Carding Wool

Ah … thanks. I’ve had a lot of practice. I learned at age 16 in 19mumble.

A better photo of the striped single. Maybe I’ll start spinning the gray tonight.

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This is beauiful.

Got the striped and gray singles plied last night. Skeined them today. It came out to 5.6 oz and almost 500 yards 2-ply. Not sure what it will be yet. Maybe a shawl. I’m calling it Rainbow Clouds.

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Gorgeous yarn!

@FreedomLover, Thanks!

Lovely! I really like the colors. What kind of fiber is it? Do you have any plans for this yarn?

@rkennell, it’s all longwool breeds, mostly Border Leicester with some Teeswater in the mix. I don’t have a project in mind … yet. I’m not sure it wants to be shawl, so only time will tell!

I’m sure you’ll enjoy working with it!

Spent the weekend washing and dyeing wool. Three fleeces. The small lamb’s fleece is naturally black, so no dyeing needed. The colors, top to bottom, are Gun Metal, Pumpkin Orange, Lilac, Spruce, a green I blended myself, Burgundy, and Gold Ochre. If you were going to blend some of these colors together for a multi-colored yarn, which would you choose?

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Your colors are gorgeous! I’d probably blend the blues, greens and purples, but I’m boring that way.

I carded a batch of my newly dyed wool this afternoon. I used the Gun Metal, Green, and Gold Ochre in roughly equal amounts. Wound up with 7.5 ounces carded and ready to spin. This may be a shawl. Time will tell.

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Another afternoon of carding! I carded a half-pound of striped rolags. Undecided if I’ll spin and ply it on itself, or spin one of the solid colors and ply together. The other batts are a blend of the burgundy and natural black that came out a lovely blackberry. Those will be socks … for me. :slight_smile:

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I just love the degree of mixing you are doing - can still see the component colors yet everything will flow nicely when you spin it.

That is quite a tower of accomplishment - maybe the pumpkin orange, gold ochre and green - I like analogous. And I love seeing the mix of a color with the dark wool - I see you made some gorgeous combos below.

I love the striped rolags! It keeps the colors separate enough to provide contrast when spun up. The blackberry batt is so pretty as well. I’m starting to think I will start buying solid colored braids since I can control the patterning better in my yarns. Sometimes the beautiful braids with all those gorgeous colors get lost in a blend that just doesn’t have the pop that they had before it was spun. I know you can really separate them and make them pretty as well and I have done that, but I think starting out with solid colored braids and combining them gives you almost purer color options. But I am still a sucker for those gorgeous braids, I have to admit!

I’ve never bought a braid - can you believe it! - but I see what you’re saying. I have spun half of these rolags and the blackberry too. I’ll have to update with photos once I get them plied and off the bobbins.

Here are the yarns spun from the carding in the two posts above. The first is the green/yellow/blue batts, and the other is the handcarded rolags plied with a single of just the natural black wool. Of the first, I have 562 yards at 7.5 oz. Of the second I have 616 yards at 7.6 oz. Both will probably be shawls, but that’s not written in stone. :slight_smile:

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Dungee, Purl, and Crystal varigated 2-8-21.jpg

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Very pretty!

Wow!! I can’t wait to see them grow up.