
After the April showers take last month with Red Umbrella, I felt some May Flowers were appropriate. I liked this grouping of tulips, with the bright pink-red, a bold orange, a calming gold, a leaf green, and a barely there celadon.
While these colors do work well in a gradient context, they were also perfect to pull out the Safari 4 Ply Mini Skeins I’ve been itching to use. I did a multi-pour with these, ironically to bring out some color variation as they seemed to want to be solids (so boring, lol!). I was pleased to see some fun speckling show up in the colors that used one of the yellow dyes, sometimes it’s ok if the dye doesn’t want to dissolve all the way when mixing!
In keeping with the yarn being in a bit different form, I pulled out this fun New Zealand Romney Combed Sliver, which is a different prep than our usual Combed Top. Sliver ends up being thinner than top, so I doubled it up in the dyepot, and braided it up doubled, you can easily separate the two to make a 2 ply yarn, or just leave them together and spin across as usual. Romney began as the Romney Marsh breed in Kent, England (with hardy feet sturdy coat up to the wet and marshy area), further improved by breeding with leicester sheep. Romneys took easily to life in New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, and also the United States. The sheep are popular as a dual use sheep, including heavy fleeces that are generally a consistent medium micron throughout, with nice locks, uniform crimp, and beautiful luster. It takes dye like a champ, and is quite fun and easy to spin, I often recommend it for beginners. As carded sliver, it is also great for intermediate spinners wanting to practice long draw techniques, this one will be great for supported long draw.
Interested in joining the fun? I’m currently taking new subscriptions for Sock Yarn and Fiber Clubs (or both, if you like!). Stop by the shop: https://www.thepaintedtiger.com/Category_48/Yarn-and-Fiber-of-the-Month-Clubs.htm