Green! Green?

I’ve been itching to start a new spinning project – a big one. I have two quantities of fiber in stash that are enough for a sweater, both purchased at the 2015 Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival. I bought this Coopworth with a sweater for S1 in mind:

It is roving that the seller calls “swirl” – part of it is dyed burgundy and part is left undyed (the natural fiber is called “light blue” but is really just a shade of sheep). I bought 2 pounds, which is a LOT. A “grand sac” indeed!

I started spinning a sample and it just didn’t feel right. It wasn’t drafting smoothly and I was fighting with it so much that my hands hurt. No good! Back to the closet it went to await my attention another time. I wanted a simpler, more comforting spin instead.

I got my OTHER grand sac of fiber from SVFF – this is a blend the seller calls “Romoca” (Romney wool, mohair, and alpaca). I don’t know the percentages, and it’s a roving prep. I am spinning it long draw on a 14:1 pulley and it’s spinning like a dream.

I decided to be a grownup about this project and actually make some sample yarn. I spun some singles and then made some 2-ply and also some 3-ply. Here is proof of my 3-ply yarn (which I prefer):

I haven’t knit that little sample ball yet, but I will. After that initial test, I divided the roving into one ounce puffballs and commenced spinning. I can store an ounce of singles on each of these 6” weaving bobbins.

You can see a ton of color variation here. It’s green, but it’s also a LOT of colors. IT’S A GREENBOW! I seem to be spinning a green variation of my greynbow spin.

I LOVE IT. I have 9 bobbins in this photo and another ounce spun, as well. I’m trying to do an ounce a day. If I’m lucky, I’ll have the singles done before our holiday travel, and I can ply after we return home.

In the meantime, MORE green fiber has arrived at my home. The November Sheepspot Fiber Club shipment arrived, and it’s Southdown top in a gorgeous semisolid colorway called “Mexican lime.” It looks green in my house – kind of a yellow-y green, but still green. But when I took it outside to photograph in natural light, it looked much more golden yellow:

And when I held it up against my decidedly green front door, the fiber looked completely yellow!

Color is so tricksy that way. This lovely braid will have to wait until I finish my greenbow, though. I’m monogamous in my spinning projects.