Every summer I like to create a color suitable for lace spinning and/or knitting. June came about somewhat serendipitously. When dyeing Annestown Beach (March Club), I really liked the idea of bright green against a dark background, and wanted to explore that. I also did a thorough clean out of my supply closet to sell on things that I didn’t want to dye, and found a lovely ball of the softest dark Alpaca, blended in streaks with silk. Was there enough of it for club? Yes!! I then did a little bit of image searching to narrow down a palette. I love this picture (Hostas?), so the gradient inspiration was established.
Next came out the colored pencils. The colors aren’t accurate, this is the idea. In the past, I’ve brute force mathed out the lengths of yarn needed, but this time I tried a spreadsheet a fellow dyer had made. I wound the yarn and the amounts came out pretty accurately, so yay!
Here’s the finished yarn. I went with Sumatran Tiger, which is 100% soft Superwash Merino yarn, 490 yards per 100 grams. I can’t wait to see it knit up!
And here is that dark Alpaca with silk all dyed up. It’s a luxury blend, so the portions are 2 oz this month. Both of these fine micron fibers go far as a lace (or cobweb…or froghair) weight, but you could easily extend it with something else as your second ply if you like.
As always, I enjoyed the process, and I hope club members enjoy creating with the palette I’ve made. If you’d like to join in, I do have a couple of fiber spots open for July Club.
