Experiments with carding fiber

The drum carder has been calling to me, and I went a little crazy on the Paradise Fibers holiday sale. 

In preparation for getting some nice fiber (merino) I decided it was time to pull out the mystery fibers and play a bit.

I was going for a yarn that would be interesting, and I was hoping for something that would read as a purple-ish yarn. Time (or more accurately the spinning) will tell.

Here's the first layer of red:

Then some blue that came from the spinning guild, then some coral on top:

I also used some pink/orange Angelina-type sparkly stuff, and a tiny bit of a light tan wool.

Here I'm about to start dizzing off the wool to make a roving-type prep:

And a some-what accurate photo (in my computer chair) of the roving:

This is slightly too orang-y, but it's not a terrible representation; I'll take better pictures in the daylight.

On the piecing front, I put a border on my Christmas table runner but don't like the fabric with the pieces parts, so that's coming off. I cut it at 2.5" so it's still super usable. Now to dig through the stash for something better.

Gillian finished piecing the center of her throw!!! Now she's cutting the parts that came out of the second cuttings and we'll use those for a border. The goal is to have it done by the time she leaves for school on Saturday, and I have to admit that it's not looking good. It's still a possibility though.