lincoln x corriedale locksIsn’t this pretty? These are the lincoln x corriedale fleeces, all clean and dry. From left to right: natural white; natural white dyed with cutch, using alum mordant; natural dark grey.

combed rovingsWith just the 3 colors, I was able to make these 6 different colors/shades. Of course, I could make an infinite number of shades by blending the light to dark, but this is all I had the patience to do this morning. Clockwise: white, white blended with cutch dyed locks, cutch dyed locks, cutch dyed locks blended with dark grey, dark grey, dark grey blended with white.

spun skeinsThese are the skeins that I spindle spun from the rovings. Same order.

combsThese are the Forsyth mini combs that I used to comb the locks into roving. Nasty looking stuff, huh? I have some new piercings as a result. Yikes.

I really need to learn to use these things better. I had a mini demo/lesson at Black Sheep from the woman that I bought it from, and I also watch Mr. Forsyth do a demo. I have a long way to go before this becomes second nature.

There’s a lot of waste, not because the wool is in bad shape, but because I’m horrible at this combing stuff. I snarled up a lot of the wool.

Since the locks are still in really good shape, I might try using the flicker instead. Also, since I’m not trying to get perfectly blended colors, I should be able to do some rough blending with the flicker and/or while spinning. More experiments. Unfortunately, I’m out of time. I need to get my work projects a little further along before I head out on my vacation, not to mention the packing we still have to do.

At this point, I’m resigned to the fact that there’s no way that I can start the tapestry, let alone finish it, before vacation, I think I will just put the whole thing on hold until after my Navajo weaving class at the end of the month. I’m also worried that the warp yarn that I spun won’t be strong enough. I’ll check with Hannelore before I set myself up for disapointment.