Sunday, August 19, 2012

The hardneck garlic, Killarney Red, cleaned up, came out to about 7 lbs. I planted less than a lb. What I planted was very nice sized eating garlic, not seed garlic, I didn't tend it as I should have, and so only one or two of the bulbs is the same size as what I planted. Clearly, next time I need to use seed garlic, weed and water it more faithfully in order to get nicer bulbs. Still, it's edible and this is the garlic that was grown for personal use.

Not happy with the delightfully soft, gentle brown alpaca fleece that I have. My friend says this fleece is "tender", that it has brittle tips that break off. This could be nutritional, stress related (for example, if the alpaca was castrated while he was in fleece, that would make the fiber a smaller, weaker diameter in that time frame in the fleece, so it would break at that point) or could be due to my handling of it. She uses a dehairing machine that doesn't do well with soft, fine fiber. I used hand cards. The fiber is exceptionally long, about 6 inches! At that length, it could well be that it has gotten sunburned on the tips. Another factor in play here could be that I am spinning it too finely (can try a larger diameter). Or, maybe the fiber is not suited to carding because it is very fine and soft. I will try spinning it directly from the lock and see how that works out. It is so deliciously soft that I'm not ready to give up on it yet. The alpaca who made this fleece has been slated for dog food this winter....if I can find out why his fleece is this way and solve this, there is a possibility that I could buy/get him and rescue him from that fate....

Scanning the art has not been going well. I know: how hard could it be? More difficult than I thought it would be, that's how. :-/

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