Greetings all,
it's been a while since I've had much to add to the list but this has been
an interesting week. I was asked to do a demo at the llama day at the south
fl. fair in west palm beach Fl.
I tried doing some research on line but few fiber shops carry it and the
growers don't seem to know much about fiber, often no staple length was given
or micron size . nor was much historical technique info available.
lots more for it's cousins the alpaca,&vicuna . This was a lot of fun and
the very 1st. time I've spent around these wonderful critters.
Spent the whole
day in large modern barn with the show stalls No smell at all and very quiet
too. not like a cow or horse barn.
I had a large area to work in and there was lots of interest. .I also
got to work with this fiber for the 1st time. I was gifted by the show
director with a bag containing an assortment of raw llama fiber that
weighed in at
about 4 lbs. they varied I length from about 1 inch to 4 inches , and about 4
different colors were included. I accidentally started out there working on
the shortest fibers. Not easy to spin and made a some what heavy yarn from it
.That was very slow going and I was not very impressed by it.
When I got it home and washed it, it was very nice. last night I started
to knit it up as a hat and the result if great very soft and fluffy as
angora. It was much easier to wash than wool or mohair too. no grease and very
little or no vm.
Might be because these are pets and show animals .Or it could be that
the long legs of the these animals keep the fiber away from the ground. it was
quite dusty but the washing fixed that, it only took one wash and one rinse
to clean it. It took 3 days dying time spread out on window screens..I was to
impatient to wait for it to dry and started spinning it while it was still
damp. I I've now got about 8 oz. done . The longer fibers are very easy to
spin and feel lovely to work with. and I'll be working hard to get it all
spun Asap. want to have a lot of items made of llama for next years show.
Hallie
Doing a happy dance in south fl.
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