Thursday, July 21, 2011

Llama yarn


I just made my first skein of llama wool. It's a longer process than usual because llamas are double coated animals.



If you look closely, you can see fuzzy down and longer guard hairs. These need to be separated.
I just hold a clump of wool and pull the guard hairs out.




The coarse hairs can be used for rugs or even ropes. The soft down can be spun as is, or blended with another fiber.



I carded the down. Some folks might just spin it as is, but I find I do a better job if it's carded first. My carding drum is in storage at the moment, so I used my hand carders.

Finally, I got to spin some gorgeous tan yarn. It's not my best spinning effort, but I love the color and texture.
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