dying fiber | Jenjoyce Design

I’ve been enjoying a little rest after a flurry of deadline projects came to a crescendo last week. Back at it again, reading my favorite blogs from spinners, knitters & designers (while spinning), and started to be overcome with that oh-so-familiar impulse to post something ! A little like journalling, but involving tactile sensations as well as color and light ~ an addictive combination. When this happens I grab the camera.

I love the afternoon light from a particular skylight , which brings a trueness and a warmth and a glow to colors, which frankly seem lost with the camera, and so so difficult to really grasp ~ but with a little help from photo settings, I think I managed pretty well on this one. Just look at the purple I am spinning up, and this suri alpaca is just so soft ! I started yakking about a few days ago, it in this post .

* * *
What lovely fine purple yummy yarn-candy indeed !

Nearing the end of my scheduled project deadlines, I decided to spin up the alpaca stash I’ve built up over the decades. I have taken it upon myself to spin up a couple of skeins of yarn for Nora’s Mom, as I hear she is knitting now quite regularly, and I thought it an excellent opportunity to put to use some of the exotic and luxurious white huacaya suri alpaca I have. Well I asked what color alpaca yarn would she like, and she requested purple.

I asked, not being familiar with a one-tone sort of roving dye experience, ” might you like a reddish purple varigated, sort of plummy …. or maybe a blueish indigo-ey ???”

But Nora’s Mom’s answer was “… just purple “.

Well, Nora’s Mom, here is a nice straight-with-no-chaser PURPLE.

I am not accustomed to having ever before dyed, spun, or knit anything ‘just purple’, especially in such complete unvarigatedness as this alpaca roving I just dyed. Oh and in case you didn’t notice, I’ll point out that it is a bit felted. I was impatient while dying, as I was trying to cook dinner at the same time ( I don’t recommend that), and managed to agitate the roving too much (instead of stirring the soup, perhaps I stirred the steaming dye bath ??)… so I’m paying for that by having to mess with the roving a bit before spinning it. (I think the technical term is ” pre-drafting “.)

Upcoming, a little skein or two of ~ r e g a l but sexy ~ and very purple handspun !