alpaca samples

Last summer I realized that, when conducting a demo at an alpaca farm, it is a good idea to have samples made from alpaca fiber. Otherwise you are continually correcting people and saying, “no, actually this is all sheep’s wool.”

The plan to create more alpaca samples got under way… this week!! When is the demo?? In three weeks!! Am I awesome at getting things done ahead of time? NO. Did I do this last-minute scramble all through high school and college? YES.

After scouring my stash, I discovered many more bunches and balls of alpaca fiber than I thought I had. I also found one ball of spun yarn to get some knitting going too. That was turned into a pair of fingerless mitts (I can sell them in December too! Even I’m impressed!) and the remains I’m hoping to be able to make into a tiny beret.

These three skeins are brand new this week. From left, we have a very heavy skein of grey alpaca spun and navajo-plied. It’s actually rather scratchy and unpleasant. I purchased it as combed top. Next to that is a cream-colored skein that I spun from locks, which may have been unwashed. The floor was quite dusty afterward. I like to spin alpaca messy since I don’t think people do that very often. And finally is a pinkish-grey bulky weight skein. This one is very soft, spun from a mound of fluff. Not exactly sure how it was processed. The locks were not distinguishable, so maybe something like a batt?

Must keep going! What else is good to make for samples?

where to find me!

Come visit me this month at two different events:

• September 12, 2009
  • Saxon Summer IX, Chestnut Ridge Campground, Hubbard OH
  • I will be hosting a Spinners Roundtable: A time for spinners to gather for learning, sharing, spinning. New spinners wishing to learn are welcomed to attend.
  • Saxon Summer is hosted by Rivenvale and is an official event of the Society for Creative Anachronism, therefore an attempt at Medieval garb is required in addition to a fee payable on-site. However, it is open to the public.
  • For more information about Saxon Summer, please visit Rivenvale’s website.

• September 26-27, 2009
  • National Alpaca Farm Day, Ramblin Rose Alpacas, Conneaut, OH
  • I will be conducting an all-day demo both Saturday and Sunday. Spinning, weaving, knitting and yarn samples will be available for viewing. This event is free.
  • Please visit Ramblin Rose Alpacas’ website here for directions.

lone bobbin

Hasn’t been a fiber-filled summer, that’s for sure. I think I’ve been spinning once a month for the past 2-3 months. Rather shameful, I’d say. In fact, I’ve actually been spinning on my Ashford more than the Kromski since the latter was packed in its backpack since the beginning of July and the Ashford is sitting at Rich’s apartment.

I’ve finally unpacked the Sonata even though I’ll probably have to pack it up again pretty soon. It is a traveler after all. Anyway, I had purchased some funky wool at Pennsic – left overs from a yarn machine. Dyed it (also something I haven’t been doing much lately) and carded it. It ended up extremely lumpy, so I’m curious to see how it plies.

These are also my wedding colors. In fact, I have several skeins around the house that are blues and greens. hm.

no front loading washer for me!

Realized that I had more unwashed wool than I had originally thought. Sunny day, nothing to do. Let’s wash us up some fleece. I wanted to get some of those large mesh laundry bags so I could do multiple fleeces without having them get mixed up. Unfortunately Target only had one. So I put the remaining BFL/Border Leicester in the bag and dumped the rest of the Columbia into the washer without a bag. Seems to be fine. I don’t understand why the tips of the Columbia are so yellow or how to get them washed. The cut ends are super clean!

P.S.  It’s party time!! I’m making pompoms. Weee!

a shop update

It’s on the small side, but I haven’t updated the Etsy shop in several weeks, so I thought something was better than nothing. I’d like to get back into spinning and dyeing, but right now Rich and I are busy getting his apartment ready for another occupant. Also, we were on vacation, and not fully unpacked from that either. Most of the wedding planning is done, but we have lots of other things to work on. For instance, finding a new bed, getting his wedding ring, me packing my stuff. Basically the big day is TWO MONTHS away. Plus I’ve been working late this week. So, I hope to keep doing fiber stuff, but I make no guarantees. And that’s a quicky update on my life!

What are the new goodies?

Each is 4 ounces of Brown Sheep Company combed wool top

favoritest mitts ever!

Is it just me, or do you fall in love with your projects? I think I’ve brought this up before in regards to yarn. I find that I will knit something and think, “this is the best _____ I’ve ever made!!” And it will be admired for a time before I knit the same thing again and say, “THIS is the best ______ I’ve ever made!”

Well, this time the fill in the blank is mitts. I seem to make a lot of them. Prior to my current favorite, I was mad about these embroidered peach mitts from January. It was very exciting, adding the details and using handspun.

