Things that have happened

I know my blog is not followed by many (maybe 1), but I should not have let so much time pass!  I have news!  I have started a fibre farm!  I was able to acquire two angora goats and two cashmere goats. I don't know a lot about them, in terms of fibre quality and health, but they are settling in and are cute. They all have distinct personalities, like people!

Meet mama, who accidentally was named this. She was cranky and mean when she came to us and my husband started calling her old granny. So I would talk to her soothingly, calling her mama.

She is the leader (boss)(space hog) of the group. When the dog barks she is first to run to see what the fuss is about. No one can lay in her spot, and no one can drink from her water bucket. She has cashmere, but as of yet I am unsure how it will be. I brushed her when I got her, and will wash and spin what I got to figure it out. 

Then we have Blackie, again, my husbands descriptive word stuck as a name. She is spunky, bouncy and talkative. She would be the party animal, and trouble-maker. She eats like she has not eaten in days. 

She had a couple kids this year, before I got her. I have not seen her cashmere fibre. 

 

Next is the sweetest of the angoras and the most affectionate of the herd. Roxy is the first to greet me, and the last to say goodbye. She nuzzles and stays close. Maybe it's because of the bananas I have bribed her with, or the fact I know her itchy spots that I can easily scratch and she can't. 

I sheared roxy with hand shears shortly after she arrived. I am excited about making yarn from her fibre, both pure mohair and blends (for socks). That will be nice, locally made socks with materials coming from my animals and some wool from my neighbour to blend with!  Lastly, we have Katie, who is named after a friend who asked to have a goat named after her. Katie the goat is shy, timid, and the bottom of the "pecking order". With time I am sure she will come around. She is gorgeous. I sheared her too, shortly after she arrived. 

That's Katie, second from the front.  Always behind Roxy. 

There they are!  My new herd. So much more to blog about now!

What to do with leftovers

You know those days when you just need to clear out some space in your fridge?  Half-full containers, unknown contents, etc?  Leftover day then helps clear out the fridge to make way for fresh options.
Over time, I have obtained and then not liked some fibre (we're not talking about food anymore) for whatever reason, didn't like the colour, didn't like the fibre, or only needed a small bit of a larger stash.  Well, I decided that the next task on my to-do list is to take those remaining "larger" bits (over 20g) and do something with them.  The first skein will be called Leftovers #1.  This is what I am doing:

I first found and weighed some pieces that would look ok together, and I know that their fibre content is the same, Merino.  Both are hand-painted, but by different artists. 
The first is a pink to purple merino that I just wasn't fond of once I looked at the colours.  I had spun some up but just wasn't "into it" at the time. 

There is 61g of this one and 21g of the following colour that I liked a lot more, but I had used half to create a 1 of 2 skein, but didn't like how the first came out so I abandoned the second.

 

I wanted to make a sock yarn so I figured I should try to make the resulting yarn around 100g, so I added a small amount of ramie from my stash.  What ramie will be like in a sock yarn I am not sure, but I will try it out anyway.

Once I got the calculations right I determined how much fibre of each colour I should use in each carding.  I filled the card with 2/3 of the pink, and 1/3 of the turquoise and covered the whole thing with a small amount of ramie.

I then blended using 3 passes of the hand-cards over my "ingredients".  The result is a nicely blended "poof" of fibre, with a bit of sheen and silkiness from the ramie.

While still on the hand-cards, I used my fancy (ha, no) diz to remove the fibre into a roving.  The diz I am currently using is a needle size gauge, but I thinking that the hints I put out there to my talented wood-working husband may result in something fancy!  OOOh the anticipation!

Starting from the left side I thread a bit of the fibre through a hole on the diz and pull gently until the fibre is removed in one narrow strip.

 

 



Then, to store these lengths of roving for spinning, I create little nests, with the turquoise section on the inside of the nest, as I will spin these end to end starting with the pink portion.
 

 

Now that all the fibre is ready, I am spinning them fine in a woolen long-draw on my wheel.

After the fibre is spun up, I will Navajo ply the single to make a 3-ply yarn.  I attach the single to my bobbin leader with a loop, and tie a knot. 

 

Then I pull the strand of single through the loop for about a foot, and treadle in the opposite direction that I spun the single.  With my left hand I have the single in a loop, and in my right hand the single attached to the bobbin on the lazy-kate.  with my right hand I control the spin going into the yarn and move my hand up to meet the left with the third ply taut.  when I do this I feel for any over-twisted spots, or slubs, or anything that I want to inspect.  When I get to within 3 inches of my left hand, my left thumb and forefinger go through the loop to scoop up the long end of the single, at the same time my right hand stops the twist from going any further.  This gives me time to pull the long-end single through the new loop for as long as I wish (location of the lazy-kate is important to how fiddly this process is.  If the kate is on your left side you will have less over-twisted sections than if it is on the wheel kate, like mine is. 

I ended up with a fairly consistent 100g of 3 ply sock yarn. 

I did a swatch and the end result will be very soft. 

Because of the way I blended, each turquoise section is 2 rows in a sock. 

When my knitting is done, I will be sure to show you my first handspun handknit socks!

 

 

End result - First Skeins of Dog Hair Yarn

The cats love them, more than any other yearn, they are soft, and have a gorgeous halo!