Tag: alpaca

Yarn cake

On By CarynIn Craft

I have spun and plied all my blended fiber from Anniewhere. The blend is Merino wool, Blue-faced Leicester, Alpaca, Tussah silk, and Finn wool. I bought 6 oz and have been using it to test different spindles, so I’m frankly amazed that it turned out somewhat consistent. I joined the skeins with a braided join: split each end in two, then remove one of the four resulting ends, braid those three together, then moisten and roll between your palm. Here is a video.

Photo description: yarn cake on a yarn winder with two additional skeins on a PVC niddy noddy in the background.
Photo description: finished yarn cake sitting on a scale reading 5.3 oz.

I joined all the skeins together because I intend yo do a knitted project. I spotted a free ruffled scarf pattern while I was spinning, and knew that it would be great for my yarn, so the pattern has been sitting with the fiber. I’m excited to cast on. (I’m might have to admit that I could be a knitter.)

Found!

On By CarynIn Craft

I knew I had another box of blended fiber by Anniewhere, and I found it while looking for what to spin next in my prepped fiber box! Yay! I think I’ve spun 4 oz of this blend so far, which consists of Merino wool, Blue Faced Leichtester, Alpaca, Tussah Silk, and Finn Wool. I’ve been using it to test out different spindles, so I continued that and dug out a 3D printed Turkish spindle that I bought at a fiber festival. It spins beautifully and even though I have to use a half hitch at the top, rather than a hook or notch, I haven’t been dropping it as much as I feared.

Photo description: From the top, a rosewood ring distaff with cord and handkerchief, a 3D printed Turkish spindle with turned wood shaft and the start of a yarn turtle, bakery box full of carded and blended fiber.

I even used a small ball of a single spun from the same fiber that was left over from plying to start the yarn turtle, and in so doing had a gauge for how thin to spin, and saved more yarn from the scrap bin!

Peachy keychains

On By CarynIn Craft

I recently created a PDF pattern for a local yarn shop. It is the owner’s pattern, but they needed it taken from written shorthand to a sharable PDF. It is a cute little peachy amigurumi, and in testing the pattern, I made up 6 little peaches.

Peach amigurumi

The pattern is by Anniewhere at NerdCraft. I’m very excited about the wool yarn I used for the body of the peach, because it was locally spun and dyed by Texas Prairie Fiber Co. I love using locally produced supplies! The leaves I made from my own handspun yarn, that I spun from Blue Faced Leicester and silk blended roving dyed by Frabjous Fibers. This turned out to be quite the collaborative project.

Keychain peach amigurumi

I did make each one into a keychain by sewing on some chain and attaching a split ring. I used hand-spun alpaca scraps from a naturally brown alpaca (Aimee) to sew on the chain. So each peach has a little brown stem.

New skills

On By CarynIn Craft, dog
Kicking a ball while combing alpaca fiber

Thanks to Missy (IAB (Identified At Birth) dog) , I am learning new skills. I can now kick a ball while combing out alpaca fiber. I started singing and she thinks that is my signal I want to throw the ball (laughter also prompts her to bring someone a ball, hmm). My hand were full of combs, but my feet were available to send the ball in various directions. She was quite disappointed when I started to spin and both hands and feet were busy.

Taming static

On By CarynIn Craft

I’m getting back to my alpaca combing and spinning project, but last time I delved in it was summer and relatively humid. In the depths of winter there is far less moisture in the air and the static build up during combing was driving me up a wall. Luckily, Spin Off magazine has an article on this very problem, with first hand recommendations from many long-time spinners. The majority just use a spritz of water to calm with electrical surge. Hm. I dug out another glasses cleaning spray bottle (I do seem to have an unending supply of these), and filled it with water. It works wonders. The mist is very fine, so it doesn’t take much, and the fibers are happy and free rather than a staticky mess.

Taming combing static with a mist of water