My Alpaca spinning isn't going that well. The thread appears to be over-twisted. What ratio should I spin the Alpaca. I am using a Majacraft Rose? How many tpi?

I have heard that its not necessary to card Alpaca but to use a flicker brush to separate the fibres before spinning. My fleece is very clean so I'm in no doubt its needs very little preparation. Any suggestions for me please.

Comments

Thu, 06/17/2010 - 01:31

Caroline (not verified)

Hi, alpaca requires MORE twist than wool because it is a different sort of fibre. Wool has little scales that helps it lock together. With alpaca and other fibres like silk you are relying on the amount of twist you put in to hold it together. I learned to use my upright charkha with alpaca, and had what appeared to be highly overspun yarn - it is now disintegrating as it is no longer under pressure but wound off into balls. OK, its taken several years, but you would not want that happening in a shawl or a jumper!

I use a dog comb to comb the fibres. I do not wash before spinning, but as alpaca is very dusty ( the little darlings love to roll) many spinners do wash. Its tricky because it felts very easily, but I should imagine that just a soak in water would loosen much of the tiny dust particles. The trick is NOT to agitate or swish it around in the water, as that produces felt. Here in Australia we tend to spin in the raw, and a few of my friends use their drum carders to make batts for spinning, and others use hand carders, because they spin it woolen style, with the fibres all jumbled up, to give a lofty light yarn. I tend to spin worsted style, with fibres aligned. but its a personal thing.

I can't help you with your wheel, sorry, as I don't own a Majacraft, and would probably use my charkha rather than a regular wheel, because its easier to get in more twist. I don't measure tpi, I eyeball everything, and if it looks and feels right for what I want, thats fine. I do take the angle of twist into account. Others do need to know tpi etc.. There are no police in this matter so you do what works for you and produces a yarn you like.

To check for overspinning, allow a few inches to bend back on itself and form a plied bit of yarn. If it looks fine, you are probably spinning it right. When you ply, it cancels out much of the spin you have put in, because you are going in the opposite direction and sort of unplying what you have already done.

Other spinners will have different viewpoints, so you should receive plenty of advice - try all suggestions out, and go with the ones you feel the most comfortable with.

Above all, enjoy the experience of making yarn. We all improve with practice, but all our earliest efforts are very special, and priceless!

Thu, 06/17/2010 - 07:27

Weavalong (not verified)

Thanks Caroline........

I did notice when I pulled a length of Alpaca off the flier it broke up. My tendency with BFL is to over spin which should be fine for Alpaca. Shall keep spinning till its right.

Fri, 06/25/2010 - 14:00

Aunt Janet (not verified)

Caroline's description of spinning alpaca sounds correct to me.  I always wash my alpaca fiber because i prefer to spin clean fiber.  I've never accidentally felted alpaca.  I scour in a utility sink with a net basket on a line strung over a pulley.  I can hang the dripping fleece over the sink and squeeze the water out between rinses, then run it along a track to the washing machine, which I use for spinning out the water.

Alpaca can be spun worsted or woolen and everything in-between.  I'm combing a series of colors to spin worsted for backstrap weaving.  This takes as much spin as I can achieve without having the yarn get out of hand.  I would rather overspin the ply on these yarns, than struggling with tight singles when plying.  The overly over spun singles just want to kink all over the place.

I also just finished up some woolen spun alpaca.  My big carder dumps 100% alpaca before it reaches the roving deck, so I use the unformed fiber known as clouds.  I made rolags by holding down some of the tips of the cloud on my thigh.  I gently pull fiber out leaving some nicely aligned fiber, I make several thin layers, then roll it up.  These spin sweetly and smoothly.

One more way I use alpaca regularly is to blend it 50/50 with Romney wool.  This I speed spin straight from the roving. 

Each of the above yarns has it's own purpose.  Keep experimenting and enjoy all those various alpaca yarns.

Janet

Fri, 06/25/2010 - 16:40

Weavalong (not verified)

I do think its best to wash all animal fibres before spinning. I read somewhere that Clostridium tetani is present in all manured soil. The organism is very hardy and can live in soil for many years. Although we don't hear of spinners contracting Tetnus its best to wash fleece on the off chance and to have Tetnus jabs when we injure ourselves.

I take it you combine the Romney and Alpaca during carding. I have two carders, one with tiny teeth and one with much smaller teeth. I was told not to card Alpaca but can see how it would help combining two fibres. Which carder should I use?

Sat, 06/26/2010 - 12:34

Aunt Janet (not verified)

I have a cottage industry carder, a big machine. That is what I use for blending.  You need to test your carders to see which one works better with the fiber you are using.  You can layer wool with the alpaca in the first pass. Pass it through again till you get the blend you like.  Avoid overloading the carder.  Overloading can cause neps to form in the batt.

I have been told that I should keep up on tetnus shots.  A doctor told me that you have to have a pretty deep wound to contract tetnus.  Combing wool is probably more dangerous than carding.  I haven't had a deep wound from my combs, and hope I never will.  The Peter Teal combs are wicked.  After using those, the viking combs don't seem dangerous at all. But I'm still careful when using them.

I've been hand combing some Merino and some Blue Faced Lester.  I'm testing qualities of each fiber.  Both combed well.  The BFL was more difficult to comb.  It is very curly, and lusturous.  Because it is difficult to comb, I've decided to card it instead. The Merino is fine as merino should be, with a pretty long staple.  I chose this fleece because I knew I wanted to comb it.  iIt is carding nicely and makes beautiful top. Well, the tips are a little tender, and combing off, I think.  I'll spin the resulting top worsted for a crisp yarn.  The waste combings will be combined with other wool for carding into felting batts.

Sun, 06/27/2010 - 18:26

Weavalong (not verified)

I now have a Kitten Grooming kit : flea comb, metal comb and flicker brush. It was advertised as "gentle grooming for kittens" at my local pet shop so I thought it would be fine for Alpaca. My local supermarket didn't have "laundry bags for delicates" so I am adapting two larger bins made from the same fabric. The bins should be fine to gently bang the Alpaca to loosen the dust and set it free in the garden. Maybe all that is necessary now is a mask to prevent inhalation of fine dust.

I have a small amount of purchased beige Alpaca to practice on before starting on the gifted saddle. Wish me luck......tomorrow's the day for cleaning and maybe washing the Alpaca. Shall keep you posted on the progress.

Do breeders charge more for black Alpaca fleece? Hope not, because if things go wrong it may be necessary to find a jet black replacement.

 

Tue, 06/29/2010 - 20:43

Weavalong (not verified)

Today I picked over my Alpaca saddle and was thrilled to find it quite clean with very little vegetation or dust. The fleece was very light and springy and felt just beautiful to touch.

I bought pillow case size laundry bags and divided the fleece into six bags ready for washing tomorrow. One source recommends washing one Pound of fleece at a time using washing up liquid and warm water being careful not to felt.

It's taken a while to get up the courage to deal with this Alpaca but we are ear the point of no return so hopefully all my rectice spinning and reading will come together in this mext stage.