Fiber heaven, and some piggy pics

Saturday: Rainy, cool, gloomy. But there is goodness to share.

First, I updated the A Piece of Vermont with three colorways of Panda Superwash. Here we have Fern Lake:

May Day:

And River Rocks:

If I ever finish my April socks, my next pair will be in Panda Superwash. It's nice and shiny and makes a good warm-weather sock project, in my opinion. But what with the spring weather and the longer days, knitting has hit the back burner, I'm afraid.

Fiber, however, is right up front. I just put hand-blended batts up in the shop. These are primo fiber: 65 percent Tussah silk, 35 percent alpaca from Champlain Valley Alpacas right here in Vermont. I processed the raw alpaca here, dyed it and then blended it with the silk that I dyed separately. The way the colors end up totally floors me. Check it out.

This silk:

plus this alpaca:

Becomes these Champlain Sunset batts:

You can't see all the color variations that well, but they're in there. Here's the fiber still on the carder after the second pass:

And this silk:

And this alpaca:

becomes these Shore batts:

My friend Jenn was kind enough to spin up a tiny sample of the Champlain Sunset:

I Andean-plied her singles and made a very dumb (too wide, too short) swatch:

It doesn't do the fiber justice, but you can see a bit of the sheen from all the silk. So soft.

Anyway, I've put a bunch of batts (plus or minus 2 ounces each). Honestly, they're pricey. But the alpaca, being local, cost more than the silk, plus I processed it from raw fleece to fiber. But if you're a spinner looking for a unique and really luxurious fiber to spin, this might be the ticket. I'm still swooning from touching it all day yesterday.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: Piglets!

I didn't get such great shots, as the lighting is low and I had a backlighting situation going on. But I lightened these up a bit so you could see the growing babies. I have nothing to add to these, so just enjoy them and get on with your day.

Comments

[Dee]

Those little piglets sure do grow quickly.

The colors in the two Shore batts are beautiful.

[Alotta]

The fiber looks good enough to eat!! Beautiful. And thanks for the piggies. Brought a smile to my face on a gloomy Saturday in New Jersey.

[trek]

That third one had me thinking of a caption:

"Aha! There you are. See how strong I am: I lifted this with just my nose."

[JessaLu]

Lovely colors - I wish Alpaca and I could get along better. ;o)

[CindyCindy]

I absolutely love the alpaca/silk rovings. Perfectly beautiful. As for the piglets? They all look like Babe to me. I'll bet they talk to the dogs.

[Rosa]

great pictures of everything! I love those batts. I am trying to figure out a way to buy a drum carder to make batts out of all these silk fibers I own. Thanks for the inspiration in all your handdyeing.

[Sara]

Beautiful yarn, batts, the whole ball of wax! You do nice stuff...
I'll be checking things out...

The piglets have pink ears! They are too cute. Can't you tell I missed my calling - I probably should have been on a farm or something as I love animals so very much.

[janna]

Cute piggies, and gorgeous fiber! It almost makes me want to learn to spin... almost....

[Manise]

Those piglets are so cute it hurts! The last photo makes me think of Charlotte's Web...

Those batts are beautiful!

[(formerly) no-blog-rachel]

Damn, those batts are gorgeous! I'll have to tell Jasmin she needs to go shopping. :)

[Sylvia]

Jessie, for what you're selling, the price is very reasonable! I really like the way the burgundy works in the pink blend and the golden yellow enhances the blue blend. Lovely.

The piglets are grand. They look very happy, too.

[Laura]

Your blended batts are just Gorgeous. I might need some of that.

Beautiful fiber. Adorable piggies. Life is perfect in Vermont, huh? ;)

[Amanda]

I don't know how often I can gush about how cute those piglets are before you start to worry about me, but I'm just going to say it once more. *swoon* So darling! *especially that one looking up at you from under the piece of wood. ;)

The fiber is gorgeous, as well, of course. I'm amazed how all those crazy colors come together to give such depth!

[Carol]

Babies and batts and yarn oh my! I need a bigger bank account!

[Andrea (noricum)]

Those piglets are the sweetest little things!!! That Shore batt is drop dead gorgeous! I bet all the grazing animals are enjoying that lush, green grass I saw in the last post. :)

[Susan]

Your batts are gorgeous! If you continue making them, I know that I'll end up purchasing one! Love the little piggies too!