Luxurious But Affordable Spinning: Alpaca and Llama

Here's a sample of April weather in southern Vermont, taken just a few days ago in the forest behind my home. Pretty, perhaps. But enough of the Winter wonderland already! I've spared you the pic of the sleet that fell on top of this Jack Frost scene. Walking through the deep slush to the mailbox is like trudging through wet cement. If the sun doesn't shine soon, frustrated, cabin-fever-crazy Vermonters may end up "eating each other up"...as in one of my fave poems from childhood, "The Gingham Dog And The Calico Cat," by Eugene Field. Do you know of it? The poem was in "The Bumper Book," edited by Watty Piper, pictures by Eulalie, The Platt and Munk Co, Inc., New York, 1946. Basically, the cat and dog had an awful spat which littered the air with gingham and calico, as witnessed by a Chinese plate and an old Dutch clock on the wall. After the row was over, folks thought that burglars stole the pair. But I knew better because I got my information from a clock and a plate in-the-know and willing to tell.

What's your favorite children's poem?

Let's begin the meat and potatoes of this post with alpaca. Please do go to one of my favorite online, encyclopedic sources, Wikipedia, for basic information about alpaca. There, you will find out about the two types of alpaca, huacaya and suri.

For some excellent articles on spinning alpaca, please see:
"Spinning Alpaca for Knitting: Huacaya alpaca," by Kaye Collins, pgs. 50-69, Summer 1999, Spin-Off, Interweave Press.
"Spinning Suri Alpaca," by Kaye Collins, pgs. 40-49, Fall 2000, Spin-Off, Interweave Press.
Yes, these may be long out-of-print issues...but they're well-worth hunting down (ie. e-Bay, used bookstores, guild-wide sale extravaganzas, etc.)! See Spin-Off Back Issues, and consider purchasing as many as you can, before these issues, too, disappear off the Interweave Press shelves.

Jody, from Ontario, Canada, is a lovely, kind and patient reader of the spider. I mention she's patient because when she requested "any tips on spinning and/or preparing to spin alpaca fleece," I immediately wrote and asked if she had pics of her own spinning to share with us. She not only obliged, but when asked to write about herself and her spinning, she further rose to the cause. What cause? Why, the cause of inspiring spinners and to-be-spinners around the globe. Yes, I'm proud to say this blog has readership from many states, provinces and countries...with over 1400 hits per week and rising...and Spinning Spider Jenny has only been in existence since August of 2006!! So thank you readers! The more of you who will take the time to comment, the better this blog will be. And keep those questions and ideas coming. I'm pleased to say your comments give me "blog fodder" for topics to cover; topics that just might be of interest to YOU.

Here's Jody's story:
"I do alot of handcrafting...soapmaking, sewing roman blinds, quilting, lots of knitting and now spinning. Spinning was a natural progression from the knitting and I enjoy it very much. For me, there is a tremendous amount of satisfaction in creating yarn from a raw fleece. It's very exciting."

"In April 2006 I bought a spindle to start. I went thru all my roving quickly so found a local alpaca breeder and bought 3 fleeces in different colours. I didn't even have any tools or anything to card or comb. I wish I had more knowledge then cause I would have chosen other fleeces, but you know, it was the best learning experience!"

"I decided to join the local, Peterborough Handweavers and Spinners Guild, and bought used handcarders and an older Ashford 'Traditional'. It was an easy transition for me to spin on my wheel because I had practised alot on my spindle. I don't spindle spin anymore though..too slow. I have learned more from the bloggers and my Spin-Off mags than anywhere else. Alpaca will always be my fave fibre to spin because of all the natural colours and the softness. Mmmmmmmmmm...alpaca."

"I do like my alpaca somewhat smooth so I guess I do alot of worsted-type spinning. Since buying my handheld combs I tend to use them alot more than carders even though there is more waste."

"Carding technique? I take off my rolags and stretch them into roving taking care to keep fibres aligned like in worsted, then I wind the stretched rolags into fluffy bumps. For the suri, I first aligned the fibre onto the carders, did a few passes to open up the locks, then put the just-carded fibre onto my combs. Once combed, I then had a nice smooth preparation which I drafted into thin top and wound around my two fingers and tucked the ends in. I made whole boxes of these little curls to spin. It's hard on the fingers pulling suri off the combs..I am sure bigger combs than I have would do a better job."

"I like to spin fairly fast on my Ashford Trad single-treadle wheel and smooth all or some of the air out as I spin. I stay fairly far away from my wheel as I draft. The nearest I can figure is that I spin alpaca with a short forward draw. I use my bulky flyer and bobbins for plying and usually make a 2-ply yarn. I have spun 3-ply alpaca (for my husband's sweater which I am still knitting) that I carded with Romney fleece, just to give the yarn more bounce and memory. (Note from spider: We'd LOVE to see your husband's sweater when it's completed!)

"Also, I wanted to say that I read a ton of blogs and never comment. Your's, however, sounded so friendly and sincere that I felt comfortable responding to your request for questions. By the way I am a Cappy like your beloved mother was :)" (Note from the spider: Thank you!!)

Please know that ALL of the skeins in Jody's photos below are handspun.

Here's an oh-so-pretty skein of Jody's 2-ply yarn from her combed alpaca.

And Jody's 2-ply yarn from combed suri/alpaca roving (brown) and another 2-ply from her combed suri/angora top (cream).

A lovely skein of Jody's 2-ply carded, then hand-combed, suri alpaca.

Of this knock-out, beautiful skein, Jody wrote:
"I just wanted to send you a pic of my latest alpaca spinning. I had a dark fleece that had a very short staple, about 1.5 to 2 inches. So I carded it into fluffy rolags and then stretched it into long thick roving. It was spun allowing as much air into it as possible, keeping my treadling slow. It is a 2-ply dk to worsted size, good for sweaters. I make a 2-ply because I think a 3-ply of alpaca could be too warm (Note from spider: Depends on how heavy the singles in the the plies are...a 3-ply can be fine or medium or thick...ditto with a 2-ply...) Anyhow it turned out soft and lofty. Better than I expected."

Jody e-mailed this pic today. She wrote, " I just dyed some alpaca using Ashford dyes and it turned out beautiful. It is a laceweight 2-ply."

THANK YOU so much, Jody...for sharing photos of your beautiful alpaca spinning and great information. We look forward to seeing more of your work in the future. Readers, I encourage you to send in to me, via my e-mail or in the comment section, any tips you may have for spinning or preparing alpaca. Photos, too, would be most welcome!

Llama!! Wow, and in the same post as alpaca!! Again, please go to Wikipedia for the lowdown on llama. Anyone know of good articles on llama spinning and llama prep? If so, do please share.

Do check out Chris Switzer's excellent site. She's the author of two books dealing with alpaca, llama and more.

Another great, online website, "The Joy of Handspinning," provides information on Handspinning Llama. There, you'll find lots more spinning info particularly of help to beginners, but also for those beyond.

Gayle and Lars Garrison of West Mountain Farm in Stamford, Vermont sure have first-hand knowledge about llamas and alpacas. Gayle graciously agreed to chat about and provide photos of their gorgeous animals, their impeccably prepared fibers, their personal spinning and their wonderful finished projects.

Gayle wrote:
"Lars and I have been raising llamas for 19 years. We purchased 26 the first year. We quickly fell in love with these wonderful animals and enjoyed learning to work with them. We began introducing them to others, and our sales program began. I could do this only because there were always the special ones that I knew we would keep to begin our breeding program. It was a good feeling to sell to people who were enthusiastic about llamas, and as much in love with them as we were."

"Over the years we have had almost 600 llamas (including a few alpacas). Our breeding program produced 200 crias (baby llamas). Then somewhere along the way there was all this fiber we were shearing from the animals, mostly to keep them cool and comfortable. I had a kind lady spin some yarn for me, but the price for this service was prohibitive for the amount of fiber we were producing. I had always done a lot of knitting, and wanted to learn to spin, so this was the time. I started on a drop spindle mostly to get the feel of what was supposed to happen. Then I tried several brands of spinning wheels, and settled on the Majacraft. I really like the way it spins and the way it has stood up to all my spinning and traveling. Now I have 2 Susies and 2 Roses (models of the Majacraft)."

