The nice thing about finishing a bunch of sweaters is that there is suddenly room on my needles for new projects. First up on the list is the re-make of the lace ribs vest, this time as a long-sleeved version.

I love the color. It’s not showing up quite right in the photo, but it’s a beautiful, saturated purple-red from Dream in Color (called Velvet Port). It’s a semisolid, and its subtle color changes are just right for lace. Very happy with how this is coming out.

I also finished spinning the fiber that I showed last time. It’s a reject from the shop, and has been sitting in the stash for quite some time now. I decided that it was time to pull it out and do something with it, and was hoping to get enough for a pair of socks. I ended up with just about 300 yards of fingering-weight 3-ply, which is definitely finer than I’ve been getting from the other flyer.

I apparently forgot to take a picture of the yarn by itself, so here it is with its new partner (also an outcast from the shop):

Or what I think will be its partner. I’m still not 100% sure that those colors go together. In some lights I think they’re perfect, and in others I’m not so sure.

Since the yardage on the first yarn is just a little short of what I was hoping for, I am now dreaming up new ideas for this project, and I have a sneaky suspicion that it might become a shawl instead of a sock.

Here’s a picture of the second fiber comparing the dyed top and the singles:

I always like to compare the way the colors look on the fiber and in the yarn. It helps me figure out how to dye toward a particular effect. I’m often surprised by how much the colors even out in the spinning. This fiber is dyed with color patches that are just about a staple length, and in some cases shorter. None of the colors have very high contrast, and it’s turning into a nicely blended yarn, but with some variegation in long sections. I’m planning to chain ply it like the last one, so it will be interesting to see how much variegation remains in the final yarn. I’m almost out of space on the bobbin, so I’ll be plying soon!

The last of the projects is the one I’m most excited about. We’re gearing up to make a (really, almost scary) big fiber order for the shop, so that I can start dyeing towards a fiber festival or two this spring. Last weekend, I went poking around online, and today this was on my doorstep:

That’s a terrible picture of some beautiful fiber (it’s really creamy white…my house is just dark). It’s 100% Targhee, from Sweet Grass Wool. This is just a small purchase to check the quality of the fiber before thinking about buying more, but if the spinning is as good as the smooshing, I am 100% sold. I’m especially happy about buying this fiber because it’s one that I can buy direct from the farmer rather than through a distributor. The rest of my wools are bought through a small company in Vermont, but they are still a distributor, and I like to work with a farmer whenever I can.

I’m also thrilled because, well…it’s just amazing wool.

There will be more on that soon, I’m sure, and then there might be some Rambouillet in the mail, too. All kinds of new things popping up over here…