I wanted to share something a little different this week.
Knitting projects are still going on, but I would like to focus on Liz and her hand spun yarn.
Knitting projects are still going on, but I would like to focus on Liz and her hand spun yarn.
My sister, Liz is our amazing spinner. She works on a drop spindle as well as a spinning wheel. Frankly, she amazes me. She says it's "so easy". Well, when I tried it, I broke her spinning wheel 5 times in a matter of minutes. So she makes it look "so easy" but trust me, it's not. She has an amazing talent that I'm envious of. So while the rest of us knit like maniacs, she spins away, creating the most beautiful yarn. It's so soft and wonderful!
I stopped by her house this morning and she was working on some beautiful white 100% alpaca yarn. She started with roving from Abenaki Acre's Marlee. She spun it on her spinning wheel and then plyed it on her drop spindle.
How pretty is that? I love it.
The next step is taking the newly plyed yarn and putting it on her knitty knotty.
And then voila!!!!!!!! Gorgeous 100% hand spun alpaca yarn.
We are very excited to have a new drum carder on the farm. This will allow us to create our own roving from our alpaca's fleeces. So fun to have a new toy! I'm sure that in the upcoming days and months we will be giving that carder a good workout! This should allow us the freedom of making exactly the yarn that we like best and providing people in our area with fine alpaca yarn.
And this is super cute Finn.He is Liz and Nick's 6 month old entlebucher puppy.
He's such a good boy and watched with such interest.
I hope you are all having a great week.Happy Knitting!
-Leanne
Liz added this comment:
I first attempted spinning in 2006/2007ish? and i could not figure out that silly little drop spindle!! Last May at the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival, Maggie Casey (a spinning expert) gave a very informal lecture on spinning with a drop spindle, and I left there with every question i had answered... and viola! I could spin :)
I still prefer the look of my drop spindle plied yarn over my spinning wheel plied... I just need a little more practice plying on the wheel, but for now, I will continue to spin on the wheel and ply on one of my drop spindles!
If you want to learn, just relax, read a few books about it, watch a ton of YouTube videos, and if you are lucky enough, watch a few spinners in person, and ask them your questions! Don't go too fast at first, and again, relax!! it shouldn't be stressful!
Happy spinning!!
One day I am going to own a spinning wheel--that is a promise to myself. I have tried hand spinning with not a lot of success. I need a lot more practice.
ReplyDeleteI used a drop spindle last night for a first time. I love it. I even got enough yarn to start knitting a hat. I am using Awan's (alpaca) fiber. It is so soft!!! Now I just need more roving.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to start (learning) spinning this summer! my friend has a sheep farm and she agreed to get me as much wool fleece as I can spin - yay! can't wait! :)
ReplyDeleteand I love the last photo! such a cute puppy! with awesome name - Finn! :) adorable! :)
I love hand-spun yarn but it's so pretty that I would just leave it like it is - it's almost shame to use it for knitting :D lovely :)
Thanks for the showcase :) that was a nice surprise!
ReplyDeleteI first attempted spinning in 2006/2007ish? and i could not figure out that silly little drop spindle!! Last May at the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival, Maggie Casey (a spinning expert) gave a very informal lecture on spinning with a drop spindle, and I left there with every question i had answered... and viola! I could spin :)
I still prefer the look of my drop spindle plied yarn over my spinning wheel plied... I just need a little more practice plying on the wheel, but for now, I will continue to spin on the wheel and ply on one of my drop spindles!
If you want to learn, just relax, read a few books about it, watch a ton of YouTube videos, and if you are lucky enough, watch a few spinners in person, and ask them your questions! Don't go too fast at first, and again, relax!! it shouldn't be stressful!
Happy spinning!!
Sadly, I will always be a yarn buyer rather than a spinner, BUT, I'm so thankful for those who do the spinning...keeps me in yarn. Blessings, ~Lisa
ReplyDeleteIs alpaca harder to spin than wool? I've been spinning occasionally for a few years but have always stuck with wool---so far. We have a couple of alpaca farms in the county and they are encouraging us to try, of course.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have done both (and I am a beginner... it's only been 1 year of spinning for me!) and I had no problem switching to alpaca. I enjoy spinning them both, but i really love my alpaca yarn!
ReplyDeleteIf you are going to try from a local farm, ask them for roving from a finer grade alpaca with less guard hair. (alpaca has grades 1-6. 1 being the finest) You can have wonderful grade 3 and 4 yarn if there is little guard hair in it. but if you are spinning a grade 1 fiber, it is much more likely that the guard hairs are fine also. *Guard hairs are the alpacas primary fibers and are usually much more stiff than the rest of the fiber. you can pick them out very easily... there is usually little to no crimp and they will be more coarse than the rest of the fibers. they "poke" out of the yarn once spun, but you can see it in the roving before you spin. There is a machine called the "de-hairer" which is usually used to process alpaca fiber, and its main function is to get rid of the guard hair. some fiber mills do a better job than others at this step!
Try some alpaca, and let me know what you think!!