Our guest was Gretchen Hoff, social worker and knitter as well as llama and alpaca farmer and the designer/seamstress known as the Scattered Gardener. She was ably assisted by her friend Susan Forsyth who, along with her husband Andrew, makes woolcombs and other spinners’ tools. Gretchen very kindly handed out samples of her dehaired llama, huacaya alpaca and suri alpaca for us to feel and perhaps spin up. You could tell by her enthusiasm that she is very fond of her animals and is interested in getting the best fibre for herself and to sell to other spinners. She showed a way to remove the guard hair from a llama fleece by pulling on the end of the locks and Susan demonstrated another method using woolcombs. Much of Gretchen’s llama goes to the mill though since she has so much of it to process. Susan gave her formula for a spritz to hold down the static while combing: 30% hair conditioner and 70% water.
The alpacas consist of two very different and distinct types: huacaya and suri. The huacaya are the smaller fuzzy animals and are in the vast majority of the alpaca population. Their fibre is somewhat coarser and much more crimpy. Suri are larger and their fleece is more like droopy ringlets. It is very fine and slick with a sheen. They are only about 10% of alpacas and are very desirable for their special fibre. It is soft and has a lovely drape when knitted or woven.
All of these animals have the best fibre in the first 5 years. There is virtually no grease so much less is lost in processing compared to sheep’s wool. Susan brought along some wonderful examples of items that she had made using Gretchen’s fibres including a lace camisole, shawls with added beads, a fulled knitted purse from the waste llama hair, and laminated felt scarves. Gretchen had her Louet S-45 spinning wheel for anyone to try spinning her fibres but nobody took her up on it. (Perhaps it was the odd wheel?) Jeff from Fibres Plus also was spinning some of Gretchen’s alpaca on his Turkish spindle.
It was a very informative program and it was nice to have something specifically directed to the spinners among us. Please note that Gretchen’s website will not be available until the Fall. Meanwhile you can contact her by phone or email, info on her card included in the fibre samples. I was given an extra set of samples and spun them up on my Louet Victoria wheel. From top to bottom: white dehaired llama, tan huacaya alpaca, white suri alpaca. The llama and suri were spun with a short forward draw, the suri much finer for a laceweight. The huacaya was spun with a supported long draw. All were plied and finished with washing, alternate hot and cold rinses, and a smacking on my hard bathroom counter. This heavy finishing settled the twist, slightly fulled and brought out a halo. Perfect if you plan to knit with these yarns but not recommended for weaving or if you plan to full the finished article. They were all very pleasant fibres to spin up with nice soft results.
Submitted by Louisa Chadwick
