This is my first batch of yarn spun on my new drop spindle. The drop spindle is a little easier for learning to spin because it is slower than the wheel. I have more time to concentrate on drafting consistently. I am still not great at being consistent, but I think I'm getting better.
This is also my first batch of dying yarn. I just used food coloring and used a combination of yarn dying techniques that I have read about in books, including this one, and the directions on the food coloring box. I figured that wool is a protein fiber and egg shells are protein, so food coloring should work on wool if it works on eggs. I heated a couple cups of water to just barely a simmer and added vinegar and food coloring as specified on the box. I used 65 drops of blue and 15 of red. The water looked really blue so I expected the yarn to be more close to indigo than purple, but I still like how it turned out. I was surprised to see how differently some parts of the yarn took the dye. I am excited to knit something with it to see how it looks knit up!
