Sunday, January 06, 2008

From Holland, and from Peru via Missouri

Today I was able to do the first spinning I've done in at least a month -- and it felt so GOOD! I carded up the rest of the Blue Texel that came from The Netherlands with my S10, and it spun up (granted, there was only a couple ounces at most). My plan is to ply it with the Dorset I got from Tammy and overdye it. The resulting yarn won't be enough for a big knitting project, but it will be a combination of "firsts" and therefore important no matter what it becomes. The breeds were new to me, how each fiber came to me was memorable, and I've never overdyed a two-color yarn. I'll let you know how it turns out!
I have another new fiber to try - Suri Alpaca. A breeder on the Yahoo Spinning list offered limited free one-ounce samples to those who had never spun alpaca before, so I spoke up. My, it is incredibly soft, silky stuff! I've heard it's more like silk than wool to spin; that doesn't help me much since I've only spun wool!

That's it for now from . . .

2 comments:

Kathy said...

You're going to like alpaca. It does not have the springiness that wool does, but blended will add a very lush quality to your yarns. I remember seeing alpaca and llama sweaters in Europe that were beautiful on a person, but as soon as they were off you could definitely tell if it was worn by a man or woman. ;)
I found some angora wabbit I forgot I had...now to find just the right wool to blend it with! :)

Anonymous said...

I have a Louet spinning wheel too. It is a relaxing way to spend a winter evening. I have never tried to spin Alpaca. Maybe someday I will experiment with it. I think it would be fun to blend with Shetland wool.

Carol