Clay and Yarn

Subject: re: Alpaca yarn, update

You may ask what yarn has to do with clay?  I made the whorls (weights) for drop spindles from clay fired them, glued them on dowels (creating a "drop spindle") and spun the following yarn on them.

This summer I had some time and some alpaca 'fluff" so spun this yarn.  

 Hi guys, here (photos below) is the (two ply) alpaca yarn I've just processed, so you can see the color, all hand carded and spun on a drop spindle,,,,, heading for the knitter next week??

This is "Guillarmo yarn" (the lighter color) and "Miss Cool" (the dark color).  Names are actual Alpacas, I never met them??? The darker yarn was spun to add a stripe, whatever the artist/knitter figures out? This is before the yarn was washed and rolled into balls???  I'm saving that big jar for the ceramics show at Larson Gallery next spring. The drop spindle in the upper left is an ongoing Linnen thread I'm spinning for a book binding project.

Here is the yarn drying.  The little wad in the back is a hybrid ply with colored sock yarn???  I use drop spindles as weights for drying.  Opps, there's that big jar again in the window??

This is the washed alpaca yarn set, ready for knitting (463 yards/12 oz).  My plan is to get three hats (beanies) from these 6 balls.  Drop spindles and scales are behind along with the large jar. The colored ball (to add color) is single ply wool. 

Mountain Goat set:  Actually, it's blended with various kinds of compatible fiber such as white alpaca, Icelandic, and Churro (Mt goat is very soft and needs blending when knitted into hats). These four balls (276 yards/ 8 oz)  should result in two hats (one spoken for)???  Is that dark spot the shadow of a large jar???  Hope you enjoyed the show, now to figure out what "Power point" means???/mike hillier

Now that you see how to make yarn from clay I'll show you how to make a sign from clay,,, keep posted, or whatever it is you do with a blog??