Ciennega Creek Alpaca Farm Days Oct 2009.wmv

The Weftover Fiber Guild of Sierra Vista, AZ was invited to do a fiber demo at Ciennega Creek Alpaca ranch. We were going to pick, card, spin and dye alpaca fibers. For dye we chose to use kool-aid and food coloring which are not toxic like the chemical dyes. This makes it easy, and we can let some of the people who come to watch join in. You'll see an adorable little boy help me with dying some alpaca. He really got into it and dyed several batches of fiber with kool aid as well.
The equipment we use varies widely. There are four types of drum carders including a semi pro model Patrick Green electric and two pickers - a John Meck mini pick and a Patrick Green Triple pick. These are serious instruments and must be used with care.
Pulling a roving from the drum card was something that I had a lot of fun teaching - and something the people there hadn't seen before. It's a simple way to get roving from your drum card. Our diz was a simple milk bottle top with a hole punched in it with a hot needle. Not too scientific but quite effective.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• alpaca
• spinning
• hand spinning
• dying
• kool aid
• food color
• picking
• carding
• Triple pick
• super card
• Patrick Green
• Meck

[crochethabit]

This really looks like it would be fun. It would be great if there was something like that here. Thanks again.