Red mohair

The swirls in the dyepot as the colors blend

Lucious reds in mohair, drying on the porch

I rarely take custom orders or commissions any longer. I stress over them too much. I also tend to work on what I'm enjoying a the moment. Sometimes, I really want to weave rugs on the big loom, other times, I love the fiddly-fuss of weaving shawls and frequently I just want to sit at my wheels and spin (yarn).

But, I tell people, I will take suggestions and inspirations. Then, when they check back with me at Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour, or Christmas Showcase or look in the Common Threads etsy store or visit our Shearing Days Open House, maybe, just maybe, they'll find just what they've been looking for.

During our Shearing Days open house on March 31, someone mentioned that she'd been looking for a quality yarn for a Christmas project. She needed a red and white candy striped yarn. Well, that stuck in my mind. I'm spinning a super soft white lamb's wool fleece (Poncho's) on my Louie Wheel at work and I just sheared a very shiny, if not quite the softest white mohair from Tillie. Hmm, dye that red, spin the yarns, ply the two textures... gotta try it.

So, I cranked up the dyepot yesterday and did several versions of red, ranging from bright red-red to purpley-pink. Give it a few days to dry and I'll be spinning the red at home. In the meantime, I've just finished Lefty's lamb's wool fleece into 4 skeins of nice two ply Jacob wool yarn and I've started spinning Fritillary's divine cloudy mohair. It must be a Spring for spinning.