Locally......

First, flowers in our yard:

And recently spun yarn, fiber from local shepherds and fiber artists. On the left, a merino, silk, camel blend spun from a carded batt produced by Barb. I spun one ply using a long woolen draw, and one ply using a short worsted draw. I really could tell a difference in the finished singles, which was the purpose of the experiment. Then I plied the two together and I'm very happy with the result. This yarn is wonderfully soft.

On the right are singles spun from a delightful roving acquired from Kay. The ewe from which it came is a Shetland/Romney cross and this was just a joy to spin. It let me finally understand how important the fiber and preparation are to being able to "spin for softness and speed" (from the title of the Paula Simmons book which details how to spin lofty singles). I could spin this roving for hours with pleasure. I've already asked Kay for more of this gorgeous stuff.

And yes, Diana, there is a shocking lack of color. Will this help? Coopworth, beautiful, lustrous stuff, acquried from Martha who got it SAFF last year, and I added a tiny bit of naturally dyed Corriedale. This was my own carded batt and very nice to spin as well.