Radical Homemaker » Hand-dyed and Spun Wool

After Dying and Drying a variety of wool combinations. They were put through the drum carter to comb the long staples into a uniform direction. Becoming Roving.

The roving was spun on the Joy 2, with double pedals, made by Ashford. I really like this spinning wheel, for its ability to fold up and hold its own bobbins. I actually spun a lot of this batch on my travels to Thunder Bay.

After spinning the wool, you have to ply the spun wool (thread), which is combining 2 or more threads together. I chose to do 2-ply because of my limited amount of wool per each colour.

Hand-dyed and Spun Wool Drying in Sun

After plying, the wool is moved to a Nitty Noddy, which measures and helps to combine it into a skein. Taking these skeins, I wanted to added some of the natural softness back, so each was put into a warm lanolin bath for 30 mins. Then gently squeezed to remove the excess water without felting the wool.

I did this on a warm sunny day, so they could drip dry out in the sun. They were easily moved indoors, and after fully drying, were wound using a wheel and ball winder.