I wanted to add a short little update to my last blog post where I had a little tutorial for dyeing in stages. This method gives you full control over your dyeing, even within the same contain. If you want to explore more with your dyes, you also need to understand that dye fixes to wool in ways that are predictable and also chaotic. What do I mean by this? First, if you add your dye fixative at the start of the dyeing process, the dye will fix fairly soon after you add the dye. This gives you anywhere between mere seconds to a couple of minutes to shift the dye around in the dyebath. This als ..read more

I’ve been working on background footage for the next tutorial video. These videos always take a while to create, so I film them in chunks. I didn’t do any filming today, but the recent samples I’ve spun has gotten me thinking about the sensory aspect of handspun yarns.   I bought some raw Shetland from a hobby shepherd about two years ago. It was hand sheared and the owner wasn’t sure how to do it, nor did he know what a spinner would want to see. It was only a partial fleece, about 8 ounces, but figured it would be good for a future Fiber Talk episode (I’ve been avoiding talking about Sh ..read more

Okay, so you have divided up your merino fleece, very carefully. Now, I prefer to wash in a mesh bag because it helps preserve the lock integrity. You can certainly wrap up the wool in some muslin and place it in the mesh bag to further preserve the lock structure, but it will take longer. I suggest doing this if you have the time, since it's completely worth the effort (you can pull out the individual locks, wrap them in some cloth, then wash them with Orvus paste). The end result will still maintain the lock so you can pull them out and spin them quickly and easily. Before I wash the second ..read more

Hey, it’s 2022 now. I haven’t written a blog post in ages, so I thought I’d begin the year with one.  Lots of stuff will be happening this year for Expertly Dyed. First, I’m going to talk about the kinds of content I’m planning to distribute on a regular basis. Second, I’ll describe what I mean by ‘regular basis’. Third, I’ll share with you some big project ideas I have in mind that are in pre-development (i.e., they’re just aspirations at this point). To recap 2021. I know that I finished my PhD last year and passed my viva and resubmitted the final edits. I really only had a ‘soft rela ..read more

Yesterday I had my first livestream in over a year. After some technical problems the weekend before (though I know what I need to convert my Canon camera into a webcam), I dug out my ancient HD webcame c. 2012 which did the trick. Going forward, I’d like to have these livestreams as part of my regular scheduling for YouTube content. It gives me a chance to be totally off-script and answer questions about whatever we’re talking about. It’s almost like the veil between virtual and physical worlds get blurred during livestreams. One unfortunate reality with using such an old webcam has to do wit ..read more

For this step, you are free to skip it if you do not want to separate out the prime part of the fleece from the rest of the fleece. As I already mentioned before, I always do this step because it gives me options for how I will use a fleece. If you have an extremely consistent fleece, you may want to skip this step. What do I mean by "prime"? The prime part of the fleece is the best part of the fleece on the animal. For most sheep, this is the wool on the sides of the animal, not including the middle strip down the back of the animal, the leg wool, britch wool, or belly wool. In some breeds ..read more

I bought a gorgeous fleece (two actually!) from a local Leicestershire shepherd about three years ago. I’ve gotten down to the last bits of the fleece which I am trying to dye in advance of the Melton fiber show that is happening September 10-11. What I love about dyeing this wool is its lustre. In many ways it’s like mohair, but much stronger due to it being slightly coarser. However, ‘coarser’ isn’t really what I’d want to emphasize here. I’ll be adding a few new dye batches of the Leicester long wool to the shop so I thought I’d say a few words about it now since I haven’t made a Fiber Tal ..read more

This isn’t necessarily a good thing. I remember being thrilled at the chance to get a free fleece because I was poor and wanted to spin yarn. I participated in Spin-a-Fleece, Get-a-Fleece with alpaca owners a few times and was happy to roll around in my own mini alpaca herd. My first experience with processing wool was with a free cotswold fleece from a local farmer. It was free, dirty, and not great quality. I learned a lot from those experiences, including what to expect from a fiber show versus a farmer trying to unload unwanted goods. Before you dig into this post, please read about the sh ..read more

It has been at least a year since I had dyed silk hankies or silk caps in my shop. Why? I’m guessing it had to do with the pandemic and the disruptions of silk coming from (India and) China, at least in terms of the movement of physical goods. However, there is a more interesting, and upsetting, story about silk right now. First, I implore you to look into this information further since I would like to know more but I don’t have time right now to properly research the topic. This article discusses how the quantity of silk has fallen since 1986, and the outputs from China are far lower than Ja ..read more

Let's do a step by step process of washing a merino fleece, from start to finish. If you haven't bought your fleece yet, and you want to, please watch this video for tips on how to choose a fleece. Also, you don't need to use a merino fleece. If you want to use another fine wool breed, or fine wool cross, this process will work just the same for you: Let's gather some materials. First, we have to alter the method I propose in my fleece washing videos, since it doesn't apply to merino (and it won't for other fine fleeces either). Normally, I do a cold soak to loosen and release dirt and large p ..read more