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.

Double trouble!

I finally figured out how to do a double bind weave. This is my first rug done in double bind. It's a pattern that you have to keep your attention on or it goes awry, but I managed to do it while sitting in the Gallery. It's also reversible. I've got it on Etsy for now.

RH Loom with a pick up stick

I'm so excited about this project. I'm weaving on my rigid heddle loom - usually you just get plain weave with a rigid heddle, but I started experimenting with a pick-up stick which gives a bunch of interesting patterns. The pickup stick is inserted behind the heddle with the slots up - then I went over 1 under 1. When I get to "pu stick" I turned the stick on end, creating a different shed. The weaving is up, pu stick, down, pu stick. I'm planning on making a vest out of 5 panels.

Between Projects

I haven't forgotten to blog. I'm just between projects right now. I'm warping the floor loom for a double bound rag rug and about to warp the RH Loom for another vest. I know I need to take pictures but my camera batteries were dead and I didn't find the charger until this morning. They're charging as I write!
I had a minor crises with my old blind Rueben dog. He went out to pee and bumping into the corner of the fence, hooking his eyelid on a bent piece of wire. I heard him moaning and ran out to see what was up. He was SO good, letting me fumble around trying to bend the wire so I could unhook him (dog eyelids are amazingly strong). Meanwhile Doc, the other male, came up behind us to see what was up presenting the possibility of a fight. Thank the gods he wasn't in a mood. He went back inside when I told him too. I finally got poor Rueben unhooked and stood shaking. Rueben walked away as if nothing had happened.

Tiny Spinning

The first time I tried a small support spindle, I didn't like it much. My hand cramped and I had a hard time drafting. Then I read somewhere that they work great for slippery fibers. I have angora fiber and dog hair, both slippery fibers, so I thought I'd give it another try. Wow. What a difference! No trouble drafting and no hand cramps. I tried sheep's wool again and confirmed that it was very hard to spin on a tiny support spindle, but the slippery stuff spun like a cloud. I was so excited that I made a handful of spindles. These are made from African beads and the little dish is from polymer clay. I even made a small hole for "parking' the spindle. It really looks cute sitting on its little stand. I made some other types too but I'll have to take more pics.

I had a great time at the NH Sheep and Wool Festival this year - in spite of pouring rain. I got a lot done on my woven curtains for the demo, met some local Alpaca farmers, reconnected with a long-lost acquaintance from our Sheltie Club days and got to look at all kinds of neat stuff. My "leftover jacket" was displayed in a prominent spot right by the door!