Neps. One Lump, or Two?

In the top part of the photo you can see a pre-drafted section of the neppy neon wool I'm currently spinning. There are lumps created by short bits of wool (neps) and coiled wool fibers (noils) and the neps and noils create slubs (fat places in the yarn) which are usually followed by twits (skinny places in the yarn).

I bought this wool as a fleece. It's easy to get lumps when you start with the fleece. But what if you want lumps, and all you have to work with is nice, smooth, perfect combed, commercial top?

Add lumps. Here are a couple of ways to do it.

Snip up some other yarn into tiny bits and put a pile of it into your fiber hand first, UNDER the commercial top. As you draft, make sure to let some of the lumps into the triangle.

Hand-pick a blob of silk noil, pulling it into a tiny roving. Hold this wispy, lumpy roving with your commercial top and spin them at the same time. The bottom of the photo shows two piles of dyed silk noil - I have silk noil samplers for sale at my etsy shop.

It takes a little practice to get good at adding lumps (like ALL new skills) but it's worth the effort if you like texture and want to work from combed tops.