These colours remind me of leaves in bud, ready to burst forth in spring. These rolags are made from beautifully soft 21 micron merino in shades of soft citrus greens, blended with white baby llama. The llama makes this blend especially soft and warm, and will give the resulting yarn a gorgeous halo and drape.

I have also added a little Angelina for sparkle, if you would prefer your rolags without this added, just add a message in the notes section after purchase.

I decided that I would like to make an elegant grey batt using some slightly different combinations of fibre.

These batts are made from a blend of naturally grey,fine Teeswater fibres blended with some absolutely gorgeous natural grey baby alpaca fibre. These are all carefully blended with some deep grey tussah silk. The batts are blended three times to ensure that all of the fibres are well blended together.

From a distance, even on lovely sunny days, the fells either direction are rarely clear. Instead they look beautifully mysterious in shades of blue/grey.

This set of gradient batts moves from silver grey to dark grey/blue to echo these mysterious colours. These 7 blended merino batts can be felted or spun in a variety of different ways. My personal favourite way of spinning these sets is to split each batt in half, and spin in order to make a two ply gradient yarn, as shown in photograph 4 (in Solway Moods gradient).

I have purchased some gorgeous Shetland fibre from Jamieson and Smith on the Shetlands. It is a much finer fibre than I have had before, with less kemp.

So I have taken the beautiful, natural colours, and blended them together with approximately 25% natural (honey coloured) tussah silk. The batts have been well blended together to ensure that the fibres are completely mixed.

The gradient moves from white, in slow, almost imperceptible steps to moorit.

You will receive just over 100g of hand blended batts in the Gentle Shetland colourway.

This blend was inspired by a beautiful wedding sari. Stunning blue silk with amazing amounts of golden embroidery.

I wanted to put together a blend which reflected the rich, bright colours of this sari, but also would produce a yarn that was as sumptuous and soft as the real thing.

This hand blended, hand pulled roving is made from 21 micron merino fibres, blended with mulberry silk (approximately 15%) and recycled sari silk (approximately 10%), all in shades of blue, although the sari silk has highlights of tiny turquoise, purple, and pink threads throughout.

I found a beautiful photograph of some banana flowers. I had no idea that banana flowers were this pretty. So I decided to set to, and blend colours together to make a gentle gradient from the colours in the blooms.

The inspiration for these rolags comes from photographs taken of ice caves taken under Iceland‘s Vatnajokull ice cap – the largest ice cap in Europe.

Ice and snow look white on top of a glacier because most of the light is reflected and scattered off the surface. However, if the light has to travel through layers of ice, the red and the yellow part of the light spectrum is absorbed – leaving the green, blue and violet part of the spectrum to be seen.

Crystal Ice Cave Rolags / Punis contain

Soft 21 micron merino fibres

Baby llama

Angelina

This gradient works from a bright spring green, through a deep forest green towards black, just as if you were looking deep into a thick forest on a bright day.

The gradient is made from soft 21 micron merino fibres, that have been carefully blended together to produce gradual colour changes. This gradient batt set can be spun up in a number of ways. It could be spun up as a single, one batt spun after another. The single could then be N-plied to keep the colours distinct, making a 3 ply yarn.

My inspiration for this blend is some photographs that I saw of ice storms, where ice builds up on a massive scale on buildings, trees and cables. See my pinterest board for my inspiration photographs.

www.pinterest.co.uk/carolhodgson201/beautiful-ice-storm/

The ice formed is normally opaque, with a sparkle.

This gradient moves through shades of blue, reflecting the colours of the sea (on a nice day!).

This mini batt set is carefully blended to ensure that there is a gentle colour change throughout the gradient. The set contains 7 batts that can be spun up (or felted) in a variety of ways.

My favourite way of using these sets is to unroll the batts, split them in two, and spin two a two ply gradient yarn, see photograph 3. Photograph 4 shows how that yarn knit up with a gentle, smooth colour change.

I purchased some extra fine BFL fibres. They are outstanding! So soft and silken to the touch. This meant that the only fibre I could dream of blending them with was silk.

Therefore I have carefully blended the BFL fibres with tussah silks in shades of yellow, white, pinks and purples to produce these soft, floral hues.

These batts will easily spin up into fine yarn, that will drape and give a fantastic shimmer. The blend throughout the gradient is 33% tussah silk, 66% BFL. Just the blend for a fine lace shawl.

Monet spent the final three decades of his life painting over 100 paintings of water lilies. I have taken the colour palette for this painting and converted it into a gradient rolag.

Each rolag is made by carefully blending 7 colours of soft, 21 micron merino. These blended fibres were then placed onto a blending board to form a gradient moving from a light pink lilac to a deep, rich green, moving through pinks and deep blues in the process.

This gradient works from a bright red, through a mellow cherry red towards black, just as if you were looking into a large bright poppy.

