I’m spinning Llama. Its a fiber that I’ve worked with before but not often. One hundred percent llama blends are a bit hard to come by, but I know a source. As it turns out… so do you!

Llamamama, a regular commenter around here, is a surrogate mommy to a bunch of llamas. Can you just imagine how much work that must be? Llamas are Big. They eat mass quantities of grass and generate equally mass quantities of poo. But they also generate nice fleeces and Llamamama sent me some to play with and spin up.

This batt comes from Vulcan. According to the note that came with the fiber and the picture, Vulcan eats constantly. Told ya. I bet he poos constantly too.

The batt came “raw” and that is just how I’m spinning it. Llamas, unlike sheep, do not secrete oil. Their fleeces don’t have the grease, which is actually lanolin oil, that you find on raw sheep fleeces. So you can usually count on a llama fleece to be cleaner and fluffier and less sticky. (Btw, the same applies to alpaca fleeces.) Vulcan, however, was exceptionally clean at the time of his shearing. His fleece has some bits of grass it in but that’s about all. And there is almost no smell. I suspect that Vulcan is very a very spoiled and pampered llama.

So I’m spinning the fiber just the way it came to me and I’ll wash it after its yarn. I’m spinning it fine, at a light fingering weight on a Turkish drop spindle.

Right now I’m planning to ply with two singles together but I may change my mind and make it a three ply. The fiber takes a twist very easily so I’m anticipating getting a nice tight ply in the finished yarn.

I’ll have more on this little spinning adventure as I go. But if you’re already interested in trying out some llama for yourself, don’t restrain that impulse. You can contact Llamamama, aka Kris, through her facebook or through her etsy store. A portion of her sales go to the Southwest Llama Rescue.

Isn’t it wonderful that there are people out there who rescue llamas from bad homes? People who are not me? I certainly think so. I enjoy spinning the fleeces from cute wooly creatures but I don’t much enjoy raising them. I’m already bullied and pushed around by two house cats. Can you imagine what I mess I’d make out of raising 600 pound llamas? Me either. So I’ll leave the llama-raising (and alpaca-raising and sheep-raising and such) to Kris and other competent souls.