Exciting Mail Day! – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

What an exciting mail day! Here’s something I have been really looking forward to

Yarn from a small herd of suffolk sheep in Canada . The sheep are well cared for and organically raised and the yarn is milled without any chemical additives. Plus, it has the virtue of resisting felting in washing, which makes it absolutely perfect for knitting covers and longies to put over cloth diapers. The wool retains some natural lanolin and has excellent waterproof properties, and it gets softer and fluffier with washing, making it the perfect wool for diapers. I am really excited to get it because it seems like half a dozen of my girlfriends are pregnant and I’ve talked them all into using cloth diapers, so now I’m going to have to dye and knit away. I feel so lucky to have been able to get so much of this yarn!

Equally exciting was the fact that some of the curly mohair I’ve been waiting on showed up today as well. I love this fleece for embellishment in felting. If any of you remember the felted journal I did for the Altered Workshop round robin I am in, I used some of these beautiful curly locks to embellish the inside of the journal cover. Drought related problems in the southwest have made this more difficult and expensive to acquire, so I was really happy to be able to get this. A bit immediately went into the dyepot with some of my new Australian dyes. I can’t wait to use it!

Finally, I have to show you some yarn I dyed yesterday. This is your basic Peace Fleece worsted. It is such wonderful yarn. I use it for mittens and hats and have plans to do a vest for ollie and some socks for myself, using some of their bright jewel tones. This yarn echoes, but begins to move beyond, my recent total obsession with copper patina colors in yarn. I love the deeper blues here. Ellie says this yarn looks like Fairy Waves. I love the stunning way wool absorbs dye — the results always amaze me.