The gradient is made from soft 21 micron merino fibres, that have been carefully blended together to produce gradual colour changes. This gradient batt set can be spun up in a number of ways. It could be spun up as a single, one batt spun after another. The single could then be N-plied to keep the colours distinct, making a 3 ply yarn.

I was asked to put together a gradient batt set to bring to mind the bright cheerful colours of fields of sunflowers.

This gradient is made up of 10 batts that together add up to just over 150g of 21 micron, lusciously soft merino fibre. It starts off with a bright citrus green depicting the centre of a newly opened flower, moving out to a warm yellow / orange of the anthers, leading on to the bright cheery yellows of the petals.

The Grey Wagtail is a delightful little bird who seems to dance about the ground looking for food. His name does not do justice to his bright colouration, the gold of his breast is clear to see, with gradations of grey on his back and wings.

This gradient starts of with a rich golden yellow and then moves through light grey to dark slate.

Blackthorne is now flowering in the hedgerows. So, on a sunny spring lunchtime I decided to photograph the tiny white flowers that are blooming at present on the small trees - before the leaves start to unfold. This is the origin of the name - the starkness in contrast between the white petals and the dark brown bark of the tree.

This set of seven mini batts echo's the change in colours as the leaves are turning to their bright autumnal hues. The gradient set starts from green and fades to yellow and then warms to a cinnamon rust colour.

You will receive just over 100g of carefully blended 21 micron merino fibre in seven mini batts. I try to make sure that the colours are well blended to make a gradual transition from one colour to another.

The merino in these batts will felt, if you do not want it to, hand wash any items made from these fibres.

The heather is now starting to come into full bloom on the dunes where I often walk my dogs. They have a lovely range of shades of purples and lilacs between the foliage.

These rolags are just over 100g of wonderfully soft merino fibres in mainly purples, lilacs, and violet shades interspersed with purple and green tussah silk - finished off with purple Angelina for that added sparkle.

These fibres should spin up into a next to the skin soft yarn - and the vast majority of the fibres are suitable for felting.

The theme for the Phat Fiber Box for June 2017 is Solstice.

Solstices are about transitions. The transition between night and day, summer and winter. In our past the Sun was vitally important to our ancestors during midsummer, to ensure a good harvest.

However, so was water. Therefore, I took my inspiration from sunrise over water.

To see the photograph which gave me my inspiration for these rolags, go to

www.facebook.com/dukegledhillphotography/photos/a.1442975699086031.1073741828.1433290213387913/1445947352122199/?type=3

This gradient batt set is made up of 7 carefully blended batts of merino and a touch Angelina (the Angelina can be left out if preferred - just leave a message in the notes to seller section at purchase).

There is also the option of having thin strips of blue mulberry silk added to either the blue or black batt during the final pass through the drum carder. This will give an extra 'pop' of shimmer and colour. Just choose the silk variation and mention in the notes to seller section which batt you would like the silk added to.

These rolags were made especially for Alfie and Molly's beloved food provider/cuddler. They kindly posed for me, so that a new colourway could be based on their gorgeous coats.

The rolags are made from a blend of merino, tussah silk and superfine merino/cashmere blend. The blend is called Mittens, because both of our feline friends have white patches on their feet, as though they have walked through puddles of milk, and these white feet make them look like they are wearing little white mittens.

Summer colours for the summer holidays! These colours remind me of the colours that can be seen on a tropical island, turquoise seas, golden sands, coral reefs and bright fish.

This gradient batt set is made up of 10 soft hand blended batts, made from 21 micron merino fibres.

You will receive just over 150g of fibre in total. The merino fibres will felt. If you do not want them to, hand wash in cool water.

The house where I grew up is well over 200 years old. At the bottom of the garden at the front is this stone wall. No one seems to know exactly how old the wall is - it just always seems to have been there. It has been made (and patched up) with all sorts of stone, bricks and cement over the years. It is still standing strong - despite the growth of lichen, ferns and wallflowers :-)

Whilst walking the dogs recently, I saw some teasles in bloom. Previously I have only ever noticed these plants in the autumn, when all that remains are very dry, brown, spiky oval seed cases. I had no idea that the flowers had such pretty, delicate colours (see the final photograph)

So after a little experimentation, I have come up with this gradient set of 7 batts, moving from pale green, through pink to lavender. In total the batts weigh just over 100g. The batts are blended from beautifully soft 21 micron merino. The merino fibres are great for spinning and for felting.

These rolags are based on the colours found in different types of malt whiskey.

The colours start with a buttery gold, moving through warm spice to russet to finally a deep, rich reddy brown.

Each colour is made by blending together soft merino fibres with trilobal and Angelina. Each batt is put through the drum carder 3 times to ensure a smooth colour blend, and even blending of the Angelina and trilobal.

The batts are then taken and then placed on a blending board in a gradient pattern. Only then are the rolags produced.