Are you into handspinning? Me too! I have an Ashford Kiwi Spinning Wheel on which I learned to spin and I love it. I also have a Majacraft Suzie Pro spinning wheel for when I want to spin very fast and smooth, an Ashford Traditional wheel , a Louet Spinning wheel and a Majacraft Millie - below:
Handspinning is a very popular hobby here in the US and also worldwide. Alpaca fiber is wonderful to spin. And you don't have to wash the fleece in hot soapy water 10 or 20 times like you do with sheep's wool. Alpaca contains no grease. And don't believe it when you're told that 100% alpaca has no crimp! Most Huacaya alpaca fleeces DO have good crimp. I know this because I make and wear my own hand spun alpaca products.
For more on fiber preparation, handspun yarns and products and other alpaca fiber related topics, go back to the fiber page and follow the links from there.
Wraps per inch conversion chart for hand spun yarns:
Yarn Type Lopi/Bulky Chunky Aran Knitting Worsted Double Knitting Sport 4-Ply Fingering 3-Ply Baby Wraps per Inch 5 to 6 7 8 9 11 12 14 16 to 18
If you have never done one of these conversions, use either a Sett Guage or just use a plain old ruler. A lot of spinners cut out a 1 inch interval on a wooden ruler to do these hand spun yarn size conversions but you can also just mark 1 inch on a piece of cardboard.
Kate Perez, info@mountairyalpacas.com
Webmaster of MountAiryAlpacas.com
last revised May 13, 2008
address:http://www.mountairyalpacas.com
our blog: http://mountairyalpacas.com/pblog/index.php
