Sunday, July 10, 2011

Tour de Fleece day 9; exotic fibres

Today I have been playing with slightly exotic fibres;
De-haired baby camel;
This is more like fluff than hairs & came apart a little too easily to get anything very fine. It was difficult to keep a consistent thickness. I spun from the fold & chain-plied. 51 metres of DK / Aran weight. I'm undecided on whether or not I actually like this fibre; I'll have to knit up a wee swatch after it's washed.
And more experiments with a finer break-band on the wheel. I'm hoping to eventually spin a 2 ply cobweb weight yarn in large quantities.

Grey Gotland wool; spun from the fold, 2ply, 26 metres of fine laceweight. The singles broke very easily, especially while plying. It's a lovely slinky fibre that pulls apart easily, but can feel a little hairy.
Grey Shetland wool; shetland sheep were specifically used for very fine shawls in the Shetland islands, so I was hopeful that a very fine yarn would be possible, and it was. Again, spun from the fold, and then 2 plied, 30 metres of fine laceweight. It was not difficult to draft to a fine thickness & did not snap or break during plying or handling. I think this will be the right fibre for superfine spinning, but I just need some practise!


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