Playing with blending colors and making batts.

I ordered 500 grams  (17.637 ounces) of Botany Lap Waste from World of Wool. No choices of what is in the bag. (colors, blends or amounts) Mostly Merino and Merino blends. There was one lot of Tussah silk too.  Here is my surprise. Click on any photo to make it larger.

I then proceeded to play with my drum carder, blending colors.

Some 2 ply samples to see how the combinations look.

This is the blend of the red and white in the first photo blended with white angora rabbit. 

 This is the 500 gram lot. Blended fibers and some samples and skeins. The pink is what is being spun in the previous photo. 122 yards of 2 ply. The lovely gray called out for some silver Angelina. Can't wait to spin that lot!

I decided to blend some Angelina into the lavender and purple. Silver in the lavender and copper into the purple. I hope you can see the sparkle of the Angelina in the photos. I tried not to be too heavy handed with it so it will be subtle in the yarn. I like making batts on the carder. Storage I think is better if the batts are rolled into balls. Sometimes I pull the batt off of the carder through a diz to make a long strip of roving. Those are stored as little nests.  

I am sure this will not be my only order from World of Wool. I will be playing with my own farm raised fiber too. So much fun. 

Amari Shawl

Just finished the Amari shawl.  Three shades of green batts from The Fibre Fairy are now spun and the shawl is finished and being blocked.  I increased the size so I could use all of my yarn. Got a bit nervous at the end. I used all but four yards. That was close!  Very happy with it. Blocked out to 25 X 60 inches.
Progress photos:

Here is my latest support spindle acquisition. It is a Mary Bears Oso in cedar. It smells wonderful! I do not usually name things, but this one said it should be The Painted Pony. I spun the sample of BFL blend that came with the first cedar. I sent that one back to Mary as it was too heavy for my taste. She graciously made another and it is just the right weight. I wound off the yarn onto a winding star that friend Cheryl made for me.

I have finished the three shades of green. Now to ply.

I bought some gradient batts from The Fibre Fairy. Three shades of green that are blends of Merino, Shetland Lamb, Polworth, Alpaca, Silk, and Firestar. Wonderful stuff!
I spun the darkest first. Today I started on the lightest and then I will spin the medium shade. I will do a bobbin of each shade and then ply on itself. I want to knit a shawl that is shaded from light at the top to dark on the bottom with the yarn. Not sure just yet what pattern I will use. It will depend on the yardage I get.

This photo shows all three shades of green.

Darkest in progress

Lightest. I tear the batts into thinner strips before spinning.

This shows the darkest and the lightest. I must say that AJs' batts are so wonderful to spin. They practically spin themselves!

Christmas a bit early.

I have to share a gift from a very dear friend. She made a spindle for me, a support bowl holder and some winding stars. I love them! The spindle bowl is felted as well as the spindle whorl. There is a wooden bead inside for more weight. Can't wait to play!

Dear Blog,

I have been neglectful. Sorry.
Last month I acquired two new spindles and a support bowl from Malcolm Fielding. The spin so fast and well that you cannot even see the motion. All I can say is WOW! The order also included a spindle for a very dear friend. Hers is a Dervish in Lace Sheoak. Mine are a Pu Yok Tibetan in Lace Sheoak and Blackheart Teatree, and the starter kit Dervish and bowl are in Tasmanian Myrtle. Shafts and bowl center is Dymondwood.

The bottom photos show the first spinning on my new spindles.