"To get the fiber to the spinning stage, we decided to send it to a mill to be washed and carded. For a while we sent our fiber to Quail Hill (11707 Quail Ln, Hillsboro, WI 54634; phone: 608-528-4640) and were very pleased with the service and quality. However our supply became more than they could handle and we began to use Zeilinger Wool Mill in Frankenmuth, Michigan. After several years Zeilinger's got a dehairing machine. This machine removes the guard hair from the llama fiber. The guard hair is a coarser hair which produces a prickle factor, and is not comfortable next to the skin. The dehaired llama fiber - LLAMA DOWN- is quite soft and comfortable in scarves, sweaters, hats etc. As an added advantage, we get back the BY PRODUCT also, which can be spun and used in rugs, lead ropes, wall hangings, saddle blankets where the coarser fibers are not a factor. We also had our alpaca fiber dehaired this year. Although the alpaca usually has finer guard hairs, it was still a nicer product with them removed. Alpaca and llama owners are usually breeding to produce a finer fiber. At this point Lars also learned to spin and has a Butterfly wheel from Jerry Womack. Lars likes to spin the BY PRODUCT which I knit into rugs or make leashes or lead ropes."

"As to spinning and knitting llama and alpaca fiber, I have always spun just the llama or alpaca. I have not blended it with another fiber. I know that many spinners like to add 20% wool to their llama fiber, to give it more elasticity. I find that any flat item, scarves, shawls, works well in knitting. Ribbing on sweaters, vests etc. should be knit on a smaller needle. Raglan sleeves work well, the drape is more natural. Sweaters knit from the top down in one piece have worked for me. Llama and alpaca are very warm fibers. In spinning, think of what it will be used for, and perhaps spin a finer yarn, or plan to knit with larger sized needles."

"West Mountain Farm has LLAMA DOWN and BY PRODUCT and ALPACA fiber in many natural colors for sale. We also have yarn, and items made from our yarn, from wrist warmers and socks, to felted hats and afghans. Many of our products are pictured on our website or do e-mail us at llamawmf@sover.net. We are located on top of a mountain, looking out over an apple orchard and blueberry patch, and the llama pastures. We have a pick-your-own operation in season."

Here's West Mountain Farm's, "Davey!"

And some mouth-watering llama spinning fiber in an array of beautiful, natural colors.

Here's a jaunty, felted llama hat made by Gayle.

Three lovely, knitted, llama down scarves to keep you cozy, even in Vermont's April!

And three sturdy lead ropes of llama by product.

Not to mention a knitted pig, also of llama by product.

THANK YOU ever so much for sharing your pics and fantastic information, Gayle and Lars. I'll bet you'll be hearing soon from some of the spider's spinning readers, anxious to get their hands on your superb llama and alpaca fibers.

Finally, I show you some of my own blending experiments with llama. In this case, the fiber was provided by none other than "Milagra," of Hemlock Haven Llama Farm. Elizabeth, Llamafarmgirl herself, gifted me with a bag of her solar dyed, naturally dyed, unspun Milagra. She said the dye was made up of not-quite-spent baths of a variety of different natural dyestuffs. E gave me a tag with a photo of Milagra on it (shown), saying the following:

"Milagra was a surprise Christmas present from my very romantic husband. Originating from Spirit Hill Llamas in Halifax, Vermont, she is now 4 years old. We hand sheared and sent her luscious fiber out to be dehaired and it came back as a cloud."

The result of E's natural dyeing is a pleasingly warm beige color, pictured above. The handspun skein and swatch, also shown above, was made by blending 50% Milagra with 50% Tussah silk on handcards. I weighed each fiber (ie. no By-Gosh-And-By-Golly here!) to be sure I wouldn't sneak in more of one or the other per card load (1 gram total). I spun the rolags on my Schacht Matchless spinning wheel, 9:1 ratio, Scotch tension mode, using a short backwards draw, lightly fingered. By lightly fingered, I mean I didn't pinch the air out of the yarn as I spun...simply controlled stray fibers with my fingers, making sure they were caught in the twist. For me, a knitter, I often like my yarns full of air...llama and alpaca, included. Without air, llama and alpaca yarns can become overly heavy and dense. Add inadequate twist to that scenario and you have the ubiquitous llama or alpaca sweater that grows and grows; gravity and sheer weight taking it right down to the ground! The final yarn that I spun is a plain vanilla, 2-ply.

The photos above show two swatches. The swatch on the right is the same as in the photo above it. The swatch on the left is also 50% Milagra and 50% Tussah silk, but this time each of the fibers make up their own singles in the 2-ply. Quite different, eh? One yarn/swatch was made with a more homogenous blend and the other swatch was made with an orthogenous yarn. Which, in this case, do you like better?

Oh-oh...I forgot to document what knitting needle size I used for these swatches. Drat! The spider must have been a tired arachnid, indeed. Readers, again I encourage you to send in your tips and tricks for spinning and preparing llama fiber. Photos always welcome! Next week...back to that Silk Latte and qiviut blend.