We started with 2 ounces of clean, dry wool from Lightning. I spent several hours in the morning picking out the worst of the vegetable matter. Put it into the largest glass bowl we had. I'm not so sure this is going to work...

We took the wool out, half filled the bowl with water and added some vinegar to make the wool take the dye better. When we put the wool back into the bowl, it munched down. We let it sit for an hour and a half when my patience ran out.

We took the wool out of the bowl, reserving as much water as dripped out. We measured and added 5 mls each of yellow and red food coloring and stirred. Vivid! Wool was reinserted and gently pressed into the dye bath to get as much color throughout as possible. Then I sprinkled some drops of yellow and of red over the top of it all. Heat was applied in the form of microwaves (2 minutes on high, let cool, 2 more minutes on high, let cool, 2 more minutes on high, let cool). When the dye bath was clear, I knew the wool was done.

Removed from the bowl and draining. After dripping for a while, I wrapped it in towels and rolled it up to press out as much water as possible.

Then I spread it out on my drying rack. Since it was breezy, I weighted the wool down.

Since I've got kids, my drying rack consists of two baby gates balanced on a small climbing structure.

It's just lovely! I might like to have a little more red in it, but I'll see what I think when it's all dry.

Almost dry and brought in for the night. I've hung it on a hanger to finish drying out of harm's (cat's, dog's, kid's, coon's) reach.

Here's the rose that's inspired this. It's a Joseph's Coat, which goes through many color changes as the flower ages. The buds are my favorite. Yes, needs more red. The orange is more like a lot of the older flowers. But still lovely. I'm looking forward to spinning this.