Two Boxes of Goodies

by The Spinning Guy

In which the Spinning Guy belatedly speaks of a wonderful package he received.

Back in January – or was it February – when we were in the process of moving from Oregon and I was already working in Huntsville, Mette from Ranch of the Oaks drove up from California and collected four alpacas (sob) and most of my alpaca fiber. Some of this fiber has been processed. The first two boxes of processed fiber arrived at our apartment a couple weeks ago.

A Box of Alpaca Roving

My stash has grown!

A Box of Alpaca Roving

Well, not really. It was always my fiber, I just didn’t have access to it, I didn’t have to move it, and I didn’t have to find a place to store it.

A Bag of Gray Alpaca Roving

Part of my stash has been transformed!

White Alpaca Fiber

Mette made some very nice rovings for me – and blended certain fleeces at my request for some very nice color blends. In addition, she sent some yarn. It looks good. It looks like Mette has done an excellent job. The proof, of course, will be when I actually start working with that fiber. With so many projects in progress, that might be a while. I’m looking forward to playing with the fiber Mette processed for me. I drool over it every day. Unfortunately, I haven’t touched it.

Wait. Correction. I have touched the fiber. It’s soft and it feels good. I haven’t started playing working with it.

My spinning wheel is calling me. Must finish the socks.

Categories: Alpacas, Fiber Arts, Spinning, Fiber Processing, Carding, Skirting, Yarn
Permalink08/13/07 09:59:00 am,

3 comments

Comment from: Sarah [Visitor]
SarahC’mon! Make the socks on the go knitting and start spinning. I swear I can feel how soft that stuff is through the screen.

[Originally commented Aug 13, 2007, 11:14 AM]
10/02/07 @ 19:21
Comment from: June [Visitor]
JuneVerra nice! Did you keep it separate by animal, or did you blend similar fleeces together?

[Original Comment on Aug 13, 2007, 12:59 PM]
10/02/07 @ 19:25
Comment from: The Spinning Guy [Member]
The Spinning GuyI don’t have any experience with mill processing and the suitability of certain fleeces for certain processes. I also know that batch size is more important in mill processing than in hand processing where I can spin any amount. Therefore, I left most of the fiber decisions up to Mette at the mill.

I wanted some sock yarn and work sock yarn. Much of the fiber I sent was lower quality. Mette is going to make the best product she can from the fiber. I’m expecting much of the yarn will be work sock and other not-so-soft grades because that is what is appropriate for a lot of the fiber I sent.

I did ask that the better fleeces be processed for roving. In some cases, I asked for specific fleeces to be processed individually. In other cases, I suggested blends at Mette’s discretion so long as soft was kept as soft and I got the fleece back in condition to spin.

So far, I am impressed. Some of the color combinations are really rich. The real proof will happen when I start to work with the fiber.

[Originally comment on Aug 14, 2007 at 8:27 AM]
10/02/07 @ 19:26

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