Plying With Beads

  Although stringing the beads was a bit challenging, and manipulating my single fiber strand without getting it tangled in the strung beads during the playing process could have made me crazy, I was very pleased with the end results!

 These are the hand-dyed Suri Locks that I started with. 

 I spun carelessly from uncarded locks not worrying about any kind of uniformity.  I felt like a kid going out to recess, playtime!

 Once I got a rhythm going and coordinated pushing a bead forward when  I was ready for one, the plying flowed smoothly.

I used my Louet Spinning Wheel, versus my little electric spinner, because I needed to stop and start frequently.  My Louet gave me the control I needed without having to turn it off and on.

 I named it, as I do all my yarns, "Pretty As A Princess".

Stefanie Berganini has written some good instructions on spinning this kind of artyarn- click Plying With Beads

on the Spin-Off Magazine website.

 

This looks like a book I ought to have!

"Blue Suede Shoes" Hand-Spun Alpaca Yarn

I don't know WHY I give my yarn names!  Any other hand-spinners out there that does this?  

 It just seems like something that's been done by hand, from birthing the baby to raising the alpaca, to skirting, sorting, tumbling, washing, dyeing, carding, spinning, plying, skeining, and washing again ...

 ... ought to have a name!

I usually name it the first thing that comes to mind . . .

In this case, it is "Blue Suede Shoes"!

Summer Sky

Here is my latest hand-spun yarn . . .

I've listed it on Etsy and am calling it Summer Sky, thanks to my Facebook friends offering suggestions!  It's a pretty one.

I think it would be cute knit or crocheted into a hat or mittens.

Custom Hand-Spun Yarn Order

 

Here is one of my hand-spun alpaca yarns, a custom order for 

Joan Handbury-Jones.  It is spun thick-and-thin, and is a blend of suri, huacaya, merino, and bamboo.  It is soft and luxurious and very textured.

 

Here is the scarf Joan made with my yarn, using a pattern called  

One Lacy Knitted Scarf Pattern which can be found on her blog called 

Spinning Alpaca Yarns.  She writes about Alpacas, Fiber Arts, and Life in Texas.  

You'll find FREE patterns and lots of great links on her site - be sure to check it out!

Joan says it is a super easy pattern and looks good with about any size or blend of yarns. 

 

See more 'Paca Farm Yarn, hand-spun, mill-spun, hand-painted and natural colors, all from the fiber produced by the alpacas at  

Alpaca Meadows!

My New Yarn

So, here is where it all starts, with happy, healthy alpacas!

Stress does affect fiber quality - see the smiles on these two? Meet Unlimited Joy and Ariella!  There are two different breeds of alpacas, suri and huacaya, and the difference is their fleece.  A suri's fleece grows vertically to the ground, in dreadlocks, and will grow clear to the ground if not shorn.  A huacaya has more of a teddy bear look and their fleece grows horizontal away from their bodies.  I think of a suri as being majestic and a huacaya as cute!

Huacaya Fleece

Suri Fleece

In the Dye Pot with Gaywool Dye

Carded

Carding is the process of combing and blending fibers together - an art form in itself.  This is a blend of hand dyed suri and natural brown huacaya.

Rovings Wound Into A Ball for Spinning

Hand Spun Into A Single Ply Yarn

Finished Two-Ply Yarn - Food For The Soul!

Click here to buy now!