My very own refurbished spindle spinning wheel!

Squee!!  Guess what I have!

My very own refurbished spindle spinning wheel!

Isn't it cool! It has a few little things that still need a little tweaking, but it's quite nice! 

Here is the before.  My parents found the wheel at a swap meet locally, but it did not have the mother of all, whorl or spindle.  

Loading up the new find from the swap meet.

We looked it up, and it looks like it very well could be a tradition Ashford wheel.  After buying just a few supplies, my dad was awesome and turned a brand new whorl and mother of all.  (The two tall posts that hold the spindle and whorl.)

How pretty did he make those?  I love them!

Newly custom hand turned whorl and mother of all posts...beauties!

We decided to start with a spindle spinning wheel.  It is a great way for us to modify this wheel to get something up and running and I am loving it.

Playing with the new wheel. Excuse the mess....

I am still getting the hang of it a little, but as soon as I jump off this computer, I am carding a bunch of fiber and getting to it!  Can't wait!  Thanks, Dad and Mom!

And I just have to add....this is how we roll.  There are ways to do things outside the box.  I didn't feel I could afford a brand new wheel, but I really wanted to have one.  Initially we were going to make this cute Thrifty Fox spindle wheel from these plans we bought on Etsy, but then happened upon this wheel in need of love.  So here is my little soapbox speech - If you want it bad enough, you make it happen.  It is okay to not have THE in-thing.  What matter is you are trying.  No regrets. Oh yeah, and it also helps to have awesome supportive people in your life. (In this case, the hubby and parents!)  So surround yourself with supportive people as often as you can. (Okay, stepping off the box now...thanks for listening.)

Stay tuned for some yummy yarn from my new toy!

Ash

Holiday sale at Fiberton!

It is definitely the holiday season!  This evening it even rained here on the Central Coast of Cali, which is kind of the closest we get to winter weather!  I wasn't sure I was ready for the cooler weather, but I broke out my big crazy bulky knit house socks and my sweaters and I am feeling pretty good about it now.  Plus, it is kind of the best time of the year to be in the fiber arts!

Speaking of which, we totally want to extend the fun and cheer to our awesome blog readers with a little sale at our Etsy shop. 

We already have a deal going right now that if you buy a hook or needle organizer, an upcycled project bag, or a ball of yarn you get a free hand carved crochet hook.  BUT...drumroll please...for all our awesome blog readers, we are offering free shipping! Just use the coupon code "secret" (wink wink) at checkout now until Dec 18th! Check out our shop here!

I have been working on new yarns which will be up on the shop tomorrow, as well as knitting some cowls with fibers we spun and lovely chunky buttons we made.

Drop spinning alpaca by the tree.

Knitting in the evening (note all the yarn related objects in the background...haha!)

We hope the season treats you well!  

Ash and Ric

Our exciting yarn release!

This has been a day I have been quite excited about...our yarn release day!  So, without further delay, I would like to introduce you to our new line of completely hand processed and hand spun yarns!

Ok...maybe a little further delay...I feel like I should give a little background.  But skip down if you don't want the backstory and just want to drool over yarn.  I will completely understand!

I have been into yarn for a large part of my life.  My great grandmother taught me how to crochet from a very young age (I think I was 11) and I loved it.  Later I taught myself how to knit so I could make a variety of fabrics with my yarn crafting.  It was always really quite difficult for me to leave any yarn store without at least one skien of yarn.  So when we started talking about starting our own business, I was quick to pitch the fiber farm with hand processed yarn idea.  And that was before I'd even learned how to spin yarn.  I knew that I would love spinning, because the end product was YARN!  How could I not love it?

And after a great shearing season with all the wonderful alpaca folks in the area, and after successfully breeding 4 more angora rabbits, it was time to get down to business and spin us some yarn.  And even though it has been a bit slower than I would have liked, I am excited to release the first of our lovely line of yarns, with many more to come.  It has taught me so much about the animals we get our fiber from, the extensive process it takes to hand make yarn from start to finish, the qualities of each fiber and how they work together.  I must say that I am most excited about our alpaca and angora blends.  So soft, with a lovely halo, and as close to hypoallergenic as you can get when you have natural fiber from animals.

    

    

These are our blends so far of 50/50 angora and alpaca fiber.  I love the colors...the brownish red alpaca or light grey alpaca with the white angora are just too much fun.   These ones are both a worsted weight.  The hubby has been helping with the winding them into lovely center pull balls and packaging them up so they are all ready to go when they find their new home.

    

This brown is straight alpaca and is a neat light brown with red hues.  It is a bulky weight yarn.

   

And this lovely black yarn is 100% llama fiber.  While it has a slightly courser feel, it is still surprisingly soft.  I would compare it more to the feel of a sheep's wool with a little more guard hairs. It would make a very warm scarf or squishy rug or addition to a lovely blanket.  I am currently knitting a shawl out of some single ply and can't wait to try it out.  It is turning out quite nice!

If you are interested in learning more about any of the yarns, we have linked all the pictures to their corresponding listing.  We would love to hear your feedback, too!

What is on the horizon?  Some lovely black and white blend of angora and alpaca, and in a month or so we will be shearing bunnies to get some new angora colors to blend...stay tuned!

Ash

Alpaca Shearing Fun Time!

Alpaca Shearing Fun Time!

posted May 1, 2015, 9:08 PM by Fiberton Acres [ updated May 1, 2015, 9:13 PM ]


Ok, I know I promised you more about Fiberton in a previous blog post, but I have been
busy the past week with something FARM related.... alpaca shearings!



Now, had you asked me when I worked in politics if you thought in the future I'd be traveling around the county, going to random people's houses to help someone shear their alpacas in 90 degree weather and enjoy it, I would say....well, I'd probably say that it would fun. But I'm sure I would be surprised by the question. I mean, even now trying to explain what I am doing to folks it seems rather strange. "What are you doing this week?" "Oh, I am heading out about 30 minutes drive from where I live to this ranch that has 30 alpacas and work ropes while someone shears them. It's a blast!"



And it's seriously true. I love it. Last year we went to a shearing kind of by accident. We met someone with alpacas, and told them we were interested in fiber arts and fiber animals. They invited us out to their upcoming shearing, and when we arrived, we were immediately put to work. I was on the ropes, helping to secure the alpaca so they would be safe while they were shorn. Turns out I am not half bad at it, and the shearers asked if I might join them at other shearings. I had so much fun meeting the owners of the alpacas, as well as chatting and joking with the shearers, that this year, I made sure that I was invited back. (AKA - I totally asked everyone if I could come again.)




Sunday through Thursday I had so much fun traveling all over the place, enjoying the warm weather, windows rolled down, blasting music until we rolled up to a house, where I'd don my gloves and head over to help with ropes, chat with people and play with alpacas. I'd bear the smelly green spit and occasional knee in pee to laugh with the folks around me, and more often than not get to bring home some of the spoils of fiber to play with at home. We would always come home completely filthy, which makes taking a shower and veging in front of the tv so very rewarding.



We finished our last day yesterday with the awesome shearers, but they move on to other cities all over the country. Gotta say, both the hubby and I are a bit jealous. I am sure if we did it longer we might feel differently, but I'd like to think not. We are already looking forward to next year. Now to figure out what goodies to make with these bags of lovely fiber.


Ash

PS - If you are in the market for folks that will take care of your alpaca and make you smile while they shear, or if you want to check out some pretty awesome stuff made from fiber they sheared, then definitely hit them up at www.shornstore.com!