Spinning Salt-and-Pepper

Day 46: Much of my life went on hold when Tippy died, partly because Merry came to live with me and demanded almost all my attention, but also because I just couldn't find the motivation to do any of the things I normally enjoy. Merry has settled down now (not completely, by any means!) and once again, I'm able to do things like weave and spin without having to hop up every minute and a half to extract him from whatever trouble he's found to get in. At last, I was able to finish the singles for a mixed bag of wool in green shades, and after perusing my stash, decided to spin "salt-and-pepper" from a blended top. To get the salt-and-pepper effect, I am tearing off chunks roughly six inches long, then separating black lengths from white as best I can. Some bits refuse to divide nicely, so they become shades of grey. When two singles are plied, this will become a delightully heathered yarn. I know it sounds strange to separate a blended wool, but my experience with spinning the fleece of a Jacob's sheep (naturally black and white) was a good example of optical blending. The Jacob's fleece yarn was just grey.