Alpaca, Cables, and a Bum Drum (Carder)

Happy Friday, everyone!  I've had a super fibery-week! I spun some merino on the wheel, some Icelandic on the spindle -- Icelandic is excellent for spindle-spinning -- and some pure alpaca (on the spindle.) On to the alpaca!

I washed, combed, and spun some of the Nancy fiber I got from Shepherd's Purse Alpaca farm.

 I soaked it once without soap, then with Suave Strawberry Shampoo (you are supposed to use human hair shampoo with alpaca, I've read). I soaked it a couple more times after the round with soap, then dumped it out to dry. It went from dusty black and full of VM to shiny, soft, and floaty.

The cats loved it.

Edgar guarded it for a couple of days. I think he thought it was his kin.

Carding alpaca is difficult! It clings to the carder, but not so much to itself.



And it looks remarkably like my doggy's hair. Perhaps I could make a blend.

Spinning it was somewhat difficult. Edgar persisted in his attentions.

A singles swatch. The swatch is 100% alpaca. The stuff wrapped around the darning egg (I really need some nostepinnes) is blended with brightly dyed mohair locks. I was experimenting. Alpaca by itself is wonderfully soft and fun, but it is the very dickens to card and spin!

And my drum carder is not working properly, which doesn't help. The drive belt just isn't driving. I can still use it, but only with the large drum. Since I don't use the licker-in, it's not that big a deal -- I always feed the fiber in on the top, using the teeth to tease open the locks and stretch them out while the drum is turning. It's faster, and more efficient that way. IMHO. But I need the small drum to blend fibers. I have completely dismantled it, cleaned it, oiled, reassembled ... still no luck. I am probably 100% to blame ... I don't use air conditioning most of the summer, and it was exposed to heat and humidity.

On to the WIPs! Here is the sweater-in-progress, front and back at the same time. The far left view is the front view; the closer work is the back view. I love it when the cables start showing!

The ever fabulous Kool-Aid blanket. I couldn't get the dog to stand next to it for scale ... it's long enough to go from my toes to my torso, and wide enough to comfortably cover me. I am going to make it longer now, but not wider.

One of the strays, Stranger Boy. He was playing with the yarn ball a second before I took the picture.

D'awwww..... isn't he adorable? Don't you just want to take him home with you?

Don't you? Pretty please?











And for anyone interested in my couch-to-5k program ... I am in week five. The 5k is 28 October, so I have 29 days to work up to running 3.1 miles without stopping. Although what I do couldn't properly be called 'running....' Perhaps 'trudging' is a better word for it! In any case, it's a few hours a week in which my butt isn't on the sofa or in the spinning chair!

Happy Friday!