Living to Dye

For those that know me... lately, I've fallen in love with colour...colour....colour.

We all know that alpaca fleece comes in a wide range of natural shades from snow white, browns to true black. However, everyone who markets their homegrown yarns know that the bright fashion colours fly off the shelves faster than anything. So my journey into dyeing was purely business....but WOW, I've found that discovering and playing with colour on my rovings and yarn is a new passion. I do my handpainting on a table in my sunroom that looks over my front pasture...so I can watch my chickens and alpacas while experimenting with colour blending on my yarn.

And yes...I watch chickens! We've acquired some lively little young chickens this summer. Buff Banties and Silkies. When I mention how fun they are to watch when I talk to people...I get one of two reactions...1) strange looks from people as they kind of take a step back or 2) adamant agreement from people who have ever lived on a farm with 'real' chickens (not the commercial modified Franken-chicken). I had my sister visiting from the big city and we ate supper in the sunroom while watching my 'happy chickens'...even she agreed that watching my happy chickens was better than anything on TV! Still waiting for the first eggs, though! Hearing the cock-a-doodle-do from 'Bates', the silkie rooster brings a smile to my face every morning. That's worth gold, isn't it?