Tour de Fleece Day 16

Oh have I got a treat for you today!! I started spinning some new fibre this afternoon. Yesterday I met up with Marianne from Fluff-n-Stuff (more on that tomorrow when it's my rest day from the Tour.) I am a huge fan of her fibre, and I was lending her some of the items I've knit up using yarn spun from her fluff. They will be used on Marianne's stand at Fibre East in a fortnight's time. As a thank you, Marianne very kindly gave me a braid of a new fibre she's got in - it's a mix of 50% Blue Faced Leicester and 50% Ramie. Marianne has named this new blend 'Stinger'!! You see, ramie comes from nettles!! I didn't realise that ramie has been in use for thousands of years. It has even been found in the fabric used to wrap up Egyptian mummies. It adds a silky lustre to fabric and is very strong. Feast your eyes on this! It's in the 'Maddie' colourway, and is a gorgeous mix of blues, purples and greens with a smidgeon of yellow thrown in for good measure!

 

 

Don't you just love all those colours together? I split the braid in half down the middle, and then one half I split into 4 further sections, by halving and then halving again, so I ended up with 4 thin repeats of the fibre to spin. I predrafted the first length, but needn't have bothered as it pretty much drafted itself!!

 

My bobbin started filling up. I kept stopping to admire the colours lined up alongside each other!!

I'm spinning this on the middle ratio wheel again to get enough twist in the singles. I might try plying it on the biggest ratio wheel for a more floppy yarn. We'll see! Once I'd started spinning, I wanted to keep going and spin up the first half. It was surprisingly quick!

 

 

It's a rest day tomorrow, so I shall try to resist the temptation of spinning the other half!! Pop back and see if I managed! xxx