dyeing ALL the things!

I'm prepping for my first ever almost back to back festivals next month - and the winter that won't end is really cutting into my dyeing time!   I finally got a few days this week of above freezing and no rain or snow - so I filled the drying rack as fast as I could!

Below is a close up of a new colorway of bfl (everything I dye is a new colorway actually, but this is one I hadn't tried anything close to before! lol) and some new Shadow base yarn in reds - I can't get over how much shine that nylon thread adds to the yarn!  I have to knit some next week during the next snowstorm!

I think this is my favorite part - when the water is clear and I see what the yarn has grown up to be!

Fleece Junk!

These are photos of the mess I made sorting fleeces one day this month.  The top two pics are just hay contamination (when it's more hay than fleece I toss it), the third down is a big swath of 2nd cuts (less than 1" long), and last is the trash bag under a "clean" fleece that hadn't actually been washed.  That bad boy is going in a mesh laundry bag and getting beaten outside before it touches my hand cards or drum carder!   I'm just glad the neighbor is parking in her garage so I can without showering her car in dirt.
When I first started I felt like I had to salvage EVERY hair from the animal possible.... but I'm not doing that anymore. They are growing more, every single year... I'd rather have more time to spend with the dyepots!

Spring?

It's mid March here and after a crazy-fun-busy weekend (limited sunlight, but weather warm enough to get some dyeing done and break in my new crock pots, and some much needed organizing in the dye closet) THIS started yesterday afternoon. 
This white blanket of "spring" will probably stick until tomorrow afternoon - I am SO ready for real spring, fiber festivals, and the local farmer's market!