Thursday, February 27, 2014

Spinning undercoats

The third DVD in Judith MacKenzie's spinning luxury fiber is on spinning undercoats. These include bison, yak, cashmere, qiviut(musk ox). It is interesting that you only get about one ounce of cashmere from a cashmere goat. For some reason I find that kind of sad. I think of all the goats needed to produce one sweater... How we treat this fiber. It does not get the respect it deserves. Most of these spinning fibers cost at least 10$ an ounce in 2014 money...( yak you can get cheaper). Qiviut is even more expensive. Other than yak I doubt I will spin these...it is hard to justify this expense. Maybe when I am a much improved spinner..even then who knows. I think musk ox are so cute but 30$ an ounce for spinning fiber. They say qiviut is extremely warm. I do not need that warmth here. It was interesting to hear about spinning this fiber. Most of it is very short in staple length so carding it into a rolag is a good idea. From there you can spin woolen or a semi woolen..or semi worsted.

I think I might have a little yak fiber somewhere. I will try it out and report back.

Now I am watching her plying DVD!

Happy Spinning

 

 

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Spinning Camelids

In NM a lot of folks have alpacas, so alpaca fiber is not hard to get and the prices are reasonable. I am currently watching the DVD on spinning Camelid fiber, alpaca falls into this category. Some things I didn't know is that you should give alpaca more twist than wool...it has a lot of similarities to silk. Alpaca generally has a long staple length and no crimp, wave but not crimp.

In one part of the DVD, Judith MacKenzie makes a boucle yarn with the alpaca. I love boucle yarns and might try this with alpaca especially since it is a lot less expensive than mohair, the typical boucle fiber.

Camel however is quite short in length. Judith MacKenzie recommends plying your camel singles. She said it is not so strong as a single.

She recommends a good soapy wash, into hot, into cold, into hot, into cold.

Now I know how to spin the alpaca in my closet.

 

 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Michigan Farm Fiber

Here is some domestic fiber from sheep in Michigan. It is a blend of CVM and Llama. I may blend in a little silk. It is really easy to spin.

 

 

Monday, February 24, 2014

Yarn in bloom

I was not thrilled with yesterday's photos..Below is one with the yarn in a beautiful flowering tree. Currently I am watching a Judith Mackenzie DVD on spinning luxury fiber. I find the silk part very interesting. I think it would be a good fiber for NM. According to the TV show Knitty Gritty, it blocks well. I never knew this. I find cotton does not hold the blocking as well as I would like... Next time I will try silk for a summer wrap.. Back to spinning.

 

 

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Latest Spinning

I have been trying to spin more domestic fiber. 6 ounces below. It is a very dark brown... Even darker than dark chocolate.

I still love color. The merino below was a fun one.

 

 

 

Friday, February 21, 2014

Dropped stitch poncho

This is a fun and warm knit..... Not blocked yet but too excited to wait. It feels like wearing a warm hug.