Dye Experiment

I had a bag of lovely mohair from a little Angora goat I raised back in New Hampshire. I've been saving it for years and decided it was time to dye and spin it. Remembering a dye project that I saw on a wool tour years ago in New Hampshire, I tightly stuffed the mohair, 

some soft, clean, creamy wool,

 and some silk hankies (which are "are piles of individual lighter-than-air silk cocoons, spread on a form to dry" - read more here)

into mason jars.

Then I carefully trickled three shades of acid dye down inside each jar. I used blue, teal, and turquoise. Here is an article about acid dyeing, if you are interested. I hoped that each color would stay a little separate and overlap a little with the other colors for even more shades. Because the fibers were packed in tightly, some parts would receive more dye than other parts. 

I love chance and random happenings. At least inside my dye jars, I mean. 

I added some water and vinegar to each jar, and placed them all in a water bath on the stove to simmer. Although you can't tell from this photo, each jar contains all three fibers and all three colors. 

In the next post, I'll show you the results of my dye experiment. 

Getting Ready to Spin

When Danni at Critter Farm in Oregon said she was looking for someone who might like to spin some fiber from her llama, Kai, I jumped right in to say that I would love to try.

I am a spinner from way back--I used to be co-owner of a spinning and weaving shop in Washington state. I've been dragging my spinning wheel around with me as we've moved from state to state, but I haven't used it much in recent years.

Now that I have a bunch of lovely fibers, it's time to dust off the wheel and get to work.

From Kai, the llama

The first two photos show Kai's fiber (it isn't actually called wool, as I understand it), straight from the llama. Lots of things will happen to it before it gets spun, and I will document the process in upcoming posts. As you can see, the fiber is made up of longer hairs and a soft undercoat. 

Kai's fiber from underneath

Some time back, Beez brought me some wool and some alpaca from a customer of his whose business was processing wool. The bags he rescued had been tossed aside and were going to be thrown out. I'm sure this was because they didn't match up with the large batch of wool that was being run through the mill. Although they were rejected by the wool mill, they are perfect for a hand spinner.

Alpaca

The alpaca is a lovely toasty shade, a little lighter in color than the Kai fiber. 

White wool

The wool is fine, long fibered, and clean. Of course, "clean" is relative with all newly-shorn animal fibers, and the first step will be to pick through and remove vegetable matter, dirt, and other goodies. Then the fibers will be sorted, washed, teased, and carded before they can be spun. I'll be glad to share the experience with you. 

All three together