Just before my birthday I got an itch to spin and knit myself a sweater. I looked at patterns, picked several I like and then started researching fiber sources. I wanted it to be fairly soft, but also to have some sheen and to wear well so I turned to one of my favorite fibers to spin, the fleece of the Blue-Faced Leicester. I contacted Klaus at Crown Mountain Farms who was able to bring 4 pounds of simply gorgeous, fluffy, pin-drafted roving with him to Black Sheep Gathering for me to pick up, saving me on shipping costs.

I split 4 ounces of roving into 1 ounce bundles and did some test dyeing in July after making a trip to the Eugene Textile Center to pick up some Jacquard Acid Dyes. With just a few tests I was able to settle on a color that I’m reasonably sure is one I love (if I change my mind once the yarn is spun, I can always over-dye it). Each 4 ounce roving was dyed once in silver grey and then over-dyed with a mixture of turquoise and kelly green. I’ve started the spinning, but it’s slow going as I’m easily distracted by my knitting. I did first spin a sample skein though. This wee skein is 1/2 ounce of three ply yarn and a dream to spin which is good, since there’s a lot of it to spin.