On a visit to the mill, we discovered some cashmere roving, fiber that has been washed and put through the carding machine, which Cliff House purchased. Aunt Geri here, what went through our heads, Jani’s, (Momma) and mine was, when will we ever see cashmere roving this in-expensive again? Wouldn’t it be beautiful to marl it into some alpaca fiber?!
The finished yarn resting on one ounce balls of Alpaca roving
The decision to pair it with some black extra-fine alpaca was easy. The spinning process – not so much – because I was combining two completely different fibers and textures.
Each strand is three ply
There are 2 main spinning techniques – a long draft (woolen method) and a short draft (worsted method). I generally use a worsted or short draw technique since I spin alpaca into thin singles. The cashmere requires a long draft, so I modified my spinning into a method somewhere in between – “semi-worsted”. This is difficult because you must allow the twist to enter the drafting zone – exactly what we have trained ourselves NOT to do!
Finished skein of “Bunny Tracks” ready for sale (Momma says NFS, mine, mine, mine)
The end result is a rich, very soft, I wish everyone could touch this blend of alpaca and cashmere, 3-ply yarn.
