Mmmm, soft yummy wools

So I was going to lock myself up in my "room" and work on some polymer clay.  On the way there this fiber jumped up and said "It is a good day to dye!"

So, I weighed out about 8 ounces of merino top and I forgot how much blue faced Leicester (BFL) top. (Top not roving.)  For me the BFL is next to the skin soft.  But the merino is squishy, yummy,  cottony, cloud soft. Mmmmmm. . .

So after a huge mess in the kitchen and considerable time cleaning the stove, sink and counter I ended up with this:

The black fiber is the merino.  I was shooting for charcoal grey, but added to much dye.  Researching after the fact, I found out I wouldn't have achieved grey anyway.  This particular dye isn't pure black, but a mix of colors.

Also, it is fairly compacted.  Not sure what I did wrong, maybe too much fiber and not enough water in the pot? I'm having to fuss with it quite a bit to get it to spin.  There are those who say toss it, the sheep will grow more wool.  But, it seems wasteful and I can't really afford to that.  I'll just have to see how it goes.

The two fiber piles in front are the BFL. They are not nearly so compacted.  I love the color on the left.  This is straight out of the jar burgundy. The one on the right was suppose to be a blend of yellow/purple/burgundy/red/blue.  Well, the colors all blended together and it ended up various shades of rusty brown.   Oh well.