Hand spinning adventures

From the moment we started keeping alpacas I had this grand idea of processing their beautiful fibre. I had always knitted, and love anything crafty or creative, writes Clara Boulton, Natterjack Alpacas. However, after endless excuses, “I don’t have time” to “gosh, it’s a lot of work” I decided to make a start.

Myself and my partner both have busy, hectic lives juggling the alpacas with our day jobs and I wanted something to do to de-stress but still feel productive. I had been using a drop spindle for a while but it was starting to feel a little time consuming. Without going into lengthy detail, I just want to emphasise that hand spinning isn’t an alternative to having fibre processed on a bigger scale and returned to you as a perfect product. Mistakes can and will happen. However, that isn’t to say it isn’t one of the most rewarding things I have ever done!

When looking for a spinning wheel, I personally went for the Ashford E Spinner 3 as my weapon of choice. The E spinner’s compact nature just ticked all the boxes – although I will admit, there were a lot of choice words when I started out. I have always enjoyed using the ‘park and draft method’ with my drop spindle (basically charging up the twist by spinning the spindle, planting the spindle in such a way it can’t spin any further, usually between your knees, and then at your leisure allowing the twist to go along the fibre).

I felt in total control and very chilled. The spinning wheel was a complete contrast as I wasn’t able to pause and take my time; one minute I was spinning too chunky, the next too thin and the yarn was breaking, not to mention the endless saga with over and under twisting! So, while I would recommend a drop spindle as an easy way to dip your toe in and gain some understanding on how the process works at a much smaller investment cost, be prepared to feel like a newbie to hand spinning all over again when you give a spinning wheel a go.

Huge customer interest

use my beautiful yarn to make products. Those first few lumpy bumpy skeins have been made into pom-pom keyrings and my first few balls of sport weight and double- knit yarn have been made into headbands. Now I am onto my chunky yarns and I even completed my first bobble hat.

So, what is the bottom line and where do we want to go next? So far, we have had a huge amount of interest from our customer base who visit us for alpaca treks and experiences. We can’t keep up with the demand for our handmade products and being able to buy an ethical and environmentally friendly alpaca hat seems to strike a chord with many of our visitors.

We really just want to keep our processing venture to a level where we enjoy it and still feel the benefits. There is something extremely therapeutic about spinning whilst listening to a podcast or an ebook, or even some music. I would recommend it to anyone even if like us you struggle to find 30 spare minutes in the day. My partner usually does the carding while I spin and knit, so it’s something we do together as well.

It is also hugely rewarding to stick on a homemade headband and feed that same alpaca the next day. We also offer Animal Assisted Interventions and I have already begun to think of ways I can incorporate spinning and working with alpaca fibre into our repeat sessions for some clients.

If anyone is thinking of starting, I would recommend starting with some dog slicker brushes and a drop spindle. It’s a minimal investment and while you aren’t going to be spinning a basket full of yarn in an evening you will start to learn the important skills. Also, checkout local groups, we have a fabulous local group of spinners who meet at least monthly who swap skills (I went down the route of bribing them with free alpaca fibre in return for knowledge), and there are similar groups up and down the country (see The Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers www.wsd.org.uk).