# clean llama fleece ..now what



## JillyG (Jan 6, 2014)

I have lovely clean fresh smelling llama fleece from two very large llamas.
Now what do I do?
I want to end up with something knittable. 
I have never gone from animal to garment but would like to try. I have been reading through on carding verses combing and getting very confused.

can someone tell me what it is I need? I see cards and combs of various sizes and styles and get more confused.
I do not mind making the investment if it the right thing. I also have wool from 3 sheep soaking that I also will be hopefully turning into something.
Thanks


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I would recommend you begin with handcards, although combs are nice, as a beginner I think they may be more than you need right now. I'm sure there are those who will disagree . Anyway, just about any hand cards that say they are "fine" or maybe a "medium" would work. The "fine" are intended for the Alpaca, and finer wools but you can really use them for anything. The coarser cards may damage finer fibers. The main thing with using any handcards is that you do not want to overload them with too much fibers.

Is this the fleece you washed?


----------



## JillyG (Jan 6, 2014)

Yes.
It seems to have turned out lovely.
Do you think if I got the "medium" I would be able to use them for the sheep as well?
Any recommendation on brand?


----------



## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

I have curved Strauch handcards and love them, though I have used Louet and Ashford. :shrug: I do not find much difference in them at all - so go with whatever you like, whatever is available and whatever suits your pocketbook.


----------



## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

MW is right. If I was just starting out, I'd probably go with hand carders. Combs take some practice and its a time consuming process when you are learning and just want to get some yarn made so you can get your project going. 

Food for thought for the future...I recently got my mitts on some llama fleeces. They can be single or double coated and since mine are all double coated, I chose combs when I felt the fleeces. They feel soft and when I ran my hand on the cut side of the fleece, it was against the skin soft!  I want that! The outer coat is coarser so I decided to pull that out. In my fleeces, the outer coat is 5" and the inner coat is 2 1/2 to 3". It was easy enough to just pinch the cut end of some hair and pull on the outer part of the coat and I did that with some of it. I also took some of it and slid the cut side over the comb teeth then pulled on the longest hairs of the coat. That worked fine too. But, since my allergies are killer, I ended up washing it. Then I loaded it on combs, got the hairs all lined up again and pulled out the longest. I set those aside for another project. The soft stuff...YUMMMM! It's like getting to the yummy center of a Tootsie Pop!  When I was learning to separate coats like this, my first fleece (churro) took me 4 days and I worked my butt off because there was actually 4 kinds of hair to separate (short kemp, outer coat, inner coat and a middle fiber). Next fleece, 2 days. Next fleece, 1 day. It takes time to learn, but the work is worth it.


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Shop around for price. I think medium would work fine on wool. But if you are going to do more of the finer fibers, Angora, Alpaca, Merino,..... you may want to get the fine cards. Places to shop would include Paradise Fibers, The Woolery, eBay, Susan's Fiber Shop, the list is endless. You might also check Etsy and Ravelry. Howard Brush makes most of the carding cloth used by companies for handcards, drum cards, ... I have a pair of Howard Brush handcards, and I love them. I don't know if you can buy direct from them. Just shop around.


----------



## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

If cost is a consideration, you can get started with dog slicker brushes from the feed store. They aren't as fast or as good as actual hand cards, but they only cost a fraction. However, since you have several full fleeces, you'll probably want to get real hand cards.

Do you know anyone with a drum carder you can borrow? Alpaca cards up quickly and easily with those. But, hand cards are a good start.


----------



## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

I stalked Ravelry when I was looking for hand cards and found an almost new set for 40.00 and that included the shipping. You kind have have to be there 5 minutes after they post or such deals get snapped up but deals can be found...


----------



## JillyG (Jan 6, 2014)

Ended up get these, Howard Brush 72 TPI Hand Carders.

Hope I did OK they were not cheap.
But I hope to have wool every year and maybe even the llama every year. If all goes well.


----------



## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

Those are a good choice of general purpose cards. Have you carded any of your llama fleece yet? What are you going to spin it with? Did you wash it? I don't know about llamas, but alpacas seem to love to bathe in dirt. At least, it seems that way when you wash their fiber. Do llamas do the same thing?


----------



## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

From the look of my llama fleeces, yep. Tumbler.


----------



## JillyG (Jan 6, 2014)

I have "played" around with the llama but I think I will do the wool first. I feel like it will be less challenging than the llama. Since I am totally new to this getting the nack on wool might be the way to go.
I did pull off some wool and rinse it a few times and let it dry and tried to card it. It seems easier. I seems to hold together better than the llama.
I plan to use a drop spindle. I have some rovings of both wool and llama, or alpaca, so I know what I am supposed to end up with. I guess i will end up with rolags not rovings though, correct?


----------



## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Wool is generally the best way to begin. Llama and Alpaca can be very slippery.


----------



## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Wool will hold together better than the llama because it has crimp. This is also why it is better to mix wool with alpaca and llama for makeing something such as a sweater. The crimp gives the wool it's "memory" and makes it hold shape better, especially if you wash the garment.All fibers have these diffrent distinctions, super crimpy to bone straight. That is why wool is probably the easest to learn to spin on.


----------

