Going Gray

Good grief. We're on the downside of January and this is my first post of the year. Nothing new to report except the usual madness of chores, spinning, and getting dinner on the table.

I set a strict deadline for myself to get through ALL of my 2012 fiber this month. Afterall, our 2013 shearing is only a few months away. I put myself on a spinning schedule of two hours a night to get through about 10 pounds of spinning cloud. Let's just say, I haven't stuck to the schedule, so it doesn't look like I'll meet my goal. Grrr. But, I am making a dent.

I've also been busy dyeing yarn. I was on a "au naturale" yarn kick last year, but I'm back to dyeing in a big way.

Currently, I am obsessed with overdyeing gray fibers. Overdyeing gray adds such a depth of color. Sometimes subtle. Sometimes saturated.

Here is some of my overdyed handspun yarn. I used roving from one of my wacky and wonderful fiber friends. She has a gray Romney sheep named "CD". Get it? CD ROM-ney?

Gray wool overdyed with reds and purples.

Gray wool overdyed with olive and chartreuse. Yes, chartreuse. It gives the gray color some highlights. 

 

Here is some Jacobs wool that I overdyed with black, olive, and brown. It really gives the gray a lot of depth. The wool comes from organically-raised sheep at Hill and Hollow Farm.

Here are all three yarns together so you can really see the difference in colors.

Now you can see why I can't get through my OWN fiber, because I am busy buying and dyeing OTHER people's wool!

Have a great MLK Jr Day everyone! Peace.