Most dyers pick combed top OR yarn to dye and then sell. Being a spinner and a sock knitter, I can’t limit myself to either.
Dyeing with organic sock yarn has been instantly rewarding. I follow the steps of mordanting, preparing the dye stock, and then soaking the yarn. After following these steps, I’m guaranteed to have manageable yarn I can work with every time.

Dyeing a combed top is…a labour of love. Being a spinner myself, I know what I will spin with and what I won’t spin with. Felted combed top is out! How the combed top feels in your hands is also important; you don’t want a sticky combed top feeling. Colour fastness is also vital; no one wants coloured fingers after spinning. All of these issues I just mentioned I have had to learn how to overcome, and let me tell you, it was a real love-hate relationship at first! I am surprised that I have stuck it out. I started dyeing with natural dyes and combed top two years ago, and now I can finally say I’ve perfected the recipe. Sure, I still have, oops, as I’m human. I learn from those oops and keep going because every spinner needs combed top to spin, right?

So to answer the question “How to Balance Your Passion for Dyeing Combed Top and Yarns?” I dye the combed top to spin into yarn for myself and my patrons; I sell the dyed yarn in my shop right here on my website. My plan is teach you and others how to dye combed top and sell only some in my shop. If you would like me to make my combed top available to you then please leave me a comment below.

Well, I am off to edit a video showing you behind the scenes of my dyeing experiments.

I love how this fibre and yarn turned out. Then later today, I will create a dye bath with marigolds that I grew from my garden last summer (I froze them in my freezer). Dyeing with plants and flowers is so much fun!

-Keli