Yesterday I spun Alpaca. It was disconcertingly similar to my husbands hair in both color and length (although quite a bit finer). It was a very different experience from spinning wool, which up to this point is all that I have spun. I didn’t take pictures of myself spinning it as I have yet to grow that ever helpful 3rd hand (my husband is wishing for bionic, photographic eyes, I want another hand. I guess that it is all about where your priorities are!).
Now, I need to make a point. I did not buy any of the alpaca that I worked with anywhere in North America. I bought several baggies that were labeled “Alpaca” and were in a larger bag of alpaca tops that were lovely. Not all of these smaller bags were the same color as the tops in the larger bag, but I figured that they were just leftovers from other colors that this business carried.
I was wrong.
They were ends and bits and only partially processed.
There was one small bag of the really nice alpaca tops in the dark brown that are like working with my husbands hair and that was absolutely wonderful to work with.
The rest was utter shit.
In fact I think that it may have even contained some shit.
But, not wanting to waste it (I mean, I had bought it and hauled it across an ocean already) I carded it and tried to spin it, mostly successfully.
It made my fingers black. It was a pain in the ass and next time I will just throw that shit away even if I have hauled it back from Antarctica with a dogsleding team losing several toes and at least one member of my group I DON’T CARE! I will not spin it next time.
It is currently soaking in a bucket in the bathroom with some Woolite in the water. That water is a very light brown. Ewwwww.
No wonder Milo the cat was so interested in it:-)
Today was going to be a play with a new fiber day, and that it certainly was.
(I will post pictures when I’m not so traumatized)
Sarah Jane Humke 