Here is the 2-ply alpaca yarn I spun with roving I purchased at MSWF. My idea was to spin the pretty blue/gray/lilac roving into a 2-ply yarn for my knitting sister, Laura, for her upcoming birthday. I split the roving in half length-wise and spun each half on one bobbin on my Wyatt Norwegian at a 1:12 ratio. This roving turned out to be Suri alpaca which has a long staple length (6 to 8 inches). Huacaya alpacas have a shorter staple length (3 to 5 inches). Suri alpaca fiber is more like hair whereas Huacaya alpaca fiber is soft and crimpy like wool.
Suri alpaca fiber can take a lot of twist and I found it easy to add too much twist. With not enough twist, though, it doesn't have much body. Judith MacKenzie McCuin would warn us that we could spin it into a wire if we were not careful. I spun and plied this yarn over Fourth of July weekend and it was not the stunning skein of yarn I had hoped it would be. I spared Laura this fibery injustice and sent her some Bugga instead. This skein is about 300 yards and weighs about 4 ounces at 17 to 23 wpi. Some of the color sections became mismatched and created quite the barber-pole effect as well. I had not spun Suri before, so it was a new spinning experience for me.
i think you're being too hard on yourself! that skein is beautiful!
Posted by: opal | July 15, 2010 at 06:35 PM
I can't see any imperfections. It looks lovely & the colors are nice as I do like the barber pole effects.
Posted by: Ann | July 19, 2010 at 08:55 PM