Some time ago I blogged about dyeing with windfall eucalyptus leaves. I had been dyeing over white corriedale and had quite a range of colours in the range of ochre and caramel through flame orange and… opinions differ about whether that really is red. Here it is, wet from dyeing and ready to be rinsed:
I divided my fleece up into colour groupings, carded it and pulled a roving straight from the carder drum with a diz. What a great technique. You can find it on YouTube, but it was watching a friend from the Guild demonstrate it that really convinced me to try it out. This Youtube video has an explanation of the same simple homemade diz my friend has made, so maybe she was inspired by that video. Here are my rovings. Creating these made me feel like I have learned a few things about fleece preparation.
Then I created bumps of roving with segments of each colour, lined up to create a gradient from ochre through to reddish. Then, there was spinning and plying and skeining and washing–spinning being a craft of many stages–and now…
I am so happy with this yarn! I can’t wait to share it with the friends whose sheep this wool came from. Coincidentally, the week I finished this yarn, they invited me to their place for shearing time.
Local & Bespoke 
so the cycle begins again……..
Everything changes and everything stays the same….
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I like that cyclical revisting of all the processes in dyeing and spinning… thanks for dropping by!
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Lovely color. What will you make with the yarn?
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It has me thinking about colourwork… I have seen some wonderful beret-or tam-style hats–Kate Davies has designed some that are full of whimsy and loveliness neep heid, for example. Glorious! (some people have transformed it into beet heid/ beet head rather than neep heid/turnip head!) but not exactly for these colours, I think. On the other hand, I have yarns underway that grade from yellow to green and blue in the same fleece… Fingerless gloves… gifts… I am involved in a Very Large Stockinette Grey project not exactly of my choosing at present and this delectably coloured yarn is making my head whir excitedly as I knit away on the Grey (no offence to grey, which I personally like to wear very much). I’m trying for restraint until the Grey is done, but it must be clear to any reader of my blog that restraint isn’t my strong suit in crafting!
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I’ll be watching the blog to see what it becomes!
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Thanks for your kindness!
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just gorgeous
cheers
india
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Thanks so much, India! I am hoping the keepers of the corriedale will like this yarn and would enjoy some as a gift…
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Beautiful, beautiful!
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You’re very kind. Thankyou! I am so happy with these yarns… can’t wait to spin up the cool coloured versions…
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It’s stunning.
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Thanks for your generous comment, Ruthsplace!
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So lovely! Gradient dyed yarns are my favourites. I have collected a few, always puzzling over what to do with them, waiting for inspiration for that very special project. Never happened, so I’m curiouser and curiouser about yours 🙂
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Ohh… sometimes it can be hard to figure out what to do with a beautiful yarn that will do it justice, especially when you’re enjoying just admiring it. Yarn Harlot (post of Nov 12, 2013) just came up with a new plan…
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magnificent! there is something so satisfying to watch a process like this.
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Thankyou! Much appreciated.
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