Just thought I would show off some lovely raw alpaca fleece that I was able to get my hands on from a lovely couple living nearby. Four large bags of fleece from four adorable alpacas! White/cream (right), brown (front) and a lovely white/cream/brown mix (left - there is a special name for either that colour mix or the sort of alpaca it came from but for the life of my I can't remember it!). In the fourth bag up the back is a lovely dark brown but I couldn't get the bag open without ripping it.
I've never spun with alpaca wool let alone have it from square one - raw fleece that needs to be prepped! Or would square one include it being on the alpaca still? Okay, I have alpaca from square two - once it has been shorn off the alpaca.
Alpacas are gorgeous, lovely, cute, smitten, gentle, omgIjustwanttohugthemandlovethem creatures. Alpacas come from South America and are part of the camelid family (surprisingly, camels are also part of the camelid family! ;) ).
Now, with the LARGE amount of alpaca wool I have on hand... I really have to spin this lovely stuff up.
I have read two different things online; to wash or to comb? As alpaca wool has no natural grease like sheep's wool it is okay to not have to wash the wool for prep and I have read that it is fine to just card the fibre to brush out the dirt and vegetable matter. Alpacas like to had dust baths so they roll around in dirt. Mmmm, comfy. I have also read that the fleece can be washed but I'm not sure if I will do that.. its a lot of fleece and I might just comb the fleece to get the dust out and then wash/block the finished yarn.
Also, I think Ill be spinning this lot on the spinning wheel - trying to spin all of this on a support spindle would take forever! The spinning wheel will take some time as well but will be faster than a spindle.
Ill keep the Alpaca journey up-to-date as the news of the next stages break ;)
Stay spun!
-Mokosh
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| Picture from www.grampiansalpacas.com.au |
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