My friend, Donna, is a professional organizer who branched out into decorating. She was the first one to mention to me that orange and purple made a great combination. “Eeeew,” was my first thought. However, after some persuasion, I realized that the right shades of orange and purple, indeed, would look great together.
When faced with three snow-white Lincoln lamb fleeces, and trying to determine the best 3-color combination for a twist roving, my mind went back to the idea of orange and purple.
I dyed one 2-pound fleece using plain ole’ Rit Purple dye. There was much color left over in the dye bath and a sample showed it to be a lovely shade of lavender. So, a second 2-pound fleece went into the dye pot.
The third fleece got a bit different treatment. One entire little jar of Wilton’s Icing Colors in Orange. And when they say “orange,” they aren’t kidding. A rich, vibrant orange like a daylily. It looked so pretty drying in the sun, it was tempting to just have it carded as is. But, I withstood the temptation and asked Spinderella’s to card the purple and orange twist roving with the orange in the middle. This is the finished roving with a spool of the one strand yarn:
And – ta-da! – here is the completed double-ply strand with the ubiquitous quarter to show the width of the strand:
The spun singles were a trifle wiry, but softened up when plied. Washing started to bring out the halo which longwools tend to produce. This should soften up more as it is knitted and as the halo blooms out.
The Wool Merchant's Daughter 
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