Sunday 14 June 2009

Come On You Reds! (aka Stella's Wool)

Well, here it is, better late than never! Red was a real challenge for me as it's usually a colour I blend with others, but I've had fun with it and discovered just how beautiful red can be (new convert to red!). Wish the pics were more accurate with the colours, but that's digital cameras for you! I've been mad busy for the past couple of weeks, so I decided to hand paint roving to create my red wool. I chose to use some South American lustre tops, really soft with a bit of a glow to them. I painted my roving with 3 shades of red, getting ever deeper. I love the heathering effect you get with painted roving, so, the wool isn't technically "red", but is what I call Ashes of Roses - the colours move from the palest of pink to a smokey red/grey/purple colour.
When it came to spinning I decided to add some texture to reflect the textured colours, so I spun a thick and thin single, and the plied it back with a fine spun single. The pic below shows the thick and thin single on the bobbin.

The wool is a beautiful soft chunky yarn which would look great knitted up.I loved doing it so much that I'm going to paint some batts in a different colourway to see what the effect would be.
All that's left is to pick the winner!



























16 comments:

Creative Knits said...

wow what loverly reds, i could see that will knit up loverly!

Anonymous said...

Oooh, that is gorgeous too. I love red - it's my colour! It also suits both my girlies - we are obviously a red kind of family!! :)

Looby said...

ooh that one's lovely too!

KnitCave said...

Another beauty, and the texture is really interesting. Which would I prefer? It would be impossible to say.

TCN said...

Beautiful, as always!

Lisa Marie said...

wow - it's so pretty, it begs to become something and, everyone will comment on how truly awesome the color is.

Unknown said...

ohhhh that is gorgeous!!! how am i meant to choose now between the 2? lol. well done x

woollywotnots said...

Thanks for sharing! Its so nice to look at. Someone is going to be a very lucky winner. :-)

Joy said...

Well I hope you are going to continue with reds, thats lovely.

Jennie said...

Red to match my nose after a day in the sun - it is a beautiful creation (unlike my nose)

jennyflowerblue said...

phwoar! That is a really hot looking wool, the colour is jus gorgeous, how are you resisting knitting a bit?

Hannah said...

Both yarns are so nice!

Aleximo said...

Oh my goodness! The red is gorgeous too! I always find it really hard to get decent red coloured yarns, usually end up with something synthetic. Love the texture too, it's giving me knitting ideas! xXx
P.S. I'm leaving you me folksy address as the open url thing won't work for me! http://www.aleximo.folksy.com

fracksmom said...

I am learning so much now that I have time during my unemployment to play on the computer. love to see the stages of wool, I only just go the store and got what was on sale, and that is what I am busy knitting up to keep myself busy.
thanks for your wonderful blog, teach me more.

stella said...

Knitting.... I remember knitting!!!
would love to have a go at knitting it up but am resisting tempatation by washing fleeces! (plus too hot for me at the moment! xx

Madam Salami said...

oooh this is so tough, this yarn is delicious.
I love the texture, looks really tactile and the colours are stunning.