THE SHEEP SHED STUDIO SPECIAL OFFERS PAGE! ON THIS PAGE WE WILL PUT OUR SPECIAL OFFERS, SALES ITEMS, ONE OF A KIND ITEMS, ETC. All fibers sold by the pound unless otherwise marked. .Scroll all the way down!!! THE CONTENTS WILL CHANGE FAIRLY OFTEN SO CHECK BACK TO SEE WHAT IS HERE. We take Credit Cards, Paypal, Echecks, and Bank Drafts through our "add to cart" buttons. You do not have to have a Paypal account to use Paypal for your credit card purchases. |
We travel to the mill every 4-6 weeks. The mill is a 500 mile round trip from our home, so it is a day spent gathering up the fibers we bring home. It is always fun to make the trip, and to see what will be in the boxes this time. Wish we were still getting all that lovely white fiber and rovings again, but happy for the mill to have improved production so there is less of the "mill end waste" for them. July, 2017...at the moment we have a good supply on hand of the Grab Bag materials, and some of the Mill End Roving.. |
Rag Tag Pieces occasionally are there for the Grab Bag Sales. Grab Bags materials are mostly big chunks as you see in the photo, but may be gray or brown or dyed colors as well These fibers also make good DYE SOPPERS in my dyepots, so I am using them here also. We do offer the dyed dyesoppers for sale on the Wool Roving Page. |
Mill End Roving and Grab Bag Material we have sold for the past 8 years. We are able to purchase the Grab Bag Material in Limited quantities when the mill has it available. Yesterday we brought home 10 large bags of the Grab Bag Material, so just now we have a good supply on hand. Grab Bag Material is not in roving form..it is chunks, twists, pieces, and sometimes what we used to call bells....all good fiber but it generally requires work on your part to sit down and spin....we cannot guarantee that it will all be straight wool as sometimes the mill hands toss superwash fibers in there as well, so test before a large project. As before it is sold by the pound......$8.50 per pound for Grab Bag, 9.50 for Mill End Roving. I often overdye this material using it to soak up excess dye in the big dyepots...sold as DYE SOPPERS. We brought in approx. 30 lb yesterday, the mill end roving is PRESENTLY available and what we have is usually all white, occasionally striped or an assortment of black/brown or white. This will sell for $9.50 per lb. This also can contain some Superwash...it looks alike...so test before using for a large felting project, we do our best to keep it separate....but cannot guarantee it. We have more of Superwash Mill Ends/Grab Bag. Some is Superwash Wool Roving, some is the Superwash/nylon sock roving pieces, some is just in big chunks of the fibers no choice in what is left......it sells for $9.50 per pound for grab bag, 10.50 for Mill End Roving. We have some on hand just now..much of the white is a combination of superwash and nylon.....however the bags that should be just superwash, we cannot guarantee it is all superwash.......some pure white, some creamy white. The workers at the mill see it as waste product and sometimes the wool top and the superwash waste gets mixed, so test to be sure before you use it in a felted project. The Superwash mill ends are occasionally in colors.....very mixed, and fun to spin or blend. Some of the roving might be in colors, or stripes as well.....it is all in big bags shoved in a bin, and we pull it out, pack and ship... |
The photo to the left is what we used to bring home in years past. Wish we still could get the big bags and bales of this material Some of what we have looks like the photo, some does not. It is all good wool fibers and there are many uses for this material, but you must work with it Most is white, and short pieces. Most of what arrives here is white, with some of the roving shown in the photo. |
RIT DYES Here is a photo of the first of the sorting of the many boxes and bags of RIT Dye that I acquired. There is much more to be sorted and the colors tabulated. Some packets are very old, but we tried the dyes and they are as good as ever. I will put a note below as to how to best use the dye on your fibers. The directions on the box will not give you the best and brightest color using up all the dye, especially on your wool fibers. I paid a flat rate on the entire huge mess of boxes, and found when unpacking them some had prices much less, and some much more. So we settled on a price that would cover the dye, the costs getting it to my house, and the costs getting the dye to your house. Outside of the Continental USA, shipping will have to be invoiced. Click on the drop down menu beside the "add to cart" button for the list of colors available. |
RIT and PUTNAM DYES SCROLL DOWN |
Rit Dyes.....$1.50 per box. Free Shipping within the USA only. |
CAROL LEE'S RIT DYE INSTRUCTIONS RIT is a good dye, works well on the wool, silk, nylon, and cotton, although I don’t find it as bright dye on Cotton as it is on the other fibers. I use 7 1/2 gallon pots, lots of simmering hot water….around the 120-140 degree range, pour in the vinegar. In these pots I pour in around 1/3 of a gallon of vinegar……measuring is not my thing, just pour the glug, glug, glug and tip up the jug once in awhile to see how much is gone. Vinegar and wool, nylon, and silk work well. The Rit package will tell you it dyes 2 lb. I also tend to ignore that. I like bright colors…….but then I also like to dye by pouring the dry dye on the layers of fibers or yarns, and then pouring the hot vinegar water down through the middle of the dye lines, letting it blend out into the other colors…….so I use plenty of dye, plenty of vinegar, (AT LEAST A CUP PER PACKAGE OF RIT DYE.....I use about a quart or more per 7 gallon dyepot) and plenty of water, very hot water. You also need some way to let that pot sit with heat under it, often overnight, but check the water color……..have had it suck up all the color almost instantly. Then we come to lifting and turning the fiber or yarn. Do NOT stir. Lift, poke, turn over. I go to the woods, find a right sized stick that fits my hand and my strength. I poke that fiber a lot, lift it a lot and turn it over. If it looks like you really put in toomuch dye..or I need it in a hurry…….here comes the grab bag stuff, poke it down the sides, shove it in underneath, it will soak up excess dye and there you have it…….dyesoppers!! I sell a lot of them, almost always from a pot I need dyed in a hurry. Rarely ever do I have a hint of dye left in a pot come morning. RIT is fun, cheap, at least from me, (if we can figure the shipping costs down) and available easily. It is just that their directions are concocted in the labs by the scientists…I am not a scientist…I am a Great Grandmother who has been messing with dyes since I was 14 or so…..hated my white glasses, wanted them blue….worked pretty well too, the lenses did not dye, but the frames did. RIT is known as a “union” dye, and that means it will dye either cotton or wool. But traditionally that also means, it leaves some color in the pot and so I developed the above method to use up all the color completely. |
Read all information pertaining to the product you are buying. Particularly about Superwash....it does occasionally get mixed up with the straight wool. We do our best to not send a mixed bag, but sometimes it is nearly impossible to tell apart. Try felting a small piece before starting a large felted piece. |
click links below to go to the yarn pages |
PUTNAM DYES Putnam dyes are a very old dyestuff. They come in a gelatin package that dissolves in the hot water. Very easy to use, good using very strong for fabric, yarn, or roving painting. Price is $1.25 per package, shipping included. We bought huge boxes of these dye packets, most have a metallic wrapping, some wrapping may be damaged, but the dye is intact in the gelatin covering.. good for wool, cotton, linen, silk, nylon and viscose |
As with the Rit Dyes, I ignore the washer instructions... I use lots more Vinegar to set the colors. And I like a long period in the hot water whenever possible. If painting with the dyes, I roll it in plastic wrap and put it in the Microwave for several minute and a half increments, turning it over when I reset the timer. Let it cool and rinse well... |