All spun up, it was time to craft my alpaca yarn into… something. I needed something to test the properties of the yarn, something to compare to other fibers, something I’m comfortable making… a hat! (I know, none of you are surprised.) I chose to crochet the hat because it goes quickly, and I was anxious to see how it performs. I have read that alpaca doesn’t have the elasticity of wool. There is something about the differences in the crimp of the fiber; wool has more crimp, alpaca less. I went with a smaller crochet hook to get a tighter fabric, to try to compensate for less elasticity.
100% undyed alpaca hat, unblocked
The color gradient turned out better than I expected. I would have liked a larger section between the fawn and brown color, but there is more here than I saw in the wound cake, so I’ll take it. The yarn crocheted up nicely. I do like single ply for crochet. The stitches look so much nicer; less like knots.
100% undyed alpaca hat, blocked
Interestingly, when I blocked the hat, it was still water resistant. It took some working to actually wet the hat so that I could lay it out to dry.
I wanted to make something special for my Dad’s 75th birthday. I had a piece of soapstone in my stash, and I know he likes small things to go in his shelves, so I pulled it out and stared at it for awhile, willing it to tell me what it wanted to be. It wasn’t talking. My eldest had the idea of doing a relief carving of a koi (koi are long lived). I liked the idea, but the stone was suited better for an unusual relief, more of an emerging. I set about removing the excess material to release the inner koi.
Rough cut fish
The idea in my head was of a fish coming out from under a ledge. I under cut the top, and rough cut the shape using the bandsaw and a small hand saw.
Shape refining with riffler files
With the basic shape set, I went to work with my coarse riffler files. Oh what a hardship to sit outside in the sun filing away! More like a present to me. When I felt like the carving looked more fish than manatee, I set in with the fine riffler files.
Eyes and scales defined with an awl and knives
When I was pleased with the curves, I then sanded the riffler marks out and set about carving in details with an awl and knives. I was hesitant about carving scales, but this time the stone told me quite clearly that it wanted scales. I moved inside for this, since it didn’t produce nearly as much dust as shaping. When the scales were carved in, and I was pleased with the depth of the definition of the gills and eyes, I did another light sanding with 400 grit sandpaper. Then to get some gloss, I applied three layers of microcrystalline wax. Wow, the shine! My youngest thought that there should also be a fisherman, so I made a small copper figure pulling on a bent pole to reel in the massive fish. I drilled two tiny holes on the top of the ledge, and there are two wire spikes on the feet of the fisherman that fit in the holes. I am pleased with the motion of the wire figure; he is working hard to land that fish!
Small copper fisherman added to the sculpture
Rather than super glue the fisherman in place, I think I will ship the piece separated. The soapstone is weighty, and the copper figure is delicate. I would hate for the tiny massive fish to squish our champion.
I spindle spun the blend of fawn and dark brown alpaca fiber. My consistency is decent when I am paying attention. If I am watching my youngest play Zelda Breath of the Wind, however, the yarn goes thin then thick pretty quickly. Oops.
Donabella and Amiee’s fiber spun up and then wrapped on the niddy noddy.
The fawn color really disappeared quickly into the brown. I’m not sure I’m going to get the gradient I was hoping for when I make something with this. We will see!
Yarn wound into a cake. The blended part is almost undetectable
I blended Donnabella and Aimee’s fleece! The color difference is greater between the fawn and dark brown, and it didn’t take much brown to make a significant difference in the blend color.
Fawn and brown alpaca fleece loaded on a carder
After blending, I color sorted the rolags before spinning.
Color sorted alpaca rolags
I am finding differences in fiber in the fleeces. I’m not sure if I selected raw fiber from different parts of each blanket (the fiber sheared from the back of the alpaca), or if there are differences in fiber diameter between animals (which makes sense), or both. I am pleased that I am learning and noticing the differences!
The rolags of alpaca wool I am carding are so light and fluffy, I don’t want to pack down the fibers by storing them until everything is carded. So I decided to spin as I go.
This is as much as I could pack on my spindle!
It is a nice pairing of tasks: card a box full of rolags, spin said rolags, repeat. When my spindle was just as full as I could get it, I did wind the yarn on my niddy noddy, rinsed it, and let it dry. Even though I washed the raw fleece, it still had some water resistance. The dried yarn is balanced and more consistent in thickness than my last spindle full.
Cake of single ply 100% un-dyed alpaca
The color shift from Sugar Plum’s fleece to Donnabella’s came out nicely!
