Fiber Arts Friday: My Unusual Fiber Stash

Some questions popped up a "few week's ago" about what rare fiber I was planning to spin next.

I am usually willing to oblige.... ;-)

I am of the mind that nearly everything that is fibrous is spin-able and I am mostly interested in spinning single-source fibers.  As such, I have a few rare or unusual fibers in my stash.

I am also lucky that when I first learned to spin I had access to a Local Yarn Shop (Village Wools in Albuquerque, NM) that had a wide selection of interesting fibers for the spinners in the area.  I also had access to the Taos Wool Festival which had amazing, single-breed options and now the Estes Park Wool Market which also has some unusual, prepared, fibers available.  Lastly my cousin and her family have decided that finding fibers for me to spin is a bit of a sport.

As a result I have an interesting collection of rare and unusual fibers for spinning.... or, at least I think it's interesting.  ;-)

Cashmere and Cashmere+Silk. I have not spun Cashmere or even a Cashmere blend yet.  I'm looking forward to trying it.

Camel.  I have a small amount of raw camel collected by my cousin... I have spun baby camel and a camel blend.  It is divine... so much so that Hubba spent some time shopping for a camel.  I'm happy that he decided they are a little too big for our fences and a little too disagreeable for our preferences.  ;-)

Yak.  Cloud and Roving.  I had been saving this because I think it's very special and I did not want to mess it up.  But I think my skills are up to par now, so it's waiting for inspiration.  I don't want to spin it for spinning sake, I want to make sure I know what it will be before I put it on my wheel.

Black Bear. Hair and Down... both found by my cousins... in their back yard.  I attempted to spin the hair a while back, but it is too stiff for spinning... at least at my current skill level.  It might be interesting in a blend, or might be better for the embroidery that Vivian mentioned way back when...  The Down is quite soft and will be a lovely yarn.

Rocky Mountain Goat... also found by my cousins... on a hike.  I'm about half-way thru the picking and cleaning.  Hubba doesn't like me cleaning fiber in the house, so it only gets attention when I have time and weather to support it.

Milk.  Yep, fiber made from a protein in Cow's Milk.   I made an attempt at spinning this a few weeks ago... it's very much like silk, with a very long staple length and very "fly-away."  I realize that's a lot of "very."  I decided that I was not in the right frame of mind and plan to spin this at a later date.

Navajo-Churro.  This is the only sheep's wool in my stash right now.  I've only spun a little of it.  It drafts nicely, but the guard hair (prized in this breed of sheep) makes for a tough time on the fingers.  I love the way it smells.

I also have a few ounces of llama, several pounds of Tibetan Mastiff and a large amount of Huacaya Alpaca in my stash, which will get much larger since we are shearing our herd tomorrow.

Currently I am working on a Naturally Colored (Green) Cotton.  The colored cottons have not been bred like the white cottons and were (still?) nearly extinct, so the staple length is very short... ~1/2 inch.  My first attempt was pitiful, but this time it is going beautifully.

I have quite a lot to spin and am planning a 2-ply so this will be in progress for a while.

I am on the watch for more Qiviut and Bison.  The Qiviut was so amazing, that I think I will always be in search of more.  The Bison was challenging enough that I want to get better at it.

I am also on the watch for Vicuna and Guanaco.  I have yet to touch, let alone spin either of these.

Also with so many Elk nearby and it being spring I continue to hope to find some shed Elk, but so far, nada.

Finally, if I happen upon any Possum roving I would absolutely give it a try.  I have felt some yarn and knitted gloves made of Possum and was surprised by how soft it was.  I think it would be interesting to spin.

Have you spun any interesting or unusual fibers?  Did you enjoy it?

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Pay-it-Forward, part 3

My very first taker for the Facebook Pay-it-Forward Project was Vivian over at Bits and Pieces.

I was excited, I adore Vivian and knew instantly that I wanted to spin a yarn for her.  Then almost immediately, I was nervous.  Vivian is a prolific knitter.  She has a lot of experience with yarn.  So the voice in the back of my mind started chattering... What if my yarn isn't good enough?  What if she doesn't like it?  What if... What if... What if...?

You know... some people are just happy that you made something for them.  They don't really care about how good or bad the thing turns out to be... or at least they don't let on that they do.  We call these people Knit Worthy.  I like making things for these people.  A lot.

But Vivian.... Vivian knows what she is doing!  Vivian knows the work involved and has a keen eye.  She can recognize mistakes!  I admire, appreciate and adore Vivian.... and Vivian is really the first person I am making for who knows something about what I am making.... She knows, objectively, if it's good or not.

She is absolutely Knit Worthy, but even better, she is Spin Worthy.  :-)

I had quite a lot of a Wool+Mohair roving in my stash.  This was the very first roving I bought at the very first wool market I ever attended... Taos 2008.

I decided to spin a thinner single with the idea that the final yarn would become a 2-ply and hopefully, a balanced and consistently gauged yarn.

I think I did pretty well.  :-)

I hate finding knots in my yarn so the final result is three skeins of varying lengths totaling 269 yards and 8 ounces.

Vivian, I hope that you enjoy this yarn.  I enjoyed making it for you.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday.