Dyed In The Wool

 

I've been thinking for a while that I should dye some wool before spinning it.  I need stock for an upcoming market, but don't have any specific orders at the moment, so it's a good time to experiment. I poured dyes onto the the wool roving and then put it in the oven to set the dyes. 

When the roving was dry, I split it lengthways into about 8 strips, because I didn't want the colour sections to be too long. I spun the wool, starting each strip at the same end so that the colour changes would be in sequence. And then I navajo plyed it. What does that mean? Normally I spin two threads with the wheel turning clockwise and then ply them together with the wheel moving anticlockwise. In navajo plying, you use one thread and with the wheel moving anticlockwise, loop the thread in a large chain, like finger crochet, but loosely. It creates a '3-ply' yarn and doesn't muddle the colours as much as normal plying would.

Here's the yarn. Now to see what it looks like knitted up. I think I have enough to knit a hat.