Fleece cleaning time

Picked up the mohair locks on Saturday and paid for the alpaca fleece to blend with it.  My fleece cleaning skills are not as strong as they used to be.  As alpaca doesn't have lanolin one doesn't need hot water to clean the fleece.  I mistakenly let the water get to hot and agitated a batch.  It is not a very pretty white felted mess - ugh!  My second batch was warm water which hasn't felted but is not as white as I would like it.  I'm thinking of switching to cleaning the Shetland fleeces in order to get my cleaning temperature right.  Luckily I have a lot of mohair and can do an 80/20 blend of alpaca for the commissioned yarn.  Hoping to start blending the fibers with my new dog combs - need to research this technique more.  I don't want to make them into rolags but more of a top fiber.  We shall see how it goes.

Alpaca Fleece

Mohair Fleece

The dog hair hat is progressing.  I discovered last week it was too short so have extended the length of the hat.  Found another pattern design for the bib edge of the hat which I will start on tonight too.  It is a very fluffy hat with the dog fibers puffing out to give it a furry look.  The buyer likes it very much and that is the important thing.



Gray Shetland

Black Shetland

My Shetland fleeces arrived and they are so beautiful.  Both came from sheep at Pinon Wood ranch in Southern Colorado.  As each weighs only around 2 lbs I am going to process them at home versus sending them to the mill.  I will reserve the mill for alpaca and wensleydale fleeces as they will be larger. 

On the sales front I sold a ruffle scarf to a buyer in Sao Paulo, Brazil this month.  It is always exciting to have international sales!  I also received positive feedback on the trio of blended roving that was purchased on EBay.  April sales all came from EBay my other venues have been non existent.  I am still making lots of yarn though and keeping busy.  I N-plied my alpaca/milk roving and it turned out rather well for my first venture using that technique.  Just spun up some dyed "virgin wool" roving that I purchased from Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins.  It spun up easily with a texture that reminded me of felting fiber but smoother.  The colors were purple and burnt yellow which blended well - it will be plied later this week.

Sunshine can chase away the blues

It was warm and sunny in Denver and the alpacas/llamas were all sunbathing in between halter training sessions.  My spirits were definitely lifted today and hopefully will remain so throughout the coming weeks. 

Wool Alpaca Scarf

On the project side I have finished the second woven scarf and it has received encouraging feedback.  All of the dog hair has been spun into a single and will be plied tomorrow.  I have both woven scarves washed and drying along with the plied white Wensleydale yarn.  The bag of yarns destined for the shop Wild Yarns have new labels and invoice ready to go.  I think I shall be concentrating on the second knit scarf and spinning up a couple of skeins of alpaca/milk protein yarn (must diminish the stash).

Cheryl at Recycled Lamb was very encouraging today and shared that March thru July tend to be slow sales months as many of our customers are working in the gardens.  It seems that these two hobbies tend to go together which I can agree with as it describes me.  Although it is only March in Colorado and much to early to be planting in gardens.  We have had several days/weeks in the 60s and 70s which is not normal and I'm sure a huge snowstorm will hit us before the end of May.

A weaving class or two is definitely in my future as it is not as intuitive to me as knitting.  Need to learn how to make my edges appear even and how to better carry yarn along the edge in a multi color scarf.  Ranch life definitely has a far better purpose in life than corporate America.  After all if you don't show up to work on a ranch it could mean injury or hunger for the animals on the property.

Side note the new orchid (shade loving plant) is still alive and well and opening up to bloom any day now!  The air plant is also alive and thriving in its new home.

2012 Is Going Well

January is turning into the best sales month Herie7 Natural Fiber Treasures has ever had.  We are up to five sales with fiber being sold on Etsy, EBay and Ancient Treasures Yarn Shop. I will be shipping yarn to the UK next week - so exciting!  Still adjusting to EBay payment policies but at least it is not a surprise.  My second sale on the site was from an auction winner.  Did you know that when you win an auction you have up to 4 days to actually pay for your merchandise?  I am in holding pattern to ship the order until actual payment has been sent to me.  Not too worried as the buyer recently purchased the fiber on the right.

 I learned some new marketing skills this week by posting the yarn shop on Yelp and starting the process to be listed on Google Places.  Why is it that these ventures are never as easy as they seem?  Still like Twitter as my favorite means of communicating over FB and yes even the blog.

The lilac slippers are finished and I am 90% finished with the wool slippers with alpaca edging.  The new camera was used today to take updated product photos and I even used my new tripod case.  Check out the Etsy shop tomorrow for updated product photos.

Tomorrow I meet with the organizer of the craft fair and have dedicated items for the group photos to give to her.  Looking forward to going to the National Western Stock Show next weekend at the Denver Coliseum to meet the yak ranchers and sheep ranchers.  There might be some new fiber in my future.  The year is looking very bright and I am in my second month of being in a profit standpoint.  Hopefully this trend continues - off to knit and spin!