Decades later, I've done it. By accident. While 'stalking' another wild plant, I came across a patch of wild asparagus! Wow. I feel as though I have accomplished one of my life's secret goals (another of which is to climb Mt. Everest - but that, I'm sure, will never come to fruition, so a thing like this is made all the more meaningful :-)
Here is the wild asparagus:
I can't tell you what a thrill came over me when I practically ran into it. I'll wait with great anticipation until next spring when I'll return to this remote spot and gather a few of the early shoots for a yummy treat. It will tide me over unil my own asparagus, planted this past spring, begins to produce.
And now for the alpaca. I got my hands on a raw alpaca fleece:
Here it is after two or three days of sorting:
And here are some of the bags of sorted fiber:
I've been washing it a few ounces at a time in some salad spinners. I let it soak a couple of times in hot, soapy water. Let it sit through a couple of rinse baths, and then spin the excess water out of it:
I let it dry on a screen in my garage. Here is some scoured fleece:
And here it is in the 'planking' stage of the combing process with my four-pitch wool combs:
And here are some of the bags of sorted fiber:
I've been washing it a few ounces at a time in some salad spinners. I let it soak a couple of times in hot, soapy water. Let it sit through a couple of rinse baths, and then spin the excess water out of it:
I let it dry on a screen in my garage. Here is some scoured fleece:
And here it is in the 'planking' stage of the combing process with my four-pitch wool combs:
4 comments:
that alpaca fleece looks delicious!!! I just purchased an alpaca collar in Charleston, SC last weekend from an adorable Peruvian woman at the Market. I have not taken it off since.
Hi abby!
I've been to Charleston several times - what a great city! I'm planning on making a sweater for my son with my alpaca. Here's hoping he feels the same way about it as you do your collar!
Whew! What a lot of work. We really dont appreciate how easy we have it these days. I wonder sometimes how they did things in the "olden days".
All your hard work will pay off in an exceptional piece I'm sure. I really cant imagine the time involved.
Hi Cindy!
It is a lot of work, to be sure. But then, I popped over to your blog and noticed that you put in a lot of work with your landscaping and gardening. I guess when you love doing something, it doesn't matter what work is involved.
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