August has been a stretch for me….just a lot going on, some good some bad, and some not-so-great turning into pretty good!
So why not stretch my colors a bit, too? I tend to stay away from much orange since many don’t like them, but these terra cotta colors called to me. A bit of tweaking to the colors in this palette, and we have Southwest Sunset, with shades of terra cotta from peach to reddish, a rich purpley maroon, and a deep navy. It says ‘autumn’ to me without being in-your-face.
Our fiber is a new one, Southdown. This breed has the distinction of being the oldest of the ‘down’ sheep, development of the breed started in the late 1700s, and was also imported to the USA in the early 1800s. The breed is listed as ‘recovering’ with the Livestock Conservancy, which means I was able to get this great combed top for you. Southdown is primarily a meat breed, but the fleece is a nice poufy medium wool, coming in at about 28 micron. I’ve dyed this in my classic blended gradient, allowing the colors to play with their neighbors. Be sure to bend this to your will, though….you are the boss of the fiber and the color order.
Our yarn is Safari, my fav sock yarn of 75% Corriedale wool and 25% nylon. I’ve dyed this in a self-striping pattern, with a stripe for each of the colors, then an additional stripe that is a variegated blend of muted shades of the colors, which look a bit ‘painted desert’ to me…and one each batch this variegated segment is different. I had hoped to have a sample knit up for you…..but those August curveballs are running into September, so this ‘raw’ photo will have to do for now. The yarn should stripe about 4 rows per color on socks, and the colors will stay in order.
I have new spots open in both the yarn and fiber clubs for September, do join us!
