The SAL has officially begun and with spoiler images starting to appear on Ravelry I figured it was safe to share an image of the colourway created for this round of the ITW Spin Along…

Psst…

The second installment of the “Follow the Fiber” project is up!! Wander over to Jill Draper Blogs for a guided tour of the process behind the beautiful hand-spun yarns featured in her Etsy shop:

The idea was conceived one afternoon over a cup of coffee…

Three friends; three artists; three shop owners; all working with the same material in three unique ways. The idea was simple – follow four ounces of fiber on its path from one artist to another and share the details of its transformation along the way.

You all know me, so let me introduce you to the others:

The spinner: Jill Draper Makes Stuff

The crocheter: Hodge Podge Farm

As The dyer I am simply the creator of the spinner’s palette. I am pretty easy to spot in a crowd; just look for the the blue fingernails and dye stained shirt. I work with a small collection of powdered dye pigments to create an ever-growing collection of  dye recipes. Once mixed the concentrated dye-stock is cataloged and stored for future use.

Sold by the pound, I often  purchase large bales also called “bumps” of commercially combed top. When considering which fiber to choose for the Follow the fiber project; the choice was simple – Merino! It is perhaps one of the most popular fibers; soft and delightfully squishy it is perfectly suited for the intended spinner and final project.

There are countless dyeing techniques and each is as unique as the product it yields. Thoughtful of the type of wool as well as the spinning techniques that could  be used I choose to use a crock-pot to introduce the heat necessary to set the dye.

The tools for dye application can be as complex or simple as you wish, here, dye is applied with a recycled water bottle:

Once the fiber is dyed and cooled it is rinsed to remove any residual dye and neutralize the acidic solution used in the dyeing process. Careful attention to the handling of the wool is required to prevent any undesirable felting at this stage.

Thoroughly rinsed the fiber is set to dry for a few days…

After days on the drying racks the fiber is weighted and bundled into “chains” using a finger crochet technique. The chaining creates a braid that enables The spinner to visualize how the colours pair with one another. Once chained the fiber is photographed using both natural lighting and daylight bulbs to ensure that the image accurately represents the colours used.

And with a little assistance from Photoshop – the final result:

Once bagged and tagged the fiber has reached the end of it’s journey in the ITW studio.  The palette is complete and ready to be delivered to the talented hands of  The spinner.

To Follow the fiber – head over to Jill Draper Blogs

Okay, I think that there have been enough spoilers released that it is finally safe to share some colour photos!

First up is the colourway revealed:

And since I was able to step out of the dye studio for a few hours one afternoon I was able to spin some up in a thick thin low twist single. And yes, it is as soft as it looks…

Now the tricky part – find the time to spin up the other four ounces of  ‘a warm return’ and then another four ounces in brown then ply the two!! I will keep you posted!

Family photo of two pounds of 64’s merino wool top in the ‘Minotaur’ colourway to be released in September along with the release of the Phat Fiber Sampler!

Individual pictures are available for viewing on Flickr. Or feel free to check the ‘Photos’ page for the slide show – that is if you want to – it is your choice really.

I am just so excited about this batch because it is the largest batch of painted fiber to date. Plus I figured out how to effectively and efficiently dye up a full pound of the same colourway at a time !! Think phrases like “a sweaters worth of fiber” or perhaps “Phat Fiber Sampler”  or my personal favorite: “ITW (Into The Whirled) Fiber club” …

I am off from work today! Well, sorta.

The summer has been a whirlwind of way too much work. So I decided that I needed a day off to play catch up. I wanted a three day weekend, but a co-worker beat me to the punch.

At this point in the summer – a day off is a day off!!

So what does one do when they take the day off from work ? Work some more of course! Well, I am not sure if I can call dyeing “work”. Granted I loose way more sleep to dyeing then I do my 9-5 but I assure you – I am not complaining!!

Here is a picture of what I spent my entire night “working” on:

Now I am off to run some errands

…because that is what you do when you have the day “off”

Drive-by blog ‘dye-candy’ post this afternoon…

I present for your viewing pleasure 50/50 Merino/Tencel:

Now, back to the studio, I have 5lbs of fiber prepped and waiting for me to get my act together this evening!