Lovely grey Alpaca fleece acquired Saturday last - mmmmm.
The dog comb is getting a little bent out of shape but new, big sturdy combs arrived (via a very circumcuitous route - thanks you http://www.bountifulspinweave.com/) just in time to work on lovely Alpaca fleece I got from a very generous lady (Thanks Irene).
They clean out the VM and separate the short bits from the longer fibers. This fleece is pretty clean after I removed some soiled parts pretty easily. Fleece is lashed to the stationary comb then combed vertically then horizontally.
Fibers pulled through a diz these are the long fibers (6 - 7 inches).
The short fibers make rolags - with the help of a comb handle.
The short fibers make rolags - with the help of a comb handle.
Spindled some and find it spins fairly easily (when I remember it is a long fiber) and made a soft drapey ply. Blended a little with wool (about 30 - 40%) and that made it even better. I expect to have about 400 gms of prepared fiber from the grey. Then have to decide whether to leave it at that and spin it or blend it with wool - I'm tempted to blend it with dyed wool to see boost the color. Would need to be a strong color though as I tried blending a little light pink and it just disappeared. Ah, decisions, decisions...
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2 comments:
Awh, ya fantastic wan! 'Tis only lovely! Do you mean to say that you will only get 40 grams of yarn out of approximately a quarter fleece? What's the ply and what's the yardage of the yarn?
How much yarn do you get out of an average sheep fleece?
Irene, they are just combed tops for now - should be 3 - 400 gms of it when finished. Haven't spun it yet - thinking of making a neck warmer for motor bike hubbie. Will let you know when I get it spun - lambs arriving now!!
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