Friday, April 5, 2013

Fiber Arts Friday: Spinning Bison

Well, it seems I've been on a bit of a spinning kick lately.  ;-)

I had a small amount (1/4 ounce) of Bison that came in the same package as the Qiviut.



All I can really say is that spinning Bison is the exact opposite experience as spinning Qiviut.  This preparation of Bison was hairy with a varied staple length.

It required a tight twist to keep the yarn from separating.

All of the hair and varied lengths has resulted in a more rustic looking yarn.  The downy part is quite soft though.  So I suppose with more practice and perhaps a different preparation I could make a nicer yarn.  I plant to look for more at the Estes Park Wool Market in June.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday.
at

11 comments:

  1. MarmePurlApril 5, 2013 at 9:03 AM

    Bison. What will you think of next?

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 5, 2013 at 9:43 AM

    I wouldn't think Bison would be soft. Hmm, interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gracey is not my name....April 5, 2013 at 12:42 PM

    I think I might have some bison yarn somewhere...it's all a learning curve...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cathy JohnsonApril 5, 2013 at 5:06 PM

    Only the other day at my spinning I patted some bison blend (bison, camel, cashmere, silk, I think) it was so incredibly soft, but as the lady started to spin it she was having trouble to keep it together too. Perhaps a different blend might help like with Corriedale or BFL?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kathryn RayApril 5, 2013 at 7:58 PM

    Those are all very short fibers... and silk is a handful all on it's own. I would imagine that blend would be challenging, but I would absolutely try it out if given the opportunity.

    ReplyDelete
  6. VivianApril 5, 2013 at 9:52 PM

    We have some bison blend yarn at the shop, seems very soft but different from other yarns, maybe more airy because of the short fiber? Yeah, what other exotic fibers do you have ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownApril 6, 2013 at 7:56 AM

    I wouldn't even think of being able to spin bison (no reason as to why).

    ReplyDelete
  8. AllyBApril 6, 2013 at 8:52 AM

    Isn't it fun to experiment with different animal fibers? That looks nice and soft. Now aren't you wondering what Elk down would spin up like?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Kathryn RayApril 6, 2013 at 9:04 AM

    No doubt! I have thought more than a few times of asking the local herds for a sample, but then I always chicken-out.

    ReplyDelete
  10. WonderWhyGalApril 6, 2013 at 6:19 PM

    I have some Bison to spin but I don't like the short staple length. It's too hard after spinning my Alpaca and Merino.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kathryn RayApril 6, 2013 at 7:08 PM

    @WWG - you are more than welcome to send that Bison this way. ;-)

    ReplyDelete