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Hi,
Please could someone tell me at what stage in the process I actually dye the fleece to get colored yarn,
and how easy is it? what do I do ...exactly? I have hops and a mordant? but not a clue how to use them.
Also once I have spun the yarn (I'm very new to all of this) I'm told that I can crochet it straight away but must ply it to knit... why please?
TIA

I don't know the answers, but have you joined Ravelry? It's a knitting/crochet community website, and it's absolutely excellent for getting the answers for anything you need in knitting/spinning/crocheting/sheepkeeping/anything at all to do with yarn. You'll probably be able to get all the info you need there if no one here knows the answer...

Hi,

I will look in my many dyeing books to see if I can advise you on the dyeing. Actually it is a matter of preference whether you dye the wool before you spin it or after. Depends what you want to do. If you want to ply two different colours together, or blend colours in carding then you would have to dye the uncarded fleece. If you want a single colour, multicolour or tie died yarn you can dye the spun yarn in skein form.

As to the crochet versus knitting. Plying yarn balances it so it doesn't twist up on itself. If you knit with single ply the resulting project will be distorted and your hard work will not be straight. Plying balances the twist so the yarn does not twist and kink, thus producing straight work. Plying also adds strength to the yarn. However, with crocheting you work in rounds or to and fro and the twist does not seem to affect it so you can use single yarn.

Hope this helps. I know it is long winded and I am sure someone else will be able to sum this up in just a few words!

Maggie x

Thank you, its all clear with the ply thing now, and becoming clearer with the dying. Yes I do Ravelry but still not quite au fait(?) with how it all works yet.
Thank you

as already mentioend you can dye before carding or after spinning. if you dye before, then the colours are blended a bit more with the carding and spinning, if after.. you can deliberatly get different dye effects etc, and you only dye your finished product, not bits your might discard later etc. so swings and roundabouts really

what mordant do you have?

basically to dye, you need to mordant the wool, then slip it into the dyebath and cook it for a bit. then rinse.. and done. only thats a very simplified way of putting it!
hereis a nice simple article to get you started

oh grannymags thanks for that info on plying ... I hadn't come across that before