Kate, owner of Great Rock Alpaca's in Barre had some of this year's fiber spun into fun, core spun alpaca yarn. She asked me to give a go of using a peg loom to weave a rug. You may have seen both a peg loom and this kind of yarn at festivals in the last couple of years. Here rug:
It was a quick weave and a fun project; I'm pleased with the finished product. It is so soft and squishy! Next I'm going to do a rag rug or two on the loom. These looms are fun and so easy to use. I think one would make great gift for a young fiber fanatic to be.....tee shirts, rags, roving, old bed sheets....I can think of a zillion things to use to weave on it. Perhaps I'll do a how-to blog post.....
I have a wonderful friend that owns an alpaca farm; I've written about Kate and Great Rock Alpacas before. Well, this Thursday past was shearing day. What a day and what hard work!!!! There were 74 alpaca to be sheared. Now, I've seen sheep getting sheared and they just seem to relax and get a faraway look in their eyes. Not so with alpaca! Most of them put up a pretty good fight and man, do they make a racket when they are upset.
It was a busy day and I met some very nice folks. The affair started early; I got to the farm at 8:30 and they had already been working for an hour. Once a good crowd arrived to help, I got to start skirting the alpaca fleeces with some old and some new friends. Kate's alpacas have some super nice fleece and the shearer did a great job. So, I spent the afternoon with friends and fleece.....a good thing.
I sure had a great day yesterday because I got to go out to Kate's house for a visit. Kate owns Great Rock Alpaca and I'm proud to call her friend. She is a great lady and her alpaca are lucky creatures indeed. She and her husband own about 70 of them and they are just the cutest things. They make the funniest noises and I always get a giggle when one is bold enough to nibble my hair. All will be sheared next month so I'm glad I got to visit before they all get a haircut. You can't help but feel better about the world after spending time with an alpaca. I took a few pics of the alpaca and Kate.
I met Kate last year.when I needed some alpaca fiber in a specific brown. I found her website and gave her a call. Well, she invited me out and I found amazing fiber. We had a blast and I made a friend. There are a lessons here.......they are:
1. Don't be shy about calling a shepherd; you might find excellent fiber and maybe even make a friend.
2. If you need some excellent alpaca fiber (or even an alpaca), get in touch with Kate.
3. Try spinning alpaca if you haven't. Look for fiber with good crimp and I bet you'll find it easy to spin and I bet you'll be hooked.
Spinning longdraw is my favorite method and to really, truly spin woolen longdraw in the purest way, you need rolags; lots of rolags. Rolags are traditionally made using hand cards but there is a way to make them using the drum carder. Lots of folks make them right of the drum. I don't like that method only because no matter how hard I try, I end up poking my arms and hands on the pointy bit and it hurts. So, I remove the batt from the carder and:
Split the batt into thirds across the batt (as opposed to long ways);
Grasp the sides of the fiber and pull it apart; it separates like the pages of a book. My goal is to get something close to the size of handcards;
Roll the fiber loosely around a dowel and,
Viola!
It is essential for easy spinning to keep the fake rolags a reasonable size and to keep them light and airy for a light and airy woolen yarn. The ones pictured here are made from some yummy alpaca from Great Rock Alpaca; the staple is a little long for rolags (for my taste) but they spun like a dream.
