Not Plain Vanilla

Stone – Westerly Blue
GCN Natural Cream, Natural Grey, and Indigo Dyed

Been awhile since I’ve spun anything except plain vanilla yarn. SE2SE is romping along, and I’ve been shipping fleeces, batts, and skeins of yarn. Plain vanilla 2-ply worsted weight yarn. Every day, I walk past a bin with alternatives. Madder dyed batts. Indigo dyed locks. Sandalwood dyed locks. Natural grey GCNI. I just couldn’t stand it. So, in between carding big soft floofy batts and packing pounds of raw fleece, I grabbed a fat pile of grey, and indigo, and some Sammas fleece I’d been saving for the day I would have a couple hours to spin for me. I looked at those colors. I saw, winking at me from my treasure filled china cabinet, this ol’ necklace I made when I was a teenager. Stones and shells from Misquamicut and my old dog Max’s tag.

The town I come from is known for it’s granite. It’s grey. It’s blue. Like this yarn.

Stone Singles
258 yards ~ 4 ounces
Gulf Coast Native 3 Ways

So this is more or less finished. Needs to be washed and set, but it’s done. I think, mmm, I think I’m going to spin more of this.

On the other hand, I am not slackin’ off on orders. If you ever wondered how long it takes to do this work, here’s a hint, I started carding these batts at the opening pitch of todays game between the Red Sox and the Royals. I finished at the last out! Here is Sammas carded into a baseball game’s worth of luscious batts:

GCN Sammas
3 batts ~ 4.02 ounces

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Spinning away

Lambswool au naturel and a batt of Gulf Coast Native dyed with sandalwood

Okay okay. It’s spinnin’ time! Caught up on my orders – well, almost – so I am spinnin’ for the love of spinnin’. This is 100% Gulf Coast Native, so will count towards the Shave ’em to Save ’em passport sticker. Ahhh. Is there anything as luxurious as a hogget fleece? She’s being spun in the grease (that’s what’s on the bobbin). Yum.

Mi oh Mia!

Gulf Coast Native Mia – hogget – 150yd

This is a special treat. GCN Mia’s hogget fleece. Oh my. I’ve been doing some custom spinning with her. Have half a fleece left to spin. WHOO HOOO!

Thinkin’ of Rosie

GCN Rosie Lumpkin 4.1lb

Thanks to the Livestock Conservancy’s Shave ’em to Save ’em project, I’ve been able to share a lot of Gulf Coast Native loveliness with people all over the country.

Raymond & Rosie after the death of their Brother Bing

This was taken in 2013. Rosie is a very maternal sheep. Here she’s hangin’ with her cousin Raymond.  And the orb.

Finding yarn as I unfleece the studio!

Top-Bottom: Gulf Coast Native yarns- Bulky Indigo dyed, Aran wt acid dyed, Fingering wt acid dyed

Yes, this Livestock Conservancy project has me clearing out the big ol bags of Gulf Coast Native fleece. And lo! What’s this? What’s that? The occasional basket of yarn! I’ve been spinning yarn like a bevis for some of the knitters participating in Shave ’em to Save ’em. But, somebody just might like these prespun yarns, eh?

Marathon

Not the Boston Marathon Here – Happy Patriots’ Day!

No, this is 2 skeins of few marathon orders of plain vanilla Gulf Coast Native. You’re looking at 4.2 oz/ 206 yd of right off the wheel yarn. On its way to the Midwest in a little while. Cheers!

Makin’ yarn on a windy day

Natural/Naturally Dyed Gulf Coast Native

• T-B – pokeberry stems fine singles s-spun on spindle
• Kentucky bluestem med singles s-spun on spindle
• crape myrtle med singles s-spun
• marigold chunky 2-ply s/z
• 2-ply – one ply sumac one natural s/z
• Spanish moss chunky 2ply s/z in grease
• GCNI *Amber* 2-ply spindlespun s/z

Otherwise, this windful day is keeping me in spinning some Ticker wool for SE2SE.