Thursday, November 11, 2010

A Little Lincoln and Eight Years in the Making

As everyone knows, I have issues with wool. I am a wool-aholic (sheep, camel, yak, goat, alpaca... I'm equal opportunity when it comes to the source). I love the smell of raw wool. I get a kick out of washing it (not such a fan of carding, but it's part of the process), spinning, dyeing, knitting.... oh, I could go on and on. The smells, feel, colors. When I worked at Bobbin's Nest - that was tough. I wanted to buy just about everything that came into the store. I you haven't been to the 'Nest, I'd recommend that you go in and have a little look-see. Erin has GREAT yarns AND fabrics! Ah... but I digress....
I learned how to spin when I lived in Connecticut. After I got the hang of it, I couldn't get my hands on enough fiber. In the spinning group to which I belonged, a woman shepherd had some fiber that she no longer wanted and so I purchased all of it. ALL OF IT. I didn't know enough to ask what breed of wool was it, washing instructions, anything. At that time I didn't know there was a difference!

What I found out later was that the wool I purchased was Lincoln. A great wool for fast spinning, but a very scratchy wool. Good for outer garments (think coat) or rugs. Oops. Anyhoo, I spun away with the color she had the most of - Pink. Bubble gum pink. Bright pink. Ugh.

Fast forward eight years later - and here I am, moving from the Lovey's house to our homestead and I run across this yarn. Again. Ugh. Pink. Oh well, I can't bring myself to get rid of it. I have a lot of really good memories wrapped in there.

Literally one morning I wake up, sit straight up in bed and say "I can over dye it!". And I did. Hot pink over dyed with navy blue gets you this:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Way to go! I assume you'll be making some overwear soon?