hmmmmm what to do

"spinninglilac" spun a FINE 'yarn' n news:lDUrf.32284$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

Gee, Cher, that's a quandry... methinks .... the answer will come. LOL Noreen ducking and running

Hi Cher,

Crochet shawls is what comes to my mind right now.

Hugs,

Nora

rofl never know what to do with things when I haven't gone out to buy it for some purpose, as you say something will pop into my head.

Being as it is going to be variagated browns buffs and creams I was wondering about an angular scarf they are easy cast on 50 stitches or how ever many you need for the width knit one row, placing a marker at the 25th stitch.

2nd row k1; knit into front and back of second stitch to make one, then knit to one stitch before middle and K3 tog; then knit to last two stitches knit into front and back of next stitch, K1 knit one row repeat throughout to the length you require, then to make a point the other end K3 together at centre 3 stitches til one stitch remains fasten off..

I shall have to weigh it when it is spun up Nora me thinks, then I'll know how much yarn we are talking about at least

thanks cher

sounds good to me! Hugs, Noreen

We'll have to spin it up first, and see what I make of it then, guess that's the way to go with it. lol

hugz...Cher

Don't people knit lace with fine singles? Shetland shawls, Orenburg lace, and so on?

Pure Alpaca is so stretchy that it ought to go much farther than an equivalent weight/volume/length of wool. I once copied an alpaca hat but had to add about a third more stitches to get the wool to fit my head; the alpaca stretched easily.

=Tamar

"spinninglilac" wrote in news:lDUrf.32284$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

i'd definately go with crocheting something from it, as opposed to knitting. alpaca stretches something awful & has no 'memory' so it never returns to original shape. crocheting is firm enough to control the issue (i think. i can only manage cat toys in crochet ) lee

thanx for this info, I'm not sure if it is the same for handspun alpaca, especially tops..never spun or used any before, I have alpaca fleece and that has some spring and give in it.

I think I'm gonna be playing with samples for a while, which will no doubt please Els, as she is always telling me to sample first..lol

thnx Lee for your input, from these returns I know more of what I'm up against.

higz.....Cher

Cher do ply your alpaca, it wants a lot of twist, more so than wool, and it is happier when it is plied ( although you do know that I am a plier at heart....giggle) spin it fine, or extra fine and you will go a long long way with what you have. Spinning it fine and Navajo plying ....Long long crochet loops works as well and you may like the way the colours will come out if you ply it that way. Make some samples and see what you like. I am spinning very fine soft brown Alpaca at the moment and indeed I am spinning it fine with lots of twist. A fine spun alpaca yarn is great for lace knitting as well. No as you al know I am not good at lace knitting at all, but a fellow Guild member made a lovel circular shawl, she folds double when she uses it, from very fine hand spun alpaca.

Keep us posted

Els

Cher I just see that I missed your last line.

It will come unspun if you use fine singles for crocheting. Make a sample and see how it works and also try S as well as Z singles.

Els

Tamar, I do think that those are all done with plyed yarns, even though they are very fine. I will go on line and find out

Els

Right on...... the sample way is the best way. Play with twist per inch as well, alpaca wants to come undone because it does not have the crimp wool fibers has I have found that more twist works better.

Els

And I thought you were away....rofl no getting away from it with you is there, ok ma-am, smack my wrists, will sample and see what happens, I'll do a car with singles and a control ply and see what I think.

thnz Cher

Will do Els, never got on with navajo plying so will have to use two singles, will do as you say and spin a little harder than usual and try a control ply and see how that comes out.

thnx for your help my friend..

Cheers......Cher

I meant thin when I said fine Els, not fat singles if you see what I mean, and understand that it will come unspun if not plyed a bit harder than usual due to it's softness I guess.

I have some black alpaca which is raw rather than tops...this spun easily enough and plyed but tops I don't normally use preferring to dye and hackle my own colours or card if the staple isn't long enough to hackle.

Cher I was in Toronto a very short while, came back, but now I peek around the corner here off and on when I get a chance to sit behind my old computer. The kids gave me a new IMac, so i can Ichat with the grand daughters in Toronto. This G5 computer is very complicated for my slow brain. With help from my son, we are moving files from one computer to the other. My husband will get my old G4 Mac, and the old old mac will go to a school or the Sally Ann. Lots of stuff to be done and files that get lost and found again etc et c etc. I tend to stay out of the way and let Dennis fix it all. Once it is all done I will try it on for size and I will be back here on a regular basis. The Ichat is fun, but has a learning curve. Anyone who has Ichat or any other video setup let me know......maybe I will be able to make it work....LOL The guys are outside cleaning up a 40 feet cedar tree that was pulled over yesterday, thus me chance to come and visit

Els

Cher I will mail you some pencil alpaca roving. One of our Guild members has a small commercial spinning mill, and once you have had your raw fleece and fibers washed and transformed into pencil roving, you love it so much, you never go back to the old way. BTW washing alpaca is a real bummer, and I have never it done it, because it matt so easily.

Els