Using a Blending Board to Make Alpaca Rolags - Tutorial - Expertly Dyed

In this video, I show you a few tips for making alpaca rolags with a blending board. Alpaca is usually a slippery fiber, so it's important to take care when carding it if you want smooth rolags for smooth yarns. It's also an important detail when you're preparing your rolags for longdraw--a well-prepared rolag makes the process much easier.
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[@hmelonify]

It is wonderful because I kind of did all of this without knowing ... I started spinning with Alpaca when I was learning.. Thank you for your video

[@MalonsShop]

Very helpful and informative, adding it to my playlist for when i have a chance to work w/ alpaca. Thank you for sharing!

[@MalonsShop]

MalonsShop I did have a q.. I'm a real newbie w/ the blending board and brush the fiber on(i use a dog brush) rather than place it on with a paint brush. I find that for the most part it realigns the fibers to go in the same direction, however in spots it does the total opposite and makes clumps or misaligned fiber. Is there a way to not have this happen(or a better way to make smoother rolags)? Also, what would the general product be by brushing it on this way vs using your paint brush technique.

[@ExpertlyDyed]

MalonsShop I have a dog brush sort of tool for my blending board, so I'll have to give this a try. I started using the paintbrush and really liked it. I tend to use the dog brush tool for cleaning. I can see where the fibers might get misaligned, so I'll do some test strips to see if I can better answer your question! (remind me in a week if I haven't gotten back to you). :)

[@MalonsShop]

***** That would be awesome, thank you! :)

[@marinadombrowski28]

Love this video! Can't wait to try with some alpaca fleece in my stash. Can you do a video about long draw? I've been trying to learn for a while and am having trouble with keeping the fiber controlled. Love your video series! Some of the best quality and intelligently conveyed stuff I've seem on here! Keep it up!

[@lizkimber]

I second that. I can long draw but it tends to be thick and thin and i feel on many levels well done long draw truly is still a bit of voodoo

[@ExpertlyDyed]

Marina Dombrowski I could probably do a Daily Vlog video about it, since I'm not good enough to show anyone else how to do it. At the very least, I can share what I know. I'll keep that in mind! Thanks for watching and the praise!

[@ExpertlyDyed]

Liz Kimber It's tough to get a smooth yarn with the longdraw at first, but it is definitely possible! I also know that teachers like to offer this tip to beginners: woolen yarn will tend to be ever so slightly thick and thin when compared to a highly compressed, smoothly spun worsted yarn. I think it helps you love your yarn as you make it. It was like magic for me too, when I first learned that I couldn't do it. :)

[@lizkimber]

To be honest, i think seeing someone admit they dont feel they totally have cracked it, that its still a bit thick and thin and so on helps those of us trying and not being happy with it understand its ok. Far too many videos just make out you just let a bit of twist and "whoohoo" the yarn and look perfection.

[@ExpertlyDyed]

Liz Kimber This is one of the reasons why I love KZbin. I don't have to rely on movie magic to show you the process--I can do it live and make it as long as I need it to be. I have practiced enough so I am able to work on a huge project (like the Yuna tutorial) step-by-step and show you everything you need to know about the process at each step. It isn't perfect each time, and sometimes I make the same sheepish mistakes as others (like using a knitting needle to remove my batts when I say repeatedly not to do that)--I'm human, not perfect. There is something to be gained in watching someone else do something, even if it's a beginner watching a beginner. :)

[@PineLakeChic]

Thank you for this video! I am new processing my own fibre and this is very useful. Is there any benefit in hand carding the alpaca fibre prior to using the blending board to blend it with wool (from combed top)?

[@ExpertlyDyed]

Yes, if you want to have a really smooth blend of alpaca and wool, I recommend carding the alpaca first. That way it'll draft more smoothly with the wool, which is already well combed (because it is combed top). I made a lovely alpaca/merino series of rolags that were spun long draw but I didn't card the alpaca first. The result was a gorgeous brown and white yarn that looked like vanilla ice cream drizzled with hot chocolate sauce. If you card the alpaca and place it in thin layers with your wool top, you'll create more of a heathered yarn instead--that would also be beautiful. If in doubt, do a quick experiment with your cards; just treat the hand card like a mini blending board and produce 1 rolag of each type. Spin them and see which you prefer!

[@ExpertlyDyed]

As requested! Here are my tips for carding alpaca on a blending board and making super soft, very draftable rolags. :) Thanks for watching and sharing!

