New Hand-Dyed Spinning Fibres Are Here!

After spending some time dyeing, blending and experimenting with colours over the summer, I’m excited to share that I’ve added a new selection of hand-dyed spinning fibres to my Folksy shop!

Each colourway has been dyed by hand, so every braid has its own little variations and surprises. I love the slightly unpredictable nature of hand dyeing, even when I’m aiming for a particular colour combination, the wool often has a mind of its own!

Colour, colour and more colour

The new collection includes a mixture of rich and playful Halloween and Autumn inspired shades, with colours designed to give you plenty to experiment with at your spinning wheel.

One of my favourite things about hand-dyed fibre is seeing how the colours change once they're spun. A braid that looks one way in your hands can become something completely different once the fibres are drafted and twisted into yarn.

Some colourways are bold and vibrant, while others are a little more subtle and earthy. Whether you enjoy spinning a colourway as it comes or combining different braids to create your own unique yarn, there’s lots of room to play.

Made for spinners

I’ve selected fibres that are lovely to work with and perfect for turning into your own handspun yarn. Bases include Merino wool, Cormo and Corriedale.

You could spin them into a chunky, colourful yarn for a cosy project, create a finer yarn for knitting or weaving, or even split and spin the colours separately for a more controlled effect.

And, of course, you don't have to be an expert spinner! Hand-dyed fibre is a great excuse to sit down with your wheel or drop spindle, make yourself a cup of tea and simply enjoy the process.

A little bit of fibre joy

One of the reasons I love working with fibre is that there are so many possibilities. The same wool can become yarn for socks, a hat, a scarf, a woven textile or simply something beautiful to keep in your stash until inspiration strikes.

I’ve really enjoyed creating these new colourways and I can’t wait to see what they become once they leave my little garden studio and find their way into someone else’s hands.

If you fancy adding some colour to your spinning stash, you can find my latest hand-dyed spinning fibres over in my Folksy shop.

Happy spinning!

Sarah x

A Summer of Scrappy Sock Knitting

There’s something wonderfully satisfying about a pair of hand-knitted socks and even more so when they are made from all the left over bits of sock yarn scraps that you just can't bear to throw away.

This summer, I’ve been digging through my yarn stash and picking out odds and ends of leftover sock yarn to create colourful, completely unique hand knitted socks on Instagram for the Easy Peasy Scrappy Socks KAL hosted by Jen from @every.thing.shapes.us It's been great fun and I have to say I'm hooked, I think scrappy socks might just be my new favourite things to knit! I even won a sock pattern as well.

One of the things I have loved most about using up my sock yarn scraps is that every little section of colour has a story behind it and I can remember the projects I have knitted with the yarn plus rather than worrying about whether colours "match", I have thoroughly enjoyed just putting them together and seeing what happens and I have been really surprised by the results.

Knitting socks is such a lovely project for summer knitting as they're small enough to pop into a bag and take anywhere. I have loved sitting outside with a cup of tea, travelling in the our van or enjoying a sunny afternoon with a cold drink and my feet up.

The beauty of scrappy socks is you don't have to worry about making them match and for some reason they seem to knit up really quickly as you can't wait to change colours. I created two pairs where I just went with a colour that caught my eye and made multi-coloured stripes of about 5 rounds. The third pair I knit, I just chose all scrappy yarns that were predominantly blue. 

For me, scrappy socks are about more than using up leftover yarn. They're a little reminder that beautiful things don't have to start with a brand-new ball of yarn. Sometimes the most interesting projects come from what you already have.

So this Autumn I will be happily be knitting my way through more of my yarn scraps to make some colourful happy scrappy socks.