4 wheels of unspun wool

#1

Hi i am new to this site and can anyone tell me what “4 wheels of unspun wool is–I found a pattern in a Vogue Knitting magazine last week and its for a beautiful shawl by Elizabeth Zimmerman–its called EZ as Pi–in the section that says you will need:” 4 wheels of unspun wool [icelandic] which by the way i have these sheep–so i thought when i shear them this spring I can spin my own wool from them and make the shawl–I am assuming that this phrase is from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales:?? ::??

So if anyone can help me please reply–I sure would love to find out the answer to this–hopefully they are not talking about skeins of wool–trying4yrstoknit

#2

I’ve never heard of fiber described by a wheel. Wish I could help you with that!

I did find a Yahoo group that is all about E. Zimmerman’s patterns. You could probably find help there:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EZasPi/

#3

I wonder if maybe its like a pencil roving?

#4

hi cindy–thanks for the info i am on my way to the site and hopefully i can get a answer–irina :]

#5

Hi Irina, you may have already found the answer somewhere else but the wheels of icelandic wool refer to pencil roving. Because it’s usually put up in short fat center pull balls, some people call them cheeses, wheels, or cheese wheels.

Schoolhouse press sells wheels of the icelandic wool intended for use with the pattern. They’re near the bottom of the page.
http://www.schoolhousepress.com/wool.htm
So yes, it calls for four skeins of the unspun icelandic wool.

I don’t see how you could replicate it exactly with your wool without sending it out to be put up into pencil roving but you could always just spin a single under as light a takeup as possible with no more than enough twist to keep it together and it should work.

#6

If it’s only pencil roving (3.5 oz/300 yards), you could process it yourself.

You’d need a small diameter diz OR just draft your roving/fleece thin.

#7

Yes. If you visit Brooklyn Tweed’s blog, he talks about knitting the Pi Shawl with unspun wool.

#8

Hi all or should i say good morning --I am walter-thank you for your info and callmesusan–just to let everyone know i have been searching the web for this info and went to Iceland website–i have tried to contact some people over there and am waiting on a responce about the wool-- maybe i can do pencil roving – i have a pat green super carder–Irina :]

#9

Walter where do you get your info from? trying4yrstoknit Irina :]