Fresh from the wheel

A few weeks ago I tried out kettle dying (the scraggy lengths in the pictures below).  The blue merino fiber has been turned into this 2 ply handspun.  I love the color of this yarn- like peacock feathers. I love how it goes with Sea Fret handspun. This was spun on the Westbury wheel and plied on the Louet.

I have also spun a huge (well to me it seemed huge) skein of a mix of pink and grey merino and silk, total yardage is 456! this is the most that I have ever spun of one yarn. Here are the batts waiting to be spun.

The finished yarn - with some very pretty violets from the garden.

Spun and plied on the Louet. 

Old Shale Scarf

Recently I decided to try out the Old Shale pattern.  I love the idea behind the pattern - I thought that the pattern represented the waves of the sea, but when I delved further into its origins it is actually representing the ripples on an old shell, Northern Lace says that the 'shale' is how Shetlander's pronounced shell.

My scarf started life as Falkland fiber that I hand painted and then spun into a singles yarn. I initially knitted this into a triangular shaped scarf/shawl, but it never seemed right, so I started again using this pattern.

 It isn't the softest yarn, but it is certainly warm!