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Abenaqui Alpacas has been raising and shearing their alpacas now for 5+ years. Up until this point we have been sending much of my fiber to a co-op. The fiber co-op serves a really great purpose and I will continue to use the co-op to process my fiber. The downside of the co-op is that I do not necessarily get my fiber back when I order finished product from the co-op mill. Yesterday was a major milestone for us. I picked up my finished fiber from the mini-mill.
I had been saving up my best fiber for years. It has been sitting in my attic. Much of this fiber is the stuff that is submitted to fleece shows the best of the best on my farm. In February I spent hours skirting the fleeces of Mattie, Ben, and Sig. Trying to get all the vegetation, sand and foreign matter out of them.
I blended Mattie and Ben to get a higher yield and planned on bringing it all to Sallie's Fen Fiber Mill in Barrington New Hampshire. I have known Sallie for some time and am amazed at her fiber knowledge. I knew my first batch of fleeces would be handled with care and expertise. I have waited the anxiously the last five months to finally get that phone call from Sallie indicating my fleeces were ready. It's like Christmas. I had no idea what things would turn out like. I knew my fleeces were great, but how did that translate to yarn?
Upon arrival at the Mill, Sallie [proprieter] took me on the grand tour. All the equipment was rather amazing, each step of the process carefully engineered to get the most out of your investment, as little waste as possible. We then loaded my fiber into the truck and I booked it home.
At the mill the fiber is measured into skeins, 300 yds or 4 oz. each. I had been advised by some that once my skeins arrive home I should wash them. The process they go through at the mill will compress the fibers and add some oils from the equipment. I followed Sallie's instructions to the letter.
Fill washer with hot water
add detergent
soak skeins, gently, for several moments
spin cycle
remove skeins
fill washer with hot water
soak skeins
spin cycle
unwind skeins
hang to dry
[the brown skeins of yarn are from Sig, the white are a blend of Mattie and Ben]
This process took little to no time and the results were worth it. Before I placed my untwisted skeins on the rack, I shook them out a little to separate the fibers. Once these wraps of yarn were dry, I needed to twist the skeins again for display and storage. What an ordeal. My skein twists look nothing like when I picked them up. They look a bit messy. I consider this to be something I will have to practice and get better at. Unfortunately, I caused myself much grief. I went so far as to add a couple messy wraps to my skein winder, wound them into a ball with a the ball winder, then used the skein winder to try to reallign all the yarn again before I tried to twist it. That really did not help much. I wanted them to look perfectly tight, but with fluffy cleaned fiber for my displays on Sunday [Open Farm Day].
I called a few alpaca friends to see where I had gone wrong. What could I do differently...they all came back at me with the same answer, "I never wash my yarn. I just tell folks to wash their garment once it is made." I am not sure I will not wash my yarn the next time it comes back from the mill. I definitely like the way it feels after the wash. The fibers loft a little more and the shine really comes out.
I find alpacas are a very tactile experience for the consumer. You must touch and feel the product. Simple right? For me, when I buy yarn I want to be able to feel what it will be before I buy it. Washing was a good thing and maybe the consumer won't realize my twisted skeins aren't as tight as some others. One can only hope they do not judge me for my lack of twist and that I get better with time.
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