Alpaca was my first fibre love. 

I found the only Alpaca Farm on Newfoundland and I was in love.

Why was I in love... is was sooooo soft!

As we continued to travel across the country my husband and I made a point of visiting as many Alpaca farms as possible. We even considered buying land and owning our own animals... maybe one day. For now I am lucky to get my Alpaca from a wonderful farm in British Columbia.

This past spring I helped with shearing and got to pick the best fleeces.

I like to work with Alpaca because it has a different quality from sheeps wool. It does not have grease in it, but it is super dusty. I wash all my alpaca first and make sure to wear an apron or have a cloth down when I spin it. I love working with high quality soft alpaca. Like any fibre you want to touch before you buy or find a reputable source. All alpaca has guard hair, the best alpacas have been bred to have a finer guard hair that blends with the softer hairs in their coat. Dehairing alpaca is not necessary if the guard hairs are the same diameter as the regular hairs.

My favourite way to spin Alpaca is straight from the lock. I like the thick and thin quality I can achieve and especially like the soft fuzziness the final yarn has once the twist is set.

Unraveling the Sweater

I love to shop at thrift stores. 

I love to find unique and one of a kind things. 

I love the idea of saving something from the landfill and re purposing it. 

 I am so down to up-cycle: taking something 'old' and making it 'new' again. 

Unraveling thrift store sweaters for yarn is an obvious no brainier for me, but I can't take credit for the idea. I am actually sure that people have been doing this for as long as there has been yarn to unravel from sweaters! For me the idea came when surfing the web one lazy afternoon last year around February. I stumbled, so to speak, across Ashley Martineau's blog. Then Neauveau Fiber Arts and now How to Spin Yarn. It was her How to Unravel a Sweater to Recycle Yarn article that got me started on unraveling sweaters, something I still do. 

I have even used unraveled yarn to corespin with!

 I created over 150 yards of core-spun yarn by spinning around my recycled sweater yarn with semi felted Alpaca (Semi Felted- a happy accident that took place during my first forays into washing my own fleece) and then wrapping it during plying with a wool single from Custom Woolen Mills in Alberta. I still had enough yarn left over for My latest use in:

 Day 19 Square for My Granny Could Knit That personal challenge 

I still have lots of this yarn left... my guess... over 150 yards still to be used!

Mystery Yarn Spun Before Your Eyes

 Materials Used for the Mystery Yarn

• Corriedale from Custom Woolen Mills, AB 

   - dyed with a repeating colourway and spun on a drop spindle
• Alpaca from Maple Lane Alpacas, BC 

   - dyed in a crock pot and carded into a Wild Batt
• Teeswater Locks from Talon Wool Farms, Oregon 

   - dyed and spun from the lock
• Kid Mohair Locks from Wellington Fibres, ON 

   - dyed in a crock pot, carded into a Wild Batt and spun from the lock
• BFL Lamb Locks from Ranfurly Farm, BC 

   - dyed in a crockpot, carded into a Wild Batt and spun from the lock
• Recycled Sari Silk from Darn Good Yarn 

   - in its natural colour as well as dyed and carded into the Wild Batt
• Icicle Top from Maple Rose, BC 

   - dyed in a crock pot and carded into a Wild Batt
• Silk Hankies from Maple Rose, BC 

   - dyed in a crockpot and carded into a Wild Batt

Mystery Yarn Wild Batt Carding. 

My very first video. I used hand dyed Alpaca Locks, Teeswater Locks, BFL Lamb Locks, Kid Mohair, Recycled Sari Silk, and a touch of Bling (icicle top). 

As noted in the video description, I apologize for the upload size.

 I did not realize my camera settings were not quite right until it was too late:)!

 Welcome...

 to my new blog. I have many ideas for this blog; they all involve lots and lots of fibre, yarn, and dye. I fell in love with fibre a few years ago. I have always been mildly interested in the fibre world, but after a visit to Newfoundland's only Alpaca farm, a drop spindle lesson at the Fortress of Louisbourg and a rug hooking lesson in Cheti Camp along the Cabot Trail, well I was hooked. No pun intended of course. So here I am, in my small basement apartment, surrounded by two spinning wheels, a room full of fibre, a dye pot on my stove, and a loom on the way. My husband is ever supportive as my fibre obsession creeps into all the corners of our house. I don't want to forget to mention my fibre addict in training, Sky, my daughter. It was her birth that has in many ways propelled me out of my shell and into the world. So there it is, my first post.