# Name that fiber!



## meganwf (Jul 5, 2005)

I got some bags of free fiber from a coworker of my sister's -- she had a lot she knew she would never get to. Nothing is labeled and I'm fairly new to this. I'm looking for breakage and other things but this one bag (all are in feed bags or pillowcases) has some really really soft fiber that is brown and white but the staple is fairly short and I tried to card it and that made it look like dog hair. Llama? Alpaca? Do I spin it directly? There is a little vm but no lanolin feel at all. Very very soft like cat hair!

Here's a link to some pics:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/3239576305_28d9dfa9f2_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3334/3240412958_44ffb8ed4e_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3326/3239575429_471f8ef0bc_b.jpg


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## weever (Oct 1, 2006)

Well, I'm no expert at all, but those long guard hairs make me think llama. I'll wait to see what the old-timers say.


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

meganwf said:


> I got some bags of free fiber from a coworker of my sister's -- she had a lot she knew she would never get to. Nothing is labeled and I'm fairly new to this. I'm looking for breakage and other things but this one bag (all are in feed bags or pillowcases) has some really really soft fiber that is brown and white but the staple is fairly short and I tried to card it and that made it look like dog hair. Llama? Alpaca? Do I spin it directly? There is a little vm but no lanolin feel at all. Very very soft like cat hair!



It looks like alpaca to me. Especially with the white hairs. It looks a lot like the alpaca fiber I once spun a bunch of. You can spin without carding, but it is better when carded, especially to blend the white hairs with the colored hairs.

I could be wrong about the source, but that's my guess.

Have a good day!


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## meganwf (Jul 5, 2005)

Any spinning tips?


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Well to me it looks like it could be either dog hair or maybe even goat (cashmere or cashgora). The llama I have from my llamas is very soft even the guard hairs are and the staple is long all the way around, the downy underfluff is long too.

Anyway, if the staple is very short an inch or less I would suggest spinning it using the inchworm method http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/spinTech-inchworm.shtml


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I'm with Marchie. I've not had llama nor alpaca look like that (and I have a couple bags of leg alpaca fiber).

I'm thinking goat as well.


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## COSunflower (Dec 4, 2006)

Doesn't look like my alpaca either. I thought about dog too - LOL Could it be from a long haired rabbit?


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

COSunflower said:


> Doesn't look like my alpaca either. I thought about dog too - LOL Could it be from a long haired rabbit?


Angora fiber is a lot finer than that.

Have a good day!
Franco Rios


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## MTDeb (Feb 20, 2003)

It could be Shetland too.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Deb the Shetland I have has pretty long undercoat, not at all short fuzzy as that looks.


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## Bramble (Dec 11, 2008)

i have a bag of cashmere that looks just like that. needs to be dehaired.


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## Jotun (Jan 19, 2005)

cashmere is the unercoat of a goat brushed out in the spring when the goat sheds. if the fiber looks as though it has been sheared off it probably isn't cashmere. or at least is cashmere done incorrectly. otherwise this is a good suggestion in my opinion. Doesn't look like alpaca to me. deffinily isn't angora, mohair, or shetland. I raise all of these. Probably isn't from a sheep. Dog does seem possible but I think cashmere is most likely. If it is cashmere it should have a significantly smaller micron count than dog.


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## ozarkcat (Sep 8, 2004)

I don't think it's dog, the guard hair makes me think llama - maybe sheared too soon so the fiber was really short? I got a batch of that as some free stuff one time. It definitely isn't alpaca, shetland or angora - I raise both of the last two, and you just don't see guard hair like that, and certainly not that short and yet that fine. Don't know about cashmere, haven't had the fun to play with it yet. It's certainly spinable, for some definition of spinable - I spin upland cotton on occasion without a chakra wheel, you just need to turn the tension way down & twist the heck out of it.


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## MTDeb (Feb 20, 2003)

The reason I thought it might be Shetland is because I was looking through my bags of stash yesterday and a Shetland fleece I have looked exactly like it. It could be a young Shetland?? 

What about a youjng Icelandic? 

I have two cashmere goats and it doesn't look anything like them. The guard hair is way more coarse.


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## ozarkcat (Sep 8, 2004)

No, I've never seen a Shetland get guardhair like that, and I'd question Icelandic, though again, I've never had the pleasure, but it is another North European short-tail breed, so I wouldn't expect it, either. I have, though, gotten llama with guard hair mixed in & a lot of short cuts, and it looks a LOT like that - almost powdery looking downy fiber with coarse straight stuff mixed in. Just my thought on it.


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## weever (Oct 1, 2006)

Hey, yeah. What's that bitter apple spray doing in the one picture? That's a dog training thing. Did it come in the box? That might be a clue...


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

nope, not icelandic. I have a couple icelandic hogget fleeces and the tog is as soft as the thel


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## ozarkcat (Sep 8, 2004)

Can't place the last two, WIHH, but hogget is basically the term for lambswool. I wouldn't mind some enlightenment on the other two.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

LOL WIHH, that's Icelandic terminology!

The _tog_ is the longer guard wool on an Icelandic fleece, and the _thel_ is the light fine under coat. The tog is coarser, longer, and can be pulled out separately from the thel and spun into strong wool used for warps or blankets (or so I am told, I have always spun the two together). The thel can be separated and spun into a super fine wool that is amazingly soft and would make great baby clothes. 

_Hogget_ is a British term for a sheep around a year old. 

Maybe we need a Fibre Linguistics 101 sticky!


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## meganwf (Jul 5, 2005)

hee hee. The bitter apple is because of a new puppy... which isn't working out but that is a whole other story... I really don't think it is dog hair, it is way too soft. Doesn't smell at all... 

let's say it is cashmere for the heck of it: >>i have a bag of cashmere that looks just like that. needs to be dehaired. << 

What is dehaired???

I'll have some more time to play with it this weekend after the puppy goes. :Bawling:


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

frazzlehead said:


> Maybe we need a Fibre Linguistics 101 sticky!


I'm with WIHH... well, maybe not, I am totally lost! But it was fun reading!
I need a linguistics 101, not only on wool, but on accessories! (finally figured out dpn was double pointed needles!) :shrug:
(why does all this seem to fly right over my head??)


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

MamaJ I think I started a thread a year or so ago that was I think titled Parts of a Wheel. I'll see if I can find it. 

I like the idea of a thread about linguistics 

ETA: Here you go here is the thread about wheel parts.
http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=193502&highlight=Parts+of+the+whee


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

Thank you Marchwind!!!!
I am trying to learn all this stuff.... wish ya'll were closer so I could watch over your shoulder for awhile!


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## meganwf (Jul 5, 2005)

well, I tried to spin the mystery stuff and it was not great. I think i'll try and blend it with some wool for some designer yarn and see what happens!


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