Well, sort of a surprise ….

My Cousin Ruth lives in Alaska and among her other fiber artist activities, like quilting, she also raises sheep.   Lots and lots of sheep.

Lookie what just came in the mail today!   A box of yarns spun from her own sheep.  How cool is this.   Some of it goes back to her of course, and she said I could keep back some for myself or to sell.    

There are 5 of the 3 ply (on the left) and 12 of the 2-ply.    And 2 of the two-ply are definitely lighter in color than the rest (the two top-most on the right hand pile).  I’m so long dyeing up lace and fingering and sport that I’m not good judging if this is worsted or bulky, and not sure how to tell, BUT I will do wraps-per-inch to get a start on figuring it out.   Usually I can tell approximate ranges with the yard counter (basing on average yardage-per-weight), but these are not 4 oz hanks, so I’m not sure how to go about it, other than to put it on the skein winder and measure it.  🙂

Anyway, this feels very much like it has to become a fisherman’s scarf of some sort.  Or nice wooly cabled cap…   We shall see.   I will definitely dye some of it, and give her as many as she wants off the top, and sell a bit of it, but hold those two off-color 2-ply hanks for a winter hat for myself.   Or I might use a couple of them for drawings or something special for you guys.  🙂

The cool part — she says she just sent off the black fleeces for processing, and that will definitely be interesting to dye up.   I’ve dyed black wool before, and it really is interesting.

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