Halfway There!

I'm at the mid-point of the nursing program and, while I'm loving it, it has put a serious dent in my fiber time.

I see that I've had many visitors since my last post. I'm sorry I haven't posted anything new in some time. I hope to post at least monthly until things are back to normal but that is dependent on my workload.

Since I can come and go from it as time permits, I've spent most of my limited free time spinning . I haven't done much hand-painting or dying as it's time consuming. I did manage to find some time over my short break to get a little in.



All of these are currently listed on Etsy.

With the economy in such poor shape, I've spent some time sourcing reasonably priced yarns and fibers. Like many of you, I take much comfort in anything fiber. Spinning, knitting, and crocheting are all great escapes from everyday stressors. I hope that I can offer quality product that are affordable, even in these difficult times.

While I still wont have time to fill special orders, I do have other yarns, rovings, & batts that I haven't listed. I'll be listing them as time permits. If you're looking for something in particular, email me with specifics and I'll let you know if I have what you're looking for.

I hope this post finds you all well!
Thank you for visiting,
Angelina

Two Recent Spins

I've haven't had much time for fun but I found a few moments here and there to play with some of the alpaca fiber I've acquired. The darker skein is a single of black merino that I carded with natural grey alpaca and hand dyed rose alpaca. The skein on the right is a 2ply adult alpaca roving that I handpainted Midnight, Marine, Aqua & Grey:







Thanks for visiting!
Angelina

Did you know?

Knitting Daily has a television show that is aired on PBS! Unfortunately my PBS station is not yet airing the program but I'm hoping to change that. If you live in New Mexico, Southern Colorado or Eastern Arizona, please help me get this show aired by emailing your request to KNME's programming department at viewer5@knme.org.


Those in other areas can find contact information for your local PBS station by visiting www.pbs.org.

Also, if you haven't signed up for Knitting Daily's Newsletter you can do so here.

Spinning Fibers

I've just listed a beautiful grey alpaca fiber, as well as a nice creamy white aplaca on Etsy and The Perfect Skein.




I'll be starting the nursing program next month and won't have much spare time, so for now, I'll be focusing on listing supplies.

I will be hand-painting as I find time (hopefully I'll find a little) but I certainly won't have the ability to list on eBay every week. I'm hoping to list at least once or twice a month but I'll have to play it by ear.

I'll still be happy to take special orders on a limited basis so feel free to contact me at angelina@theperfectskein.com.


I do appreciate hearing from you all. Wish me luck!

Thanks for visiting,
Angelina

Adventures in Alpaca...

I received a shipment of raw Alpaca yesterday and got to work this morning washing it. As you can see below, it was pretty dirty. After drying I hand carded it to remove any remaining flecks of VM.



Of course I had to dye it too. I wanted to see how it took dye in comparison to other fibers so I put it in the pot with some merino and silk. Naturally the silk dyed up the darkest and the merino is just a little deeper than the alpaca.



And here are the 3 carded together with Peacock Angelina Fiber:






Thanks for visiting!
Angelina

Core Spinning-what's on my bobbin now...

I love to try, and try to perfect new things. I've got Navajo plying down, I've been carding like a mad woman (I've gotten fairly fast at it with minimal damage to my knuckles), and I've been trying new fibers.

I carded up a beautiful .75 ounce batt with natural black alpaca, natural grey wool, and beautiful rambouillet/angora blend in fuchsia. As soon as I took it off the drum carder I knew it wanted to be core spun.

I tried to core-spin mohair some time ago. I can't begin to tell you how unsuccessful that experiment was. I though I'd better practice before attempting it with this lovely batt. I started off slowly and worked about 20 yards with wool on a cotton core. I discovered that keeping the drafted fiber about 1/2 inch wide and working at a 45 degree angle worked best for me. Eager to get started I grabbed my batt, along with some black size 3 crochet cotton and got to work. I found that I was able to move along pretty quickly and managed to spin up about 50 yards in 20 minutes. Not bad for a first try.



I expected the skein to be unbalanced. I started with a balanced core and put twist into it. I shocked the yarn in hot, then cold water, and hung it with weight to dry. Still unbalanced.

Now, I've heard (or read) on various posts that a balanced core-spun yarn is possible but, unless you're using a hand spun single that is equally unbalanced, I don't see how it's possible to get a balanced yarn. I tried spinning the core onto a bobbin in the opposite direction before core-spinning and it was still unbalanced. Any ideas or suggestions?

With that skein done I'm now spinning up singles of the rambouillet/angora and it really is like spinning heavenly clouds.



I've ordered some rambouillet and am hoping to include it in some of my listings.

I would love to hear any stories and advice anyone may have about core-spinning.

Thanks for visiting!
Angelina

It Has Arrived!

I received my drum carder Monday and got right to work. I had already dyed a batch of merino in teal and mohair in midnight blue. I carded them individually, then together:




I couldn't wait to see how it spun up:




I'm looking forward to trying a wide variety of fibers and colors and hopefully will have more to show soon!

Thanks for visiting!
Angelina