your order anyway. I am not doing business with anyone like that. If I give them my zip code and they know the weight and approximate bulk of my purchase, they can figure shipping costs exactly. If they want to add in a handling fee of a couple bucks, fine, but I need to know the final costs before I will click OK if there is going to be a potential $100 penalty for changing my mind.

Is there anywhere selling pencil roving that is not corriedale, but is a reasonable price? There are days when I want to spin but not have to work at it.