A Fruitful Morning

Fiber Dyeing
Originally uploaded by Sheepish.

This morning, I set about cleaning the kitchen with the sole purpose in mind of having enough space to dye fiber. I am aware that most normal people like to have their kitchens clean so that they can eat in them, or perhaps even cook. I do those things. I just somehow seem to work around the mess (though, preparing dinner may or may not frequently include me tripping over toys and other objects strewn about the floor).

Anyway, back on subject...

Over the summer, I purchased some unspun wool at a local craft shop. I have no clue what it is, though my guess would be merino or some other short-haired critter. According to the salesgirl (who looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned spinning it myself), it's purpose is needle felting. That may be so, but I have no real need for those little felted pumpkins. What I do need like a hole in the head is some fiber to practice spinning on. So, when I saw this already prepared (and practically predrafted) roll of wool, I jumped on it. Best thing about it was that it was that it was plain, ole natural color wool (well, that and the fact that it was pretty cheap). That, of course, allows me to have even more fun dyeing it. Yay!

...which brings us back to this morning's cleaning. I'll admit I only cleaned enough to fully access the table and sink, but, hey, my purposes were served.

And, here you have the fiber, in all its dyeing glory, spread out on the table. I used various colors of KoolAid (Flavors? Nah, who are we kidding? I wouldn't drink that stuff!). It's hard to tell here, but there are two lengths (two rolls) of fiber laying side by side to get an equal dye job. The plan is to spin each one and then ply them together so they change colors approximately in the same places. The hope is it will look good.

Now all I have to do is actually get good at spinning.