Just this past weekend I finished a pair of fingerless mitts that are my new favorite pair. I knit them using a yarn I spun when I was going crazy for long-draw. The beautiful handdyed wool locks came from Neauveau. It’s Merino, something I generally avoid, but as locks it’s really fun. I love the texture on these and the way the colors made little blocks. Also, they don’t particularly match.

mission accomplished!

This weekend Rich and I went to the Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster. Initially it didn’t start off too great, and I thought I would miss the deadline to enter the skein competition, but he got me there in time!

I ended up entering 5 skeins. There weren’t a lot of entries this year. In fact, in my group (A), there were only two participants – me and one other woman who entered 12 skeins. Overall I did pretty well. I got 2 first place ribbons, 2 second place, and one third. The most exciting thing though was that my bulky singles got BEST OF SHOW for my group! I was so excited, especially after the trouble I had last year with my singles. An amazing turn-around.

that’s settled…?

How is that just yesterday it was January, 20 degrees, snowing, and I had plenty of time before the Great Lakes Fiber Show? Today is Thursday, May 21, and the show is this weekend! I’m still waffling on which skeins to enter for a few reasons.

1) I’m not sure I could handle the judge telling me my singles should be in the novelty category (again). And maybe that’s just the best I can do, ok?

2) I tend to spin heavy-worsted exclusively, so is that bulky or medium? This means that since all plied yarns, regardless of number, are in the same category, I can’t put two 2-ply and a 3-ply. Although I might try to squeeze one of the 2-ply into medium.

3) How masochistic am I feeling? How many times do I want to be put down and rejected? Or, conversely, how ambitious am I feeling? The more skeins I enter the more chances of a better score (or worse).

FYI – I’m a glass-half-empty kinda gal.

Here’s the breakdown thus far…

Bulky single (1)
Medium ply (1)
Bulky ply (2)
Spinner’s choice (1)
Novelty (1)

In addition to the three 2-plies and the yellow/green novelty from my last post regarding the skein competition, I am also including these two yarns. Both will be placed in the bulky category, even though by my eye, the 3-ply is medium.

This is not a novelty yarn, right?

who’s it gonna be?

Sorting through my yarn stash, trying to choose which yarns will participate in the skein competition this year.

Categories according to the Show’s website include:

class 1	Fine singles
class 2	Medium singles
class 3	Bulky singles
class 4	Fine plied
class 5	Medium plied
class 6	Bulky plied
class 7	Spinner’s choice of fiber & ply
class 8	Novice spinner, 2 ply yarn (spinning one year or less)
class 9	Novelty yarn (ie, boucle, knot, spiral, slub, cable)

Obviously I won’t be in Class 8, but everything else is a possibility. However, anything in the fine department is highly unlikely. And I tend to spin “bulky” almost exclusively… at least by their standards. Yarns I would call medium have shown up in the bulky section at the end of judging, so I’m measuring everything ahead of time.

Previously I’ve only entered two skeins total, but this year I’d like to have a stronger showing. I have singles, 2-plies and 3-plies to pick from, along with a few novelty yarns.

I’m deciding between these three 2-ply yarns.The front two are about 10 wraps per inch, “heavy worsted” and the blue-green skein just squeaks in as a worsted weight.

I also wanted to include a novelty yarn this year and I’ve decided on the green/yellow skein on the right.

fleecy

With the Great Lakes Fiber Show coming up at the end of the month, I’ve been trying to sort out just what I want to do… leave a fleece? enter the skein competition? purchases?

So, I decided to take a closer look at the two remaining fleeces I brought home from Masque a month or so back. I washed the smaller Icelandic with Power Scour for the first time, so I thought I’d give that a go again. The two other fleeces are an Icelandic ewe and a Lincoln/Cotswold/Tunis cross. I decided to wash the later, but skirted both.

The cross fleece, 4 pounds, is really quite beautiful with lots of big full curls. I was surprised at the amount of mud, but lack of VM (at least I’m hoping that was mud!). As of this moment it is sitting in the washing machine going through a second soap bath. Next will be a rinse, spin, then dry. I’m not sure whether to have it processed or not. The locks are so lovely, I think I might keep it.

The Icelandic, about 6 pounds, has a 6 inch staple length. There were very few poo-bits on it, but more VM. However, it feels nearly dry – I’ve heard this breed is light on lanolin. It’s not getting washed today. I might keep some and have some processed. I look at it and feel quite overwhelmed, thinking about combing ALL of it!