I had three alpaca fleeces in the very bottom of my closet. These were given to my as a gift from my sister, and I have had them for ages. She gifted them to me before I felt confident that I could do much with them, but I always had high hopes. Well, this weekend I decided to tackle that collection again!
All three fleeces have been well checked out - very little veg matter, no lanilin (obviously), no poop or muddy bits... they look like they have been very well skirted, and I only have the choice parts of the fleece. Just dust and guard hairs. Yessssssss.
I had already scoured the caramel coloured fleece earlier... so this weekend I whipped it out for a little practise with my minicombs and handcards.
I made some really nice roving (its a little too rough for me to call it top I'm afraid) with the combs.
I collected all the leftovers from the combs and carded them up so I can practise some woolen!
After this experiment, I was so inspired that I pulled out the other two fleeces from my closet...
I decided to tackle the black one next. This one doesn't even look like it has any guard hairs at all, just a some dust and minimal straw. I weighted it out - 860 grams.
I took it outside for a nice scouring...
And I have it drying in my extra bathroom right now!
I will start the combing process of this fleece when I am done with the caramel one! Both of these fleeces feel SO soft and smooth - I can't wait to get them on m wheel!
In other news, yesterday I finished plying my Merino/bamboo/silk! Woo-whoo!
And here's a photo of my little test swatch...
I think I want to make one of these cardigans with it - whatcha think!?
