October 15, 2014
Opalyn:
With the addition of Angora Rabbits to our fiber production staff, I have started blending Sweet Pea's angora wool with Luna's sheep wool. Angora wool is extremely warm and is great for small items like a scarf or gloves but if you want to make a sweater then blending it with sheep's wool means you don't have to take it off the minute you step inside.
Since this can be a confusing topic to write/read about, here is an introductory video Andrew and I did to show how to spin singles on a homemade spindle using pure sheep's wool.
Once you get things going, you draft or pull small amounts of fiber then allow the twist into the thinned area.
I blended the angora and sheep wool on a friend's drum carder and started spinning on one of my home made spindles. I started with a leader: any stable thread or yarn attached to the spindle's stick (below the whorl of a top whorl spindle) and brought it up through the hook. This thread allows twist to be stored then transferred to the drafted fibers.