Red Hot Mess

Today is that day that I finally finished a project that I have alternately loved and hated, I affectionately called it the red hot mess!

I had several ounces of a too dark merino silk blend and a too bright (glaring) merino red.  I got the big idea to blend the two together and I figured that it would tone them both down, and at the same time it would give me a lot more yarn when it was all said and done!

 The first half of the fiber I used hand cards and made a lot of rolags.

This tub was almost completely full when I started spinning.  I used a classic long draw to make a soft woolen single ply.

(You can see part of the unprocessed fiber peeking out from behind.)

Every once in awhile I was afraid that the black and the red were way too blended and that it was ugly and I would put it away.

Then I would pull it back out again and think that it was fine after all, and I would keep spinning.

  The second half of the fiber I lashed onto the hackle and drew it off as top.

This picture was the fiber after the first blending, I went on to lash it back onto the hackle again and drew it off with a very fine diz.

I then spun this second ply again using a long draw method, but this time I took small sections of the fiber and folding it over my finger  I spun off the fold, giving me once again a woolen yarn.

This morning I finally got all of the singles spun and I went straight away to plying that red hot mess, cause I couldn't wait to see what using those two different blending methods was going to look like in the final skeins.

I think it is very promising, don't you?                                                                      

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina