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I took the finn fleece from the recent dyepot, found some angora that had been dyed during the summer, and mixed 'em up.
The finn (only 45 grams) became darker in the dyepot. The sun bleached tips dyed blue, but beyond that, it was had to tell there was any added color.
I measured out 15 grams of angora. By the time I was done carding, I'd only used 10 grams. That seemed to be plenty.
I've got two pretty little batts. Roughly 50 grams total, after the neppy waste has been discarded.
Now, how to spin it?
Girl of the House has gone on a seventh grade field trip to Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center in Lanesboro, MN. She'll be back Friday afternoon.
That leaves just the two of us, home alone with my cold. (hack, hack, atchoo)
However, last evening we managed some nice grilled t-bones and a bottle of cabernet sauvignon. YAY for grown up suppers!
I did some spinning.
This is the freshly dyed roving. The bits of yellow, have definitely turned green.
I carded up the Coopworth dyed in the left-over dye.
I ran it through the carder only twice. I want it to be very heathered.
There's nearly five ounces. But it's a very short staple, with lots of second cuts. It'll make a textured yarn, fun for something quick and non-fussy.
I really wish I could remember where I got this white Coopworth. I wouldn't buy it again. Maybe it was free?! That might account for the quality.
Dang, why can't I remember?!
The start of a garter stitch cuff hat for the Girl of the House.
This is from the BFL from Shepherd's Harvest, spun up back in May.
Man, I still LOVE this fiber!
Mostly chores around the house today, but I worked in a few fun things.
Some sun-dyeing.
I carded up some merino silk, dyed last summer.
(Yeah, I felted it a bit in the dyeing.)
I'd spun a little bit of it with a spindle before this. It was draftable, but just barely...
Laundry was done.
Lawn was mowed. Even the paths in the pasture...
We got the camper ready to go for the holiday weekend.
Truth be told, we haven't totally gotten it cleaned out from the trip to Padre Island in March.
There was still sand from the beach in all the cracks and crevices in the camper.
All the linen came out, had sand shaken out, was washed, and hung on the line to dry. (Yay, sun dryed sheets!)
Buy groceries some evening early this week, and we're ready. Yay! First camping trip this year. Between Paul's work schedule and Girl of the House's soccer, this is the first chance we've had. I am SO looking forward to this!!
This evening I carded up the last 3 ounces of dark grey fleece from my Coopworth 
lamb fleece! This leaves me with 11 ounces to spin, then I'll have done a whole fleece, all by myself!! This is a first for me!
(whoa, enough with the exclamation points already)
Here's the last of it on my Strauch petite carder. I purchased this fleece from Carol Wagner of Hidden Valley Woolen Mill at the Shepherds Harvest festival in May 2005. I realize this is a long time, but I didn't buy the carder til fall '06, and didn't take a class on drum carding til May '07. I have been motivated to finish this since I came back from SOAR.
In other real life events, Ben was home for a short break from college. He left for school this evening. It looks like the dogs will miss him...
I know we will.
I spent much of Saturday at Shepherd's Harvest in Lake Elmo, MN.
I took a Creative Drum Carding class from Carol Wagner of Hidden Valley Farm & Woolen Mill. It was a fabulous class - it really helped me figure out how to use my drum carder more efficiently. I'd been drum carding with "book learning" only, and to see it done in real life was GREAT! I've been working way to hard at it - trying to jam too much onto my carder.
We learned to blend colors and even how to make a multicolored batt. Here, one of my classmates, Jenni, gives the multicolored batt a quick finger-spin to demonstrate the colors in a singles yarn. We were all very excited by the possibilities! We had a great group of women in class.
Here's the samples I worked with in class. We were using dyed coopworth locks from Carol's sheep. First I did the yellow, to learn basic carding techniques. Then we blended colors - I mixed purple and orange (looking for an odd combination) and I really liked the blend. The multicolored batt was next. I layered navy, pink and bright blue. We pulled our batts out into roving, and rolled them into balls, and all I have to do is give them a quick shake, and they're ready to spin!
It was really fun to see all the color combinations used by my classmates.
The three hour class just flew by. Carol's a marvelous teacher. I took a class in dyeing and spinning silk caps from her two years ago at Shepherd's Harvest.
After returning the drum carder and supplies to the truck, I went SHOPPING! I had a few items on my list that I was specifically looking for. This year, there was more fibers, and less actual tools. I was hoping to see some Majacraft wheels - I'm kinda jonesing for a Suzie or a Rose, but need to trial them again. No Majacraft there - guess I'll save my money for SOAR in the fall. I was also looking for some Strauch drum carder accessories, but there was no Strauch. There were lots of Ashford and Louet carders.
I always buy a new basket at Shepherd's Harvest. There are always so many to choose from. I got this nifty small tote basket from Ellie Lida. I bought a pound of Shanghai Nights (coopworth and silk threads) from Hidden Valley Farm. I found a new pattern for the Rambling Rows afghan (I've got one here somewhere, but I can't find it!!) and a pattern for the Babys and Bears sweater for adults. I've made lots of Babys and Bears sweaters, so an adult one is intriguing - maybe a use for those single smaller skeins of handspun? I also bought a spinning control card.
I bought this spindle made by Fox Den Fiber Arts. It's made of poly-clay and weighs 30.5 grams. I loved the multicolors and the flower on the top. There were lots of cool celtic shapes, and some with dragons and butterflys. It was hard to choose. This little puppy goes like crazy!
The weather was warm and sunny, a nice change from the past several years when it has been cool and rainy. There were more people there than I have seen other years. I hope it continues to grow. All the people does make for standing in line when you want to pay, but that really isn't much of complaint! There were three buildings full of vendors.
I walked around for hours, dithering about this and that. Pick something up, put it down. I really have a pretty good stash of spinning fibers. I couldn't quite justify adding to the piles.
Ended up with a pretty small bunch of purchases, but all in all, I'm quite pleased. And I'm not broke!
lamb fleece! This leaves me with 11 ounces to spin, then I'll have done a whole fleece, all by myself!! This is a first for me! 
Here's the samples I worked with in class. We were using dyed coopworth locks from Carol's sheep. First I did the yellow, to learn basic carding techniques. Then we blended colors - I mixed purple and orange (looking for an odd combination) and I really liked the blend. The multicolored batt was next. I layered navy, pink and bright blue. We pulled our batts out into roving, and rolled them into balls, and all I have to do is give them a quick shake, and they're ready to spin!
I always buy a new basket at Shepherd's Harvest. There are always so many to choose from. I got this nifty small tote basket from Ellie Lida. I bought a pound of Shanghai Nights (coopworth and silk threads) from Hidden Valley Farm. I found a new pattern for the Rambling Rows afghan (I've got one here somewhere, but I can't find it!!) and a pattern for the Babys and Bears sweater for adults. I've made lots of Babys and Bears sweaters, so an adult one is intriguing - maybe a use for those single smaller skeins of handspun? I also bought a spinning control card.
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