While it’s not exactly a “New Year’s Resolution,” I sat down awhile back and tried to come up with a list of ten fibers I’d like to try this year. They are . . .
- Cotton
- Flax
- Corn (Yes, they have corn roving. They have bamboo too—what did you expect?)
- Bamboo (see reverse of above)
- Ramie (Read about it here)
- Soysilk
- Mohair (the fuzzyness)
- Angora Rabbit
- And two “Wild Cards.” You never know. I might discover something very interesting!
I happen to have cotton, bamboo, and flax sitting in my fiber bins waiting to be explored.
Ta-da!
The others will have to wait until funds and time become available. I have worked with a mohair blend before, but not the pure stuff. The goal here is to branch out into some new techniques and materials, make mistakes, have some fun, and maybe turn out some usable yarns.
But I don’t want to just spin them for the sake of spinning them. I plan to come up with individual projects to go with the yarns. Partly so I don’t waste the fibers, and partly because I am running out of room for stash yarns. Necessity of storage is the mother of planning.
Especially because I’ll have fourteen-odd pounds of fiber joining the throng.
Well, there’s always hemp and seaweed . . . and cashmere!
I’ve also heard that industrious pet lovers spin their dog or cat hair into yarn and then knit something from it.
Ooh, I forgot about seaweed. *mental note*
Our dog happens to have short, coarser hair. Not good spinning stuff. Believe me, I’ve thought about that possibility, in case of extreme necessity for something to spin.