About a month ago I had my first proper go at dyeing fibre. I had dyed a small amount last summer at a workshop, and I managed to accidentally felt a bit so this time I decided it would be safer to try some superwash fibre.

My plan was to dye fibre that I planned to spin into yarn for socks. I started off with superwash Bluefaced Leicester tops. It is nice and soft and I find it not too difficult to spin. I thought the superwash treatment would make for good easy care socks, and also minimise the likelihood of me accidentally felting it while dyeing 🙂

I dyed up 150g of fibre to be on the safe side, especially since my spinning is not that fine yet and so it would probably come out as quite thick sock yarn. I planned to spin a 3 ply yarn, so first split my tops in half, one for each sock. Then split each of these into three, one for each ply. I lined them all up together, then dyed them in sections from one end to the other.

I have started the spinning and have completed the first skein and am part way through spinning the singles for the second. Unfortnately I got a bit tired and impatient with the first skein and made a bit of a pigs ear of the plying, but over all its not bad for an idiot 🙂

It is thicker than a commercial 4ply but thinner than DK and is fairly uniform (oh the wonders of 3ply). I am hoping that the second skein will be better without being too different to the first so that my finished socks will at least look related. This is all so much fun!