Angora...Heaven Spun!

Cute Angora Rabbit


Snow day today! I'm going to spend part of the day working some angora into some of the Maine Island Sheep fleece that I've been carding. I'm carding and spinning this full fleece for a sweater I will knit. The process so far has been a lot of fun. The other day as I was spinning I decided that when I finally do knit this sweater I want to knit a wool/angora band around the bottom edge and sleeves. That means I need to spin a few skeins of an wool/angora blend. To do that I need to card some angora into some wool. I just think a few bands of this blend will feel nice and look pretty. Angora makes a nice "halo" of fluff. I won't put it up by my neck. Don't need extra warm fluff there! I considered blending angora throughout the entire sweater but it'll make the sweater way too hot. Angora is a lot warmer than wool. Great for hat, scarf, or gloves/mittens... but a bit too warm for a sweater, at least for me it is.

While searching how to card angora I found a great website. It's got some great basic information on just about everything regarding spinning including quite a few video clips. I enjoyed the clips on the different spinning and plying techniques. There was a bit about using a drum carder, which is what I was looking for when I stumbled onto this site. http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/whoweare.shtml

Harvesting and spinning angora fiber. I had mixed feelings while I watched this harvesting but I know from friends who have rabbits that if you didn't harvest angora's fiber the rabbit would get sick. Something that helps me as I watch. I must say this woman is quite a spinner! Beautiful job and on a very basic wheel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oUw5YqYSRI&feature=player_embedded **Scroll down to see this video clip.

That's it for now. Off to card, spin, and knit. I may even order some seeds for some dye plants. I was going to make this an indigo blue sweater but have decided to go for more colors. Much more on that at a later date. For now, carding, spinning, and knitting sounds like a pretty fun day to me!

Drive carefully if you're on the road today and if you're home, happy spinning and knitting!
Mary