Week 6 – Turning White Wool into Colorful Creations…

Week 6 – Romney

This week’s breed was Romney – which I just LOVE!  Fortunately for me, I live close to, and am friends with a local ranch owner (Double A Ranch) that raises Targhee and Romney sheep.  I’ve attended their sheerings in the past and had this beautiful white roving from them. One of the reasons I love Romney wool so much is the longer staple, which makes spinning it a lot easier.  As a matter of fact, when I’m teaching new spinners how to spin on a spindle or a wheel, this is my go-to fiber.  It’s relatively soft and generally easier to spin than some of the finer wools.  In my opinion, it is a little bit more forgiving, and it definitely takes dye colors well.

Now, normally I’m all about the natural colors of wool.  Really, it’s kinda my thing – but – in the dead of winter in Montana, where we’ve had 56 plus inches of snow since December, and I hadn’t seen the actual ground for weeks, I decided I needed some color in my life – and bright colors too gosh darn it!  So, what’s a girl to do?  Dye some wool of course!

It was pretty much the perfect week to get some colors going in the dye-pot and Romney seemed to be the perfect wool to do it with.  I took fuscia, electric violet, and teal and spun them each separately.  The plan was to four-ply the yarn adding in a strand of white.  Once I had all of the colors spun up, I decided against the white and just put all three of these vibrant colors together.  Needless to say – I’m ecstatic!

So this fiber was much easier for me to get this week – because it’s local to me.  What fiber is local to where you are, and what is your “go-to” fiber when you’re not following a list for the 52 Weeks of Sheep?

What did you all think of the Romney, or whatever breed you happened to spin this week?  If you’re following along, what breed would you like to spin – or what’s local in your area?

Remember, to keep up with the adventures, check us out on Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/52WeeksofSheep2017/

Until next week have fun and happy spinning! 🙂

~Tammy