What did I learn?

What color does this look like to you? It's supposed to be shades of purple. I think it looks "purple-like", but I hesitate to call it purple. Hub thinks I'm crazy, but I think it looks more blue. This was the last of the Chasing Rainbows hanks that I had. The other 4 hanks spun beautifully. This one seemed to have clumps of silk that made drafting difficult. There are sections of slubby gray-purple silk that have tightly twisted purple wool wrapped around them. Not my favorite skein, but useable.


I had 2 opportunities to dye while the TdF was going on. Jillian and I took a Friday and got busy in my back yard and then the next Saturday, I worked alone with the left over dye. I'll say that while it may be more peaceful dyeing alone, it's not much fun. There was no one at my house to ooh and ahh over my color choices. There was no one to take a turn at rinsing out the fiber and there was no one to share a latte with. I had a bump of natural colored Polworth/Silk mix that I split into 2 oz bundles. These are my 2 favorites from the 6 I dyed. This mixture took the the dye beautifully. One thing J and I learned is that fewer is better. We both liked the bits that we had used only 3 colors on. The top bump is turquoise, mallard green, and grasshopper. I poured the colors on and then "encouraged" them to blend together. I did the same on the bottom bump with turkey red, paprika, and grasshopper. There are some very cool bright green spots on this roving. I plan on taking these with me to spin on my downtime when we're at Stitches Midwest next week. Yes, it did sneak up on me thanks. At least I have some idea of what I'm packing, right?


Lastly, I am in love with cashmere and silk blends. This is some I bought on eBay last week. Isn't it luscious? I love the feel of this stuff in the ball like this, but what's amazing to me is how soft it is when it's spun. I haven't actually tried this, but have spun this blend before. I'll let you know how it goes.