My dear friend Kathy and I had 'Fiber Friday' last week. We began our field trip with a visit to one of my favorite mills - Pufphaff's Fiber Processing(http://fibermill.yurtboutique.com/). Owner, Sue Pufphaff, helped me to turn 60 pounds of alpaca fleece into pretty roving. With Sue and Kathy's help I created about 10 3 color 70% alpaca/30% wool blends. They will arrive at my house in a few weeks. It was a great help for me to have friends around to help me pick the colors! It is hard to make these choices on your own.
The second stop on our Fiber Friday tour was The Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan - http://www.yarngardenmichigan.com/. The Yarn Garden is a store with plenty of inspiration. I fell in love with a beaded silk yarn. I am inspired to spin my own beaded silk yarn or possibly a beaded alpaca/silk. I also found a pattern for a felted cloche hat that I am excited to knit. If I would have bought the proper knitting needles I would be knitting already! Kathy bought a new book - stitch and Bitch Nation. This book has many fun, easy to knit patterns. We decided it was a good investment.
The last stop on our tour was supposed to be Old Mill Yarns in Eaton Rapids, Michigan - http://www.oldmillyarn.com/. Unfortunatly, they were away at the Marayland Sheep and Wool Festival. We may need to take a road trip to this event next year!
The last stop on our tour was supposed to be Old Mill Yarns in Eaton Rapids, Michigan - http://www.oldmillyarn.com/. Unfortunatly, they were away at the Marayland Sheep and Wool Festival. We may need to take a road trip to this event next year!
This little trip helped me to accomplish my goal of getting all of the raw alpaca fleece out of my house. I will have new, pretty roving for sale very soon!
Below are a few photos from our trip:
The natural colored bags of fleece are mine. Somehow a kitty got involved in this picture too!
Wool everywhere! Mine is at the back of the room.
These are a few of the dyed wools that we chose to blend with my alpaca.
Alpaca fleece paired up with the dyed wool
Sue's Carding Machine (It magically turns fleece into roving!)
YOu might think I am crazy but I have created a blend with these colors! The idea is that mixed with white I will have a sherbert blend. If not, I will have the retro 80's blend!
Our favorite mill owner Sue.She was off for a haircut after our visit. Did you do anything rash, Sue? If so, send me a picture.
Love those bright colors - thanks for taking us on your fiber adventure with your pix (and how can you not have a cat in your photos ;o) - and is Pufphaff not the coolest name to have in the fiber business?
ReplyDelete:D Carolyn
I agree, Carolyn. That is an awesome name for a fiber business! Thanks for sharing this with us. I had no idea that mills would do all this customization for you. That's great news.
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating in Fiber Arts Friday!
Thanks! THe roving is done! I will pick it up early next week! I can't wait to see how it turned out. I will have 2 really pretty alpaca/silk blends and many colored alpaca/wool blends. The fleece I sent to be blended with the wool is mostly good 2nds. Blended with the wool they make a nice roving.
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