About a month ago I posted a couple of photos of some scruffy/tassley felt samples in more neutral/bolder colour schemes. The black one I’d made inspired me to make up some batts of various grey blends. Luckily (or not?) I’d got a load of grey tops in some Botany Lap Waste, but after recent experiences, thought I’d better make some samples! I had 4 shades of what felt like Merino tops, so I started with them. As it turned out, the felted just like Merino tops!

The next one I tried felt like nice soft natural wool tops, it was a ‘humbug’ blend, which I usually associate with Jacob, but it felt much softer and looked as if there might be some ‘other’ fibres blended in too. I guessed at black viscose. There wasn’t much and it wasn’t any more obvious after felting, but it made a nice piece:

Often the tops in the Botany lap waste are the end of blend runs and custom orders. I think I got the leftovers from someone’s huge grey order, which was mostly fine, but there were some strange blends, like natural greys with nylon, and this next one which was a natural grey with a purpley Angelina sparsely blended in. You couldn’t see it at all afterwards though:

This is it flipped over:

It felted really quickly, was really soft, but also had quite a curl/wave to it, the shade of grey reminded me of Suffolk, but it didn’t feel like it. This is it held up at the window:

And a close up:

And just because there’s been so much grey in this post, a nice colourful bluey green piece:

And some scrap yarn coiled up: