Re-fleeced

Do you remember the gift fleece, the one full of hay? Ruth, having come through like a trouper on Patriot's Day, was roped into volunteered to help out with another Colonial-era-related event and suggested that we could spin again (like we did last summer, er, spring). As it turned out, though, the organizers did want textile arts, but they wanted different ones, variety being the spice of life, so Ruth came up with having the kids make felt balls. "But I'm trying to figure out where we can get fleece," she said.

"Not to worry!" said I. "Remember all that fleece I acquired last winter? I'll just wash and card some of it for you."

"But plain white felt balls would be so boring," she said.

"Not to worry!" I reiterated. "I have lots of leftovers from Dye-O-Rama."

I figured I'd card and dye about a pound of fleece for her, little knowing that a pound turns out to seem like, oh, five or six metric tons if you're carding it by hand, picking VM out of it as you go. Nonetheless, I persevered with the process. Ruth requested bold, androgynous colors, so a nice bright green was first on the list. I mixed the dye, winging it, as I didn't know exactly what proportions would produce the green I had in mind, and poured in the boiling water. "A bit too yellow," I said, and added a little blue. A little more than necessary, as it turned out, as I got a spotty blue-green mixture — I had already noticed that mixed colors of this dye tend to separate somewhat, not such a big deal if you're handpainting, but I was looking for a uniform green. Shushing my inner perfectionist, I rinsed it out and hung it up to dry.


I really like this color mix; I'd like to card it again (yes, I really would) to blend the shades and then spin up a storm.

Maybe it'll rain and no one will show up.