First, update from yesterday…

Here’s a closeup of the “stone” from the Moss, Wood, and Stone (now in the shop)

And now… Mmmmmm

POLWARTH.

Wow. I haven’t spun it yet, and I love it. One of the first things on my new guy when I get him will be the huge lovely 3lb polwarth batt my good friend The Moose got me (I’m gonna spin me a sweater ::looking shiftily at the barely cast on back of a sweater in my laundry basket:: ) I think it shall be green. And yes, I know it’s not the most durable fiber for it. ::shrugs::

It’s really soft. Only the superfine merino I’ve felt has felt softer, but this has the advantage of a long staple length, which makes it much sleeker. Verah nice.

So, without further ado. Here’s the first pound of polwarth. Any that don’t get grabbed at knitting tonight will go up on the shop this evening. I’m going to dye much more of this soon.

First, a tried and true personal favorite, Sapphire Surprise. The fiber does bleed effects much better than straight up merino, which is nice because I like them.

Sapphire Surprise: 4oz Combed Polwarth Top

I like this one. It’s a tough effect to get because the method requires a lot more granularity of temperature control than I have on my stove. But I got it to hit pretty well on this one. As summer comes, night comes later and you can watch it creep in unevenly across the evening sky.

Summer Evening: 4oz Combed Polwarth Top

A more semi-solid version of the Purple Haze I showed yesterday.

Purple Haze: 4oz Combed Polwarth Top

And finally, one of my favorite stones because it seems lit with an inner light. Though the fiber could also be called Autumn Maples, or Squashed Pumpkin…

Soft Carnelian: 4oz Combed Polwarth Top

Mmmm yummy.

Also, I continue to have awesome friends. Another fiber I plan to save for the new wheel, to be done longdraw once I master the art on the new wheel… BATTS! For meeeeeee! Soft and shiny, from my friend Bowerbird! (If you haven’t, you should really check out her sock patterns on her blog or Rav, they’re one of the reasons I started knitting). These guys are about an ounce each.

I’m putting in an order for a couple more “odd” fibers (and by odd I mean perfectly normal but not as easily found commercially). Those should be in soon.

That’s it for now. Much more to come soon. Back to writing the paper.

~The Gnome