I want to knit a jacket for my daughter, so went to my neighbour's to buy the wool. Donna raises goats, operates a mill too. So I chose a pattern, bought a skein of wool I liked, and knit a swatch to test the tension of my work. It turned out perfectly.

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Donna did not have a sufficient quantity of wool on hand of the same dye lot, so she said she'd brew up a batch for me. I need 10 skeins. She said I could come watch too.

So today I whipped over to her place with camera in hand:

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Donna had mixed the dyes before I arrived. They come in a powdered form and are 'weak acid dyes'.

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Here you see the dye containers. Squeezing the container fills the measure you see at the top of each jar. It is a dripless system. There are 2 containers of each of three colours, because of the quantity of wool I need. Each container is used once, just in case there is a slight variance in colour.

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Saran wrap is spread on a flat surface, a moist skein placed on top of it. Working in thirds, each colour is applied once.

The first third:

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The second third done...

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Almost finished now!

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The wool is then covered in the plastic wrap:

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Next, leaving the ends open, the wool is pressed flat from right to left until no raw wool is showing.

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Donna then rolls it up, jelly roll style, tucking the last end under a bit:

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Following this, the completed bundles are placed in a hot steam bath for 45 minutes.

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Donna will be at the Agricultural Winter Fair tomorrow, so next week she will dry and make the wool into skeins again. Then I'll buy needles (mine are too short for this project), rustic wood buttons and get a move on! Christmas is coming!