Swaledale fleece - to dye or not to dye that is the question

Swaledale fleece, washed, carded, spun and plied

Not much blogging but plenty of slogging away lately on the the two unwashed fleeces a brought home from the Yorkshire Dales last year. Finally its all been sorted, washed and the first 150 gms have been carded, spun, plied and washed again.
Now: to dye or not to dye, that is a question still unresolved.

The wool is lovely as it is; a little harsh in places maybe and neither carded or spun to perfection but quite unique and all my own work.

In the Pink – Acid dyed wool from recycled tissue paper

recycled tissue paper acid dyed wool 

The year is racing away and its been another long while since I posted on this blog. But I have another excuse.

I am getting back to reality after another surgical adventure care of our amazing NHS hospitals,  Taking it easy;  browsing Etsy and the like I came across a new UK online magazine, Bodkin, for crafters who love to try out different skills. You can find it at

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Yarnspy

My dye pot has been staring me in the face for weeks  but  now I have been told I’m allowed to lift a few pots and pans for myself  I just had to have a go at something really interesting  I read there. It proved to be well worth the trouble.  Today I have very successfully dyed 12.5gms (1/2 oz) of wool using a couple of sheets of recycled, colored tissue paper!

That scruffy tissue paper may well have been lurking in my little paper stash for a decade, but today was its day. Wow! Pink fit to dress your favorite Barbie doll and the color has set really tight.

If you have ever had the misfortune to wash a white table cloth with a colored paper napkin caught inside it you will now just how rapidly that color transfers and ruins your cloth

 It happens because the dye in papers such as tissue, napkin, and crepe is most often an “acid” dye which will also dye wool and these types of paper have fewer binders than harder paper, so the color readily comes out in water. There is no acid in the dye you just need to add some (white vinegar or citric acid) to the process to help the color absorption and heat to set it.

I will be growing my collection of tissue paper and napkins if I go to a party from now on. This is a great way to create a hue of colored yarns at virtually no cost and help conserve the planet too!

All thanks to Bodkin . http://www.etsy.com/shop/Yarnspy

Too many sheep - not enough knitting

The house is full of wool but very little has been stitched of late. Its been a strange Summer and rather sad. My sister Mary was suddenly very ill and in July, not long after my last blog, she died. We had some lovely family times together in her last few weeks. She was such an amazing character, she gave so much to so many and we miss her.

Unscoured Blue Faced Leicester fleece

So blogging about knitting has not been on the agenda for a while. At one point this summer we defied the elements to briefly go camping in the Yorkshire Dales. We met lots of sheep and despite my stated determination not to buy I came back with an unscoured Swaledale fleece, unscoured Blue Faced Leicester fleece and a kilo of beautiful Wensleydale combed tops.

It's now all lurking in different parts of the house in various stages waiting to be washed, dyed, combed, carded or spun. The Blue Faced Leicester was hilariously curly, but I have to say rather whiffy too! Washing it was not something I wanted to do in my kitchen so its been a question of dodging the showers. Its been a bit of a learning curve too - book in one hand, fleece in the other. Something will come of it all eventually I dare say: but will it be wool or worsted?  I will try and keep you posted. I might need some wool combs and a new spinning wheel yet!

Wensleydale combed tops

Rolled up unscoured Swaledale fleece