Ideo-o-o Spinning-o-o-o

The other day In Excelsis wondered if I've dyed anything for the Twisted Knitters DSK-along lately. Actually, I finished dyeing last month; I just neglected to blog about it. Ideo (Latin for therefore), this month is for spinning. But let me catch up first.

   

After sampling different dyeing techniques in The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook, I decided to scale up to production quantities using the spot-dye technique. Pictured are one 4 oz (113 g) braid in primary colors (a pale imitation of Stripey Tiger's far more beauteous roving) and four braids totalling 6 oz (170 g) in blues and greens, all of Lincoln lambswool. The colors are a bit off – the table was not refinished between pix.

I made another newbie spinner doh! discovery: braids of roving not only look cool, they're by far the most convenient way to store fiber. By following Loribird's excellent tutorial I eventually turned out a reasonable-looking braid o' roving. Simple enough, yet it feels like a big accomplishment. [g]

The Lincoln lambswool originally had a somewhat hard hand, but it bloomed after dyeing. It's nicer to the touch now; also harder to spin into consistent singles free of soft, fuzzy spots. That didn't happen with the Merino blend or the Finn. It would seem some fibers are better suited to dyeing after spinning than before spinning. Huh.

Methinks spindling projects (and also scarf projects) have a tendency to enter a boring intermediate stage during which progress occurs, but photos of each increment become rather monotonous. Hm... must think of ways to insert gratuitous images of spindling (and scarf) progress into posts.