suffolk sheep fleece

I have been washing fleeces this week. The picture below is about 1/2 of the Suffolk fleece. On the bobbin is a thin single of the Suffolk.
I carded this on my drum carder and spun it woolen long draw. I left some on the lanolin in it to make it easy to spin(I am still a beginner spinner). I spun it thin and I will spin another bobbin to make a 2 ply. I have some natural dye pots waiting for it(that's when the real fun begins).

fiber animals

Sasha and Missy

Missy and Sasha

I went to North Carolina this past Sunday to pick up 3 angora goats. I purchased a 3 year old doe, whom I named Maddyson(Maddy for short). I also purchased 2 small yearling does. I named them Sasha and Missy.

more on the pine cone dye

This picture may show the color a little better:

The top yarn in this picture is a sample after exposure to sunlight for 2 weeks, there was a very slight fading that did not show up in this photo. The bottom yarn is the one without sun exposure. I am not an expert but I would think this would be considered to have good light fastness. I only wish my pictures would have showed the color better.

pine cone dye experiment

This is the result of my pine cone dye experiment. It doesn't show to well in the pic. It is a yellowish beige color. I used old dry falling apart pine cones. I crushed them and put them into a quart jar, covered them with water and simmered on my wood stove for 10 days. I poured them in to my aluminum pot and added 2 cups of rubbing alcohol. I simmered this for 2 days and then strained it and then put the dye liquid back into the aluminum pot, added the yarn and simmered for 24 hours. I removed the yarn and air dyed with out washing, once dry I washed and rinsed it.