worsted spinning blueface leicester

One of the projects I have on the go at the moment is a smock top knitted in worsted spun Blueface Leicester. I don't often buy tops as I prefer to spin from the fleece. But I was tempted by some beautiful BfL from Wingham Wool.
When I do buy tops I usually spin them as they are because if you pay extra for prepared wool it seems a waste to do any thing to them. I do know that you can blend them for colour, or with other fibers. Because they have been prepared so well you can get very good results. But I chose to spin straight from the top, worsted.
I used my double drive Haldane wheel which has a ratio of 11:1 on the whorl I was using. This meant I was putting in 11 twists per inch and I spun at 25 wraps per inch. Sometimes I find it difficult to spin evenly from tops so I developed my own method. Pull of a length of roving from the top. Brake off a small length, it will break naturally at the staple length of the fleece. Pull this piece out width ways keeping the fibers straight. It is now easy to spin an even worsted yarn.
The result was a strong cord like yarn, very little stretch or bounce but lots of luster.
If you want to spin a woolen yarn, bend the piece you have broken of over your index finger and spin from the middle of it. This will give you a semi woolen finish. Or card the top into a rolag for a totally woolen spun yarn.
The pattern I am using starts with four rows of garter stitch before continuing in stocking stitch. It was not supposed to role up but it did. I think this is because of the high degree of twist in the yarn. This is always  something to take into consideration when you are using hand spun in a commercial pattern. I did eight rows of garter stitch and all is well.