Progress

I've had a brilliant time this afternoon. While I was spinning on my spinning wheel, Christine and Tracy came over for tea. Christine has made beautiful progress on the Turkish spindle and her single is something to envy! She seems to have got the hang of it quickly and her technique is improving every time I see her.

I've given her some beautiful white Merino fleece. I think it will look lovely if the two singles (the black tweedy colour of the North Ronaldsy and the white Merino) are plied together.

I will be posting pictures as soon as the singles have been completed.

Sharing is caring....

Ok, so I've been spinning for  awhile now and I'm really enjoying it. It helps me "unwind" (and also helps me deal with my post-natal depression). There is something soothing about fluffing up the fleece and spinning from the cloud.

As an added bonus, my daughters enjoy helping too. They are very good at fluffing up the fleece and turning the roller on my kick spindle - hey, if it saves on how stiff my legs get I'm ALL for them helping me.

My niece has asked me to "mentor" her for her Duke of Edinburgh bronze badge. She would like to learn to spin as part of a skill. I'm thinking this is an awesome opportunity to share the fun of processing fleece from wonderfully whiffy sheep to knitting up an item from the yarn spun from the fleece.  She seems keen. I'll be updating you on how keen she stays as this little project is a 3 month commitment.

Result of first dye

Well... Let's just say I have learned to have patience and leave the fleece the hell alone when it's hot!

I was trying to card my fleece and I've found a few felted bits... But only tiny clumps, so I think I can say overall the first attempt went well.

First try at dying....

So after watching YouTube clips on using food dye to colour wool I decided to try it on some fleece I had washed (or scoured if you want to use the proper term).

I used an empty margarine tub which I know won't melt in the microwave, I splashed some vinegar in the bottom to cover the base of the container. Then I added cold water and enough food colouring to make a dark liquid. Then I added wool... I gently pushed the wool down in the liquid until it was completely covered and also gently pushed out as many air bubbles as I could.

Now to see if this works..... I put it in my microwave and set it on 80% power for 8 minutes. I then removed it and added more water if it looked a little low (I don't want the wool to singe). I also put my spoon in to check if the water had cleared - as this means that the colour has been exhausted and has been absorbed by the wool.

When the water looked different I removed the tub and let it cool. Then I rinsed the wool and set it out to dry.

I'm pleased with the result.... I can't wait to card it and spin it!