Hand Dyed Combed Top

I dyed up some combed top I've had lurking around for years. It's superwash merino, the thing is with superwash it grabs the dye very very quickly. That's why I decided to spot dye it. You just literally drop blobs of dye onto the fibre in the pot and leave it to cook. Don't poke it or mess with it, just leave it alone.

Now when I first started spinning, about 6 years ago, I would never have dreamed of buying something that looked like this:

But, the strangest looking thing can often become a thing of beauty:

Spinning this as a fractal yarn: divide the top into 2 lengthways then spin the first half onto bobbin 1. Split the remaining half again into 4 strips lengthways and spin them onto bobbin 2, one strip after the other but keep them in the same orientation as the first.














Just loving the purples and blues in this, leaving large white areas when dying the top tones down the colours, so deeper strong colours become multiple, softer shades as they blend with the white during drafting.

I'm spinning this much thicker than I normally do as I'm wanting a worsted weight yarn.

I also decided what to knit with my Green Green Grass of Home skein:

A lace shawl, it's triangular and knitted top down with lace and garter stitch panels. The pattern is Lilac Shawl by Irene Lin.