So, here we go!

So January is the month for working on the Dorset/Hampshire fleece that I purchased last year. It was already combed, which was nice because it is hard work on the elbows and mine is still grumbling because of the cold, damp weather.

I decided to spin the first lot. My thoughts on this is that if I spin two lots of 50g and my spinning is fairly consistent, they should be the same length. Well, they almost were. This is important when you ply yarn to make it thicker. Next came the measuring, mentioned in the last blog and at 106m that confirmed that the yarn was coming out chunky. Armed with all this information and after a light wash, the yarn was listed onto ebay. 

Blues and purples

I also purchased some Jacquard Acid dyes last year to tackle some hand dyeing. This involves boiling up the fleece or yarn in a big saucepan with vinegar (acid) and adding powdered dyes which merge together well to create the final effect. The problem is boiling real wool can make it felt and fuse together. A lot of care is needed. So I split the roving into 3 and plaited it to give it some strength. 

Yellow and greens

I have managed to create two 50g batches of blue/purple roving (unspun but carded fleece) and two 50g batches of yellow/green roving. Then they have been washed and drip dried so that they can be packaged up. They have all been listed on ebay and I shall see how (if) it sells with the idea of how the future fleeces will be processed. 

Follow their progress in my ebay shop:  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Layette-Knitting