I thought for today’s installment of Crafty Monday I would show you some of the yarn spinning projects I’ve been working on. The first of these projects is made from llama fleece. One of my co-workers kindly offered half of a llama fleece that was “in her closet” one day and I eagarly accepted the offer. A few days later a gigantic bag of fleece was sitting at my desk. I was giddy with nerdy joy. I searched around the internet on how to prepare the fleece and ended up getting some good information from my boss’s best friend who raises llamas in Montana. She suggested that I wash and card it because llamas like to roll around in the dirt and the fleece is dusty. Did I take her advice? No I didn’t. I couldn’t wait to wash and card it. I read that llamas don’t produce the oils that sheep do so I thought it might be o.k. to just spin a bit up and then wash it after I’m done (like I do with the dog hair that I spin up). The fleece has both very dark brown and white hair and I decided to spin both colors to see what the yarn would look like. I Andean plied the yarn. I’m not so sure I like the white and the dark in one hank of yarn. I’m still trying to decide on that. I do like how soft the yarn is though. I worked out o.k. just spinning it and washing later. It’s not ideal, because the fleece is dusty, but it worked.

This little pretty is a batt that I bought at Paradise Fibers the day I bought my loom. Oh my, good god, I love that place. Anyway, I saw it and I simply couldn’t resist. Hanks in the Hood is the name of the company that made this particular batt. I believe this is the Shimmer colorway. I think this bat is merino/tencel. I don’t think I got a bamboo mix, but I may have. I have lost the card that came with it. But isn’t it pretty? I have decided to leave this as a single. I’m thinking that it would make pretty fingerless gloves.

This yarn is made from roving that I bought at Holy Thread’s “going out of business” sale. I really have no idea what the fiber is, but I’m guessing it’s some kind of wool. It was dyed red and blue and it has some heather to it, which think is pretty. For some reason the colors evoke color and texture of red and blue crayons. The yarn is a bit scratchy and still has a bit of vegetable matter spun into it. I’m not sure what I will do with it at the moment. Maybe a hat? I’m not sure.

Next spinning project: working on yarn made out of the dog hair from my mom’s dog that died a few months ago, Squeaker. This is proving to be a challenge because, as you can see from her picture (if you’ve clicked the link) she had short hair. I’m not sure how this will turn out. I will probably ply it with a wool yarn but I’m not even close to that stage yet.