Weekending - where I stay close to home

After last weekend's fantastic but exhausting sheenanigans, this weekend I stayed home, and had a very crafty weekend.

On Friday I dyed 600 grams of Polwarth fibre, for Andrea Mowery's Traveller hoodie. I was not confident about dying this much fibre in one go, but I decided to give it a go and see. At the end of the oven time, I was convinced that the top was a pale muddy mess and that the bottom would be super-saturated, because it looked like this:

But it actually came out beautifully.

The fibre is a bit compressed, but not at all felted, and it puffs up with just a little bit of predrafting. While I was waiting for that to dry, I plied the rainbow yarn I've been working on over the last few weeks.

I didn't have a particular goal when I spun it, I just wanted it fluffy and delicious, which I achieved. The only problem is that it is only 130 meters for 96 grams. I want the traveller yarn to be about 250 meters (or at least more than 200) so I did something I have never done before and did a sample spin.

I spun up 25 grams to see how it goes. I can't tell you whether it will be too think or too thin, but I can say that it it has a beautiful sheen, and is lovely to spin. I think my dye job worked well too. I'll ply it tomorrow and then assess what I need to change to get the yarn I want.

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What I made, by Sharon

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