Author: denisemor

I came home from Whidbey last week with some fabulous alpaca fiber, which was just begging to be washed up and taken for a test spin-

So I spent a little time getting a feel for it. I hadn’t spun straight alpaca for quite a while, and it’s got a very different feel from wool.

My first attempt was not bad, but too thick. I was spinning on Sigrid, my slanty scandinavian wheel, and her doubledrive configuration didn’t permit me to get enough twist into the singles to make a lighter weight yarn.

My second try was on Moto, my e-spinner at about 640 rpm. Closer this time, but once it was plied up I still wasn’t happy with the twist. Needed more in both the singles and the ply to give the yarn more body.

So I cranked Moto up to about 750 rpm for another go- and this time I think I’ve hit the mark.

It’s knitting up nicely on size 2s at a gauge of 6.5 stitches/inch. So that’s cool.

Also took some time on the 4th to play around outside with lots of soap and water and wool make some sheets of felt.

Since then, I’ve been thinking about what all I could turn these felt sheets into. Pillows, bags, toys, etc-

Yesterday I was thinking about different ways that I could turn a flat sheet into a hat. Here is my first effort-

First I cut the sheet into a spiral- then I laced it back up, baseball style, easing it into a round shape. Here is the view from the top-

Then I re-felted it to size it down a little bit. I kind of thought that the re-felting might tighten up the yarn I laced it with, but that didn’t work like I expected, so I might have to reinforce the joins a bit. But it was a fairly successful experiment. Not sure I’ll do more hats this way (might be easier to wet felt them into that shape directly) but it was useful getting some practice working with felt as a material. Hope to do more of this throughout the summer!

Just got back from 3 lovely, fibery days on South Whidbey with my knitting peeps.

I stopped on my way there and picked up some goodies for later at Abundant Earth Fiber Mill

And a fun sampler pack of east friesan wool

Which I dove into right away and spun up into a crazy cool skein

Some scenes from our comfy spot in Maxwelton-

View from the dining area over the bluff to Useless Bay

View to the east over the Alpaca pastures

Visiting with the ‘Pacas

And- I actually got a fair bit of knitting done! Here is the complete back of “Forest”

I got some ‘Paca fiber too, just before leaving- more on that next week!

Yesterday I put on a little taste-test party in the pasture to get input on this year’s hay options.

Three varieties were presented to our experts- 2019 second cut, 2018 third cut, and 2018 second cut.

A sweet, almost fruity nose led our tasters first to the 2018 second cut, where they lingered quite a while, noting the structured tannin profile-

Dottie was the first to get beyond pile number one, passing 2018 third cut with hardly a sniff (a bit musty/earthy), to enthusiastically partake of the 2019 second cut.

It took a little while for Frank and Felix to get into the action, but they eventually wandered over to offer their input.

In the end, the gang favored the rich herbal notes, smooth mouthfeel and long finish of the 2019 second cut Teff/local grass blend. Hopefully we’ll have it delivered and put up in the woodshed next weekend!

And the final accounting on my “Best of Frank and Felix” yarn is in-

Total of 840 yards, 13.6 oz.

The grist varies a bit more than expected over the five skeins, but I’ll just have to account for that in planning whatever garment they end up being.

So nice to have another almost-sweater quantity of yarn ready to go. I might be able to put together something really neat with this F&F lot and Chone yardage left after I finish my Forest project, as they are about the same weight.

That is the question.

The girls are still sitting. I didn’t mark the calendar, but I’m pretty sure that 21 days should be this weekend……

They haven’t given up yet, so I’ll let them be for now. And keep the hope alive for a few more little peeps.

The “First Five” are all doing well. Now just over 4 weeks old, and very cute and perky, but not quite ready for the big leagues quite yet (and I have to figure out how to reinforce the shed in order to keep them penned in with the grownups (would be easy for them to pop through the current fencing).

In knitting news, I’m making slow but steady progress on Forest. Now about 8 inches into the back.

And over the last couple of days my roses have all burst into bloom! A few of my “English Rose” friends. Lady Emma Hamilton-

Jude the Obscure

And St. Cecilia

This time of year I can’t help but take time to stop and smell the roses! These guys are amazingly fragrant.