Buffalo down sounds like it comes from buffalo wings, but it is not feathers but the fine hair from the North American Bison. I love the opportunity to work with local fibers (and support local) and was so excited to find a nearby supplier of buffalo down. I grew up eating buffalo; it is a great low fat protein. To be able to use more of the animal is fantastic. The Buffalo Wool Company (thebuffalowoolco.com) uses fiber sheared from the hides of bison being processed for meat. Usually this fiber would be burned off, but they collect it and make hats, gloves, socks, and spinning fiber!

The owner was kind enough to share spinning tips as well. He said to spin “fast and fine” and to hold a small amount in my palm and spin off the pinch. I decided to use the tahkli spindle I made from an old button since it spins very fast and works well for cotton which is also a short fiber. I’m sticking with my spoon as a spindle rest because the handle is convenient.

It took me a bit to understand spinning from the pinch, but once I did, spinning went much smoother. The yarn is fine but fluffy! I spun until the cop wouldn’t stay put on the shaft, then wound it onto a small wool bead that my mom made. This is much easier than starting the ball with yarn! Some of the single is very thin, I was surprised when I didn’t break any of it winding it into a ball. I weighed everything and figured that I spun 6 grams of fiber. I pulled another 6 grams out of the bag to spin another single, then I will ply! I am really enjoying the spinning! The fiber is well prepared — I had no waste! (Yup, three exclamation point punctuated sentences in a row. I’m that excited.)