For the next skein, I chose four of the Romney type, spongy fibers (the two white ones were exactly alike) and I included the mohair fiber.
The largest fiber sample was loaded with VM (vegetable matter like grass, seeds, and moss). Almost every square inch had something bumpy or stickery in it. I tried to remove as much as I could before I mixed it up with the other, cleaner fibers, but it was too much trouble, so I decided to card the fiber samples really well and then dye the batts in fairly dusty shades to hide the VM that I couldn't feel as I spun the fiber.
I divided each of the different fiber samples into four pieces and made four separate groups with one piece of each fiber in each group. I put each group through the drum carder to blend all of the different colors together. Then I divided each of those four batts in half and recombined them in a different order before carding them. I repeated that process until they were well blended into a uniform grey color. A lot of the VM fell out during the carding process, so the batts were very soft and clean.
I chose two colors of Washfast dye that looked good with the grey fleece, moss green and boysenberry. After soaking the fleece for an hour in a warm water/vinegar solution, I spread the fleece out on plastic wrap and sprinkled the dye all over the surface. I checked the underneath areas and sprinkled a little dye in the two areas that didn't soak through from above. Then I rolled up the fleece in the plastic and set it aside until I finished dyeing the roving that I intended to use for the third skein of my project. (I'll tell you about that skein tomorrow.) Here is what the fleece looked like after it was steamed and dried.
Then I split the batt into strips.
I spun a thin tightly twisted singles. This made it easy to remove most of the bits of VM that remained in the fiber. By this stage it wasn't bad at all.
I made a three-ply yarn by Navajo plying it.
This is the finished skein.
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