[@sammijoywilson1068]

I had an issue with the carding brushes I bought. The wool from my white angora buck came off with an ugly grey cast caused by the metal teeth on the brush. Does this always happen with carding brushes? I think I would like to try your blending board method, maybe the wool from my bunny will stay white this way. Do you have any advise about this to help me? I am so new at this I don't know what I am doing. I love watching your videos as they are so informative. Thanks for making them.

[@ExpertlyDyed]

Sammi Joy Wilson Your message didn't show up in my inbox, so I'm sorry for the delayed reply! I know what you're talking about, since it happened the first time I used my dog brushes. They're all plastic and metal, so I rinsed mine off really well. If yours are made of wood, you may want to use some scrap wool and compressed air to get the metal dust off. You shouldn't have a problem with this happening after your first couple of uses. Lots of people use hand cards for processing angora, so this seems like an anomaly. :) Did you wash the angora after carding? I'm pretty sure the metal dust will wash away. If it doesn't, you can try dyeing the wool/yarn to mask the gray tone. You can use my blending board method with your hand cards and just make fewer rolags! Just position the card so that the tines point away from you, then roll however many rolags you need to make to remove all the fiber from the hand card. If you pluck your angora, this is a great way to reduce the processing so you can spin it. Plucked angora is already well separated, so it's easier to prepare than sheared angora. We're all new at some point, so I'm glad I can make these videos accessible to so many people. Thanks for watching!

[@outsidethebox3]

Hello, Hello, Thank You so much for making this video. Every blog post, video post, DIY videos purchased, Craftsy class and book read is really opening my world to spinning and now Alpaca. I was hoping to see you spin it while giving tips. I'm concerned about spinning it because some people have talked about it being hard to keep twist in it. They couldn't get it to stay together. Is this because of the fibers being slippery? I was wondering too if you have to spin it very thin, if so maybe some are spinning to thick? I'd love to know if there are any words of wisdom you could share. Thanks again, I so appreciate the video and you taking a request. :>)

[@ExpertlyDyed]

outsidethebox3 Welcome to the wide world of fiber arts! I've learned more of the depth our craft goes since first picking up a spindle...there's a lot to learn, and the world is expansive. :) Alpaca is a bit slippery, but not so much as angora and silk. I think it falls somewhere between wool and silk, though it has decidedly similar characteristics of wool and silk. It's a very interesting fiber. You can spin it thick or thin, keep it as singles or ply it. If you go with singles, you can make them all the way up to worsted quite easily, but you could probably get a thicker gauge if your staple is longer (around the 3-4 inch mark minimum). For plies, the sky is the limit. I have found that the strength of making a thick single from alpaca lies in the washing/finishing phase of the yarn-making process. If you slightly felt/full the yarn while you're setting the twist, the alpaca will bloom, and remain a sturdy yarn without sacrificing loft. This will help lock in the fibers so it doesn't shed--to some extent, you can do this with angora, but you probably wouldn't want a 100% bulky weight angora yarn...hot! I haven't experienced difficulties keeping twist in alpaca as I spin it, but it may require more twist keeping it from drafting apart than a wool of similar length and crimp value. My best advice, of course, is to try your ideas out with alpaca and see what happens!

[@Syntdea]

You mentioned that you're working on your longdraw technique. I've been working on mine too. Could you please make a video on that?

[@ExpertlyDyed]

Syntdea I think I could do some kind of 'let's spin' video, just showing you what I do. It wouldn't be a tutorial, but maybe I'm doing something which will click for you? Here's what I mentioned to someone else: "I could probably do a Daily Vlog video about it, since I'm not good enough to show anyone else how to do it. At the very least, I can share what I know. I'll keep that in mind!"

[@Syntdea]

***** That would be great. There's always something to learn from how someone else does something.

[@ExpertlyDyed]

Syntdea Agreed!

[@Kieron2104]

Could you please show how to spin the alpaca rolags

[@ExpertlyDyed]

kieron pegg I can show you how to spin them using two different methods (semi-worsted or woollen), though I'm not very good at woollen spinning. Now that I'm back in town and won't be leaving until I head off to school in a month, I *should* be able to film this video later this week (among others I need to film). :)

[@hazeluzzell]

If you were going to mush it up, why did you go to the trouble of preserving the locks in the wash?

[@ExpertlyDyed]

If you take the extra effort to keep the locks preserved, it affords you more processing options. Also, some people may want to take the extra care to keep their locks oriented for the board so they can achieve color blocks. There is a ton of variation in how you can wash, prepare, and spin fibers. I'm sorry I didn't clarify why you might want to preserve locks in the wash. For this video, I only used a small amount of the alpaca so I wanted to optimize the range of options available to me.