150g wool for $2!

Last week at Bendigo Woollen Mill I picked up six bags of 'scraps' for $6. I had no idea that scraps could mean pieces as short as 30cm [12 inches] or as long as 10m [40 feet]. I bought all the bags that contained white or cream yarn; we could use those for dyeing experiments.

On Monday we were looking through our recently acquired purchases. We discovered the short lengths of scraps. We weren't too perturbed because they were for 'practice'. I mentioned to DD that I once knew someone who spliced her yarn while knitting. DD, a beginner spinner, frayed the ends of two pieces, sucked the ends [I would have spat on my palms] and proceeded to join the ends together - first try, just like that! She went on to make a ball of yarn of mixed thicknesses and mixed colour [white and cream] that weighs 150g [approx. 5 ounces]! It is possibly even made of wool and wool blends [judging by the way it took colour].

On Wednesday we used that ball to have some dyeing fun with the Landscape dyes we bought at the Show. We used Cyclamen [purple], Marine [blue] and Grevillea [red] then we cooked it in the microwave for a total of 5 minutes [wrapped in cling wrap]. Here is the finished product, waiting to be knitted into something gorgeous for charity - a child's jumper [sweater] perhaps? Sure it has darker patches and lighter patches but we don't mind. It makes the yarn more interesting and unique. Can't wait to see how it knits up! The photo is less purple than the yarn actually is.

150g of yarn for $2 - no kidding!!

ETA: Some people's Bloglines may show that I posted yesterday; it was an accidental posting - I don't know what happened while I was writing this post! Sorry!!