i’m working on 2 spindles at the moment. the first is wensleydale, destined for the rug. it’s such beautiful fibre; soft, super long and lustrous, slippery but with a crimp. but as i turn it into yarn it seems to lose all it’s charm and character. this is the first wool i’ve really felt i wasn’t doing justice. it really wants to be thinner than the weight i’m spinning and i’m having real problems keeping it smooth because of the long staple - once i see a bump coming it’s too late to tease it out. it’s okay when i can really concentrate but that kind of peace doesn’t happen often round here.

as a bit of light relief i’m also playing with some merino and angelina. i was expecting the merino to be tricky but it really doesn’t seem to be. i had a quick try spinning from the fold and while i kinda got it it was more work than the worsted-style spinning from the end of the top that i’ve been doing and am comfortable with. so this lot gets done the relaxing way. i’m trying to get it fine and even and it’s getting there. i’m also trying to work out a way of blending in the angelina without having it sticking out all around like demented tinsel which it really wanted to do at the start. i think i’ve got it now - i’m opening up the chunk of top, spreading the angelina across, trying to keep the fibres parallel, then rolling up like a swiss roll and predrafting as usual. i’m getting thick spots where it’s nearly all sparkle and quite long stretches where there’s none at all but at least it’s fairly well lined up so the tinsel thing’s under control.

i’ve taken the plunge and stuck hooks on both spindles. i found i was getting a much improved spin by hitching as close to the end of the point as possible (i.e. closer to the centre of grvity) but the wensleydale in particular was sliding off too often for my temper. all is now sweetness and light, the hooks are soooooooo much better than the hitch. i’m hoping this will make the wensleydale a bit more enjoyable too, once i can face it again.

my second batch of food dyed tops are cooking now. i’ve gone for overkill on the colours, and despite my firm intentions to do 4 different greens i just couldn’t bring myself to do it, so we have 3 greens plus a red.

dark khaki green: 55g + 16y + 6bk +2r
mid leaf-green: 25g + 25y + 6b + 1bk
lime green: 30y + 9b
deep red: 40r + 15y + 1bk

i altered some of the colours once the fibre was in and it wasn’t looking how i hoped, particularly to deepen the dark green and add blue to the over-yellowy lime. i was quite happy to swish the fibres around in their pots given the cheviot’s immunity to felting. i’ll also be quite happy if there are variations within the colours, i’m not aiming for solids. in fact i really should think about space-dyeing and steaming in clingfilm for the next batch.

update: i think my problem is i’m too much of a perfectionist for this experimental dyeing lark. i’m reasonably happy with the outcome, 3 patchy greens in a variety of shades, though nowhere near as much difference between the colours as i was hoping for. the red’s successful in one way - a good rich red, but pretty much solid, no interesting variation, and it’s still a little primary for my taste, perhaps one more drop of black might have tempered it a little.

now i’m not sure what to do with them. i was planning to do random (small) handfuls then navajo ply, but i’m not sure whether to include the red. i think i might go for 3 skeins - 1 just greens, 1 mostly greens with a little red and 1 mostly red with a little green hopefully that way i can avoid a majorly stripey or muddy brown effect. i guess i could overdye some of the red a little darker. maybe.

not that i have so little spirit for adventure, just that i’m very picky about colours. it might actually be more worth my while to buy dyed rovings, especially with more expensive fibres like merino or silk. what’s fun at 25p/oz becomes less so when you double that and double it again.

update: definitely not happy with the red so i’m partially overdyeing: half the amount water/vinegar so some of the fibre sticks out above it. colour is deep rusty orange: 30y + 5r + 2bk.

ditto with the dark green: 30y + 5b + 2bk.

i did notice more colour bleeding out when i re-wet the top, so maybe it’s worth upping the amount of vinegar in future, sure it can’t hurt.

update: the red came out more orangey but not significantly darker. i think i’m being fooled by the appearance of the black in the dye bath - it’s a lot darker than it turns out in the wool, so i haven’t been adding enough.

update: i’ve got 2 colours i’m happy with - the original “leaf green” (which has turned out more limey) and the overdyed dark khaki green which has come out very camo. now i’m more concerned about turning out usable than repeatable colours so i judged the last dye baths by eye. just straight green for the lime, hopefully with the yellow underneath it should make a reasonably strong, clear mid-green. then red + black and dipping half the red (as i do like the orangey red i already have, it’s just too much all together) this bath was very dark, so i’ll keep a close eye and maybe pull it out half way.

final update: pic of the colours now i’m finally happy. nearlyt impossible to get an accurate colour representation.