Adopt-a-paca™ - Alpaca Cowl - Part 1 (In the barn)

Now that the craziness of the holidays have subsided, I thought I would do another series on creating a garment out of alpaca fiber. This is a garment that is being made for my Adopt-a-paca™ program. This cowl is being lovingly created for Heather and will be completely processed in my studio by me. 

In this particular series, we will be creating a cowl (neck warmer, snood, circular scarf).  The two animals that have donated fiber for this are Brandy (chocolate brown female) and Rosalita (rose grey female).  100% of the alpaca fiber in this cowl is grown on my farm and processed in my studio in NJ.  

If you would like to adopt and receive spinning batts, yarn or a scarf or cowl, please contact me. 

This series will go through each step of the process all the way to the finished product.


Part 1 will go through the part of prep that happens in the barn or outside.   

"Brandy - You're a Fine Girl" 

"Alma Park - Rosalita Vito"

Step 1 - Growing the Fiber
Alpacas are sheared only once a year and in my neck of the woods this occurs usually around the 3rd week of May. In NJ, the summers are too hot and humid for an alpaca to survive in full fleece as they are prone to heat stress.  A full years growth produces on average a 3 - 4 inch staple length and 3 pounds of prime (the best) fleece.  There are animals that grow much longer (I have a record 7.5 inches on my farm) and some shorter.  An older gal on my farm who has had many babies typically does not grow past 2 inches.  Prime fleece weight can also vary.  Some of my finer animals only produce 2 pounds and some of my larger breeding males produce 6 pounds.  Micron counts (fineness) ranges as well.  I categorize my fiber into 6 "grades" that range about 3 microns a piece.  The chart I use can be seen on my main website here.  In order to grow a good, healthy fleece, an animal must have optimal health.  Nutrition, environment, parasites, pregnancy, weaning and stress can all affect the fiber quality. As one who breeds for fiber production, these factors are of utmost importance and are monitored when I am sorting and grading the fiber.  I also use a  fiber test as a tool which can show weak spots in the fleece through a test we call "OFDA 2000".  It is a two part measurement.  The first part shows the average micron of the fiber and the second part is a graphical representation of the micron along the shaft of the fiber.  Higher micron typically occurs with spring grasses, lower with winter hay and generally varies a few microns throughout the year.  Sharp downward spikes on the graph can show illness, stress, weaning (for babies) or parasitism. If you have questions about your OFDA or other reports, feel free to contact me, I would be happy to discuss. 

This is Brandy's report from 2010 - as you can see she is 21.4 microns which is still considered baby and she was 3 1/2 years old when this report was done.  She did not change much in 2011 or 2012.  She is typically 3.5 - 4 inches in length and is a dream to spin.  She has no downward spikes in her second report which represents a healthy fleece with no weak spots.  Weak spots can break when carding, combing or spinning in the mill or even when being hand processed.  The weak spots can produces neps and noils, which is great for hand spun art yarn that I make (and get requests for noils and nepps in my spinning batts as well) but NOT what you want when you are sending 30 pounds of fiber to the mill in one batch and one animal causes issues in the whole lot.  It is best to make sure all the fiber in the batch is ALL healthy.  For me, I can do most of the grading by hand and also can "hear" weak spots, but I do still test about 30% of my herd each year (mostly young ones and my herdsires), so I can gauge breeding decisions etc.  

Average Micron Count Chart

Graphical Chart - Micron over the year

Step 2 - Shearing 

Check out this post on shearing to see how the fiber actually is harvested from an alpaca.  It is similar to sheep shearing, but alpacas are generally restrained.  

Step 3 - Skirting/sorting/grading the fiber 

I STILL have not finished my skirting video series - but here is a good intro to skirting by Wade Gease - an alpaca judge.  Click here for the blog post about it and the video.  

Step 4 - Blowing out or Tumbling the fleece 
Alpacas love to roll in the dirt!!  This makes for a pretty sandy fleece and in the case of very fine animals lots of VM (vegetable matter).  We actually have made the decision to coat our fine animals after shearing this year as it will make processing my fleeces easier and more fiber usable.  

I blow out my fleeces with a special blower to get out as much dirt and VM as possible.  It also helps to remove 2nd cuts (which are little short short pieces of fiber that are made when the shearer cleans up the body of the alpaca after the prime fleece is removed). 

I do not tumble my fleeces because in my experience, it embeds the 2nd cuts and VM even more so.  I know some folks swear by tumbling and maybe someday I will try it again.  

Next time. . . .Part 2 - we move into the fiber studio.  

Gradient Dyeing

So my latest obsession is gradient dyeing fiber!  I think it is so cool what you can produce!  I try to do tonal colors (meaning one main color) and vary the amount of time it is in the dye bath.  I think it produces dramatic effects that are so much fun to spin. 

The following pics are all dyed on 100% Falkland Wool Top 56s which is a next to skin soft 26 microns.  They can be dyed on any top or roving (wool, alpaca, silk etc), but Falkland is such an easy and soft fiber to work with and I have a ton of it :)

Right now they are for sale in my Etsy Shop only, but will be on the main website soon . . . . so far I have played with blues, pinks and purples. . . my next venture is into greens and oranges for the upcoming "harvest fest" . 

What do you think?

Singin' the blues™

Bubblegum Blush™

Bubblegum Blush™

Caribbean Waters™

Caribbean Waters™

Dante's Scarf - Part 2

Finally have time to get back and finish my series in how an alpaca (or any fiber) goes from growing it to a garment.

If you did not read Part 1 of the series -- here it is.

I have already discussed:
- Shearing
- Skirting/Sorting/Grading the fiber
- Washing
- Prepping the fiber (we combed the fiber in this case)

Step 5  - Spinning the prepared fiber (in this case - hand-pulled top).  For this step, you will need a spinning wheel or a spindle to spin the yarn.  While I will not get into all the intracies of spinning in this particular post - I spun this yarn in a 2 ply Heavy Worsted or Aran weight yarn.  It came out to 9 WPI (wraps per inch).

First I had to make single (1 ply) . . .
This was done several times
to get enough yardage for the scarf

 

Then I plyed these two singles together to make
a well balanced yarn

Then I wrapped it on my niddy noddy and tied it to get ready to set the twist

Step 6 -  Setting the twist or setting the yarn is simply getting the yarn wet in warm water, you could also use some dawn if you think it is still dirty, but remember NO agitation.  I take the yarn off of the niddy noddy and hold it in the air, if it does not twist on itself, then I know I do not need to weight it. I soak the yarn in warm water for about 10-15 minutes.  I squeeze out the excess water (NOT wring) and then wrap it in a towel to get out as much water as possible and then hang it on a hook in my studio.  You can also use the neck of a clothes hanger. 

Here is the yarn after the twist is set

As you can see from the finished yarn (and there were several skeins), that there is a variation in the yarn - it does not look like commercial yarn or yarn from a mill.  That is how I like to spin, I like it to look like hand spun yarn.

Step 7 - Knitting the Scarf - you ideally should have picked out your pattern (or created one) prior to spinning the yarn.  Sometimes I spin without a project in mind, but the best method is to spin WITH a project in mind.  I wrote the patter FIRST, and determined what my WPI and yardage would need to be and then I sat down to spin.  Here is the scarf before blocking.  It is a Broken Basketweave™ pattern.  You can see how the edged are not completely level.  Some of this has to do with the hand spun yarn, but most can be taken care of with blocking.

Here is the scarf BEFORE blocking - the pictures shows both ends placed on top of one another

Step 8 - Blocking the scarf - blocking is a method that allows the pattern to "come alive", lay flat and get as even as possible.  I soak the scarf in warm water for about 10-15 minutes (again you can use dawn or laundry detergent if you would like to wash it).  I squeeze out the excess water (NOT wring) and then wrap it in a towel to get out as much water as possible.  Since this is a scarf and finished was 60 inches long, I used my ironing board as a blocking board.  I laid the scarf on the board and fussed with it until it looked all aligned and "blocked" (square/rectangular in this case).  You can use pins to set the shape, but I don't for heavy garments such as this . . . but they are essential for drapey shawls etc.

Once the scarf was dry - I did an additional "Steam Set" with my iron to weight it down further and to try to get it all nice and square.   Be careful NOT to singe the garment, especially a light color like this one.

Now you can see by the pictures that the scarf is not 100% square and that is due to the nature of the hand spun yarn, and again, I like it like this.  If you do not then when you spin, make your yarn more consistent and even with no thick or thin spots. 

Finished scarf after blocking - I LOVE the way it turned out and so did my client !

Close up of the pattern - Dante APPROVES!!!

Step 9 - Wearing and washing - from time to time - you will want to wash your scarf.  Since this particular item is 100% alpaca - you will want to hand wash and dry flat.  Blocking may be needed again to "correct" the shape. 


Next post - the pattern . . .

stay tuned

Open Farm Day - Sept 29-30, 2012

Come join us for open farm weekend at our NEW farm, Sept 29-30, 2012 10am-4pm both days.  Lots of things to see and do!  Lots of yarn and products available. Come see what is happening with the new store, what we have planned etc.  Bring your knitting or spinning and stay awhile.

For all details and directions, click here. 

Don't disappoint this face :)

NJ Sheep and Wool Festival

We will be at the NJ Sheep and Wool Festival Sept 8-9, 2012. It is at the Hunterdon County Fairground in Lambertville NJ. Directions and maps on the festival site.

It is a great festival full of great vendors and community. Over 60 vendors are currently on the list. We will be in barn #4.

Come out and join us for some knitting, spinning and fun !!! Make sure to stop by and say hello!