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Tuesday, July 9, 2013
7-26-12
Dusty Moon - Blanket, shear date unknown, shearer unknown, Turquoise Trail Alpacas - 3.5 lbs. White Male Samples tested Grade 2 - about a 21 micron. Very dense, brightness above average, about a 4. Wonderful architecture, beautiful crimp style. 2nd cuts not too bad, 3" - 4" staple, will process WL. As I skirted I realized this animal has quite prevalent primaries throughout. Wound up processing as WL3 - could not put it in the WL2 bin
Dusty Moon - Blanket, shear date unknown, shearer unknown, Turquoise Trail alpacas - 2.8 lbs White Male I believe this must be a "younger" fleece than the previous fleece. It is smaller and the micron is finer. Density, brightness and architecture very much the same between the two fleeces. Again, strong presence of primaries, secondary fibers grade at about a 20 micron, but primaries are strong enough to create problem with processing. Longer staple, can process as WR. Not sure what to do.
[Sorters note: I put these fleeces aside since I just couldn't decide what to do with them. In an on-line conversation, I heard Wini LeBrecque state that having fleeces dehaired works wonders and you should process fleeces like these based on the secondaries and be sure to have them dehaired. So that's what I ultimately did.]
Dusty Moon - Neck, shear date unknown shearer unknown, Turquoise Trail Alpacas - 2.8 lb.s White Male. Yep - I reweighed it - 2.8 lbs of neck fiber. Badly chopped up with second cuts - why don't the shearers get that neck fiber is perfectly useable if they don't chop it to bits! Density is off the charts - explains the weight I suspect. The fleece seems less bright than the others and the secondaries are stronger - 23-24 micron - again loaded with strong primaries. Still, I suspect this may be an "older" fleece. Short staple. Processed some to WL$, but most was trash or rug due to second cuts.
Benita - Blanket, 5-4-11, Pete Connelly - Dando Luz Alpacas - 2.6 lbs. White female. this fleece was skirted for sale and has been in the showroom for while. Solid WL4 - average brightness, Very dense, great architecture. Tips are a little brittle, negatively impacts the handle but good consistency throughout.
7-27-12
MoMo - Blanket, 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - Dando luz Alpacas - 3.8 lbs. White female. Long staple, 4" - 5", no character, more of a flat wave rather than crimp. average brightness, medium density. Much stronger micron than I was expecting because these fleece actually has a relatively nice handle. WR 4 and 5
Very Sweet Little Unknown Fleece - shear date unknown, shearer unknown, owner unknown - .9 lbs. White. I think this is a cria fleece, have no idea where it came from. BADLY chopped up with 2nd cuts - maybe a neck fleece. Grade 1, 17 - 18 microns. VERY dense, beautiful architecture, uniform crimp, good handle. 3" to 4" staple. Sure wish I knew who grew this fleece - very pretty.
Gabriella - Neck, 5-15-11, Cody Fifield - Dando Luz Alpacas - 1.2 lbs Medium Brown Female Very dirty fleece - lots of little tiny seeds. LOTS of second cuts. there are some black fibers mostly primaries but some dark secondaries. Here's a surprise - of the 4 samples pulled, 2 are like 20 microns. Other samples are a nice Grade 3...maybe a 24 micron. Not bright, above average density, 3" - 4" staple, Looking forward to the blanket
7-28-12
Cocoa Pelli - Neck, 5-5-11, Cody I think. Dando Luz Alpacas Medium Brown Female - 1.9 lbs. Horrible shearing job - tons of second cuts - staple cut in half in most places. Very dense, great architecture, above average brightness, fairly consistent Grade 2 - a real shame - this was a nice fleece.
Gabriella - Blanket, 5-15-11, Cody Fifield, Dando Luz Alpacas, Medium Brown Female - 2.5 lbs. More second cuts than there should be - surprising fineness. Mostly Grade 2, 3" - 4" staple, very poor architecture, no crimp, no brightness, very soft handle. Primaries are relatively small. I wonder if the fineness and the poor architecture contributed to the second cuts - no bundles, no crimp - it was "floppy" on the animal. Just a theory, but I do find that second cuts seem to be more prevalent in the finest sections of fleeces, especially if there's inconsistency in the micron.
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Monday, July 8, 2013
7-13-12
Jeanie's Dream - Neck, 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - Dando Luz Alpacas - 1.6 lbs. White Female Big change from previous year - WL 4, more rug fiber than previous year - still dense and well organized.
Golosina (Golly) - Neck, 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - Que Sera .9 lbs White pregnant female Surprising - bad second cuts - what was salvageable was WL4. She has really developed strong primaries.
Rubens - Neck, 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - Que Sera 2.0 lbs. White Male Badly chopped up - strong primaries - will not process
7-18-12
Beacon - Blanket, 5-12-10 - Shearer unknown - Dando Luz Alpacas - 2.4 lbs. White female Very fluffy, not much character, 2" - 3" staple - Grade 5 - processed to rug
Benita - Blanket, 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - Dando Luz - 3.7 lbs. White female Mostly WL5, a smidge of WL4 - good character - processed to rug
Theresa Marie - Blanket, 5-4-11, Cody Fifield - Que Sera - 2.0 lbs. White female Super fine, WR1, VERY bright, lovely character, great density really nice fleece - WOW - love the long staple.
Opal - Blanket, 5-4-11, Cody Fifield - Dando Luz - 2.6 lbs. White Female Grade 2 - some WR and some WL - poor architecture, medium brightness, average density, nice soft handle
Beacon - Neck, 5-12-10, shearer unknown - Dando Luz Alpaas - 1.3 lbs. White female too short - most went to rug
Opal - Neck, 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - 1.1 lbs. Dando Luz Alpacas White female Pretty nice neck fiber - average density - not consistent - about 20% WL2, 40% WL3, a smidge of WL4 and the usual amt of rug. surprisingly clean
7-22-12
Dancer - Blanket, 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - .7 lbs. Que Sera White female Very nice, Grade 1 about a 17 maybe - usual rug skirt. average brightness, average density
7-23 -12
MoMo - Blanket, 5-7-12, Pete Connelly - 1.2 lbs. Dando Luz White female second cuts are pretty bad - surprise! Some Grade 2 - about a 21 or 22. Most was Grade 3. primaries are not huge - fairly close to secondary's. not dense, average brightness
7-24-12
Soleil - Blanket, 5-4-11, Cody Fiefield - Que Sera - 2.4 lbs. White female This fleece was skirted for show and for sale - it has been in the shop for several months. Yikes - it is very