Fiber Arts Friday: Tour de Fleece 2014, part 2

After the mass productivity from last week it took me some time to decide if I would go back to the never-ending cotton or start on the never-ending supply of home-grown alpaca...

Friday, July 11th
I decided that I wanted to spin alpaca.

If I ever needed confirmation as to why we raise alpaca, this is it.

As much as I enjoy spinning other fibers, alpaca is by far my favorite.... smooth, silky, slippery, soft.  I just love it. :-)

Saturday, July 12th

Sunday, July 13th

I finished spinning the single and then plied it to itself.

Homegrown Alpaca - Smokey's Bandit, Medium Silver-Grey
2-ply
172 yards
3 1/4 ounces

Monday, July 14th

Back to the never-ending green cotton that has been on my wheel for 15 months... 1/8 oz completed today.

Tuesday, July 15th - Rest Day

Wednesday, July 16th

Another 1/8 ounce of green cotton.

I've mentioned Staple Length before, which is the length of the individual fibers.

The homegrown alpaca on the left is ~4 inches and took me a little less than an hour to spin one ounce.  The green cotton on the right is ~1/2 inch and takes me about an hour to spin 1/8 ounce.  The short staple length is why people say that cotton is hard to spin.

In general, the naturally colored cottons are shorter than white cotton.

Thursday, July 17th

One more eighth of an ounce spun.

I have a little more than 3 ounces to go on this never-ending naturally green cotton.

Happy Spinning and Happy Fiber Arts Friday.