I have been doing something new and different for the last week or so. I got several different types of fine top (often called roving) to dye for all of you spinners and felters.

The first type is 100% merino.  It’s 21 micron, which is what I typically use for my art batts. Here are the colorways I have made so far:

Some of these are repeatable colorways while others are one of a kind.

Next I dyed up some organic Polwarth. If I had to choose just one favorite wool (and I’m glad I don’t), I think Polwarth would be the one. It is just about as soft as merino, and it has this wonderful springiness to it. This is the fiber I always recommend for new or newish spinners because it’s still very soft, but it has a longer staple length, making it easier to spin.

The most recent fiber I dyed is just amazing. It’s made of 70% superfine 18.5 micron merino and 30% mulberry silk, and the silk takes the dye much more intensely, creating multiple depths of shade for each dye color, so it’s like I’ve used twice as many different colors as I actually did, and it’s just soooo soft. You can see what I’m talking about here:

All of these can be found on the new Hand-Dyed Top page of my website as well as in the New This Month section. If you enjoy spinning or felting with top, do check back as I’ll be dyeing more as the weeks progress. I’m also planning on dyeing some pure mulberry silk.

I’d love to hear from you. Do you felt or spin? What’s your favorite fiber to use? Are there any particular colorways you would like for me to dye?

Whether you spin, felt, knit, crochet, or weave, I hope you find lots of time to enjoy the fiber arts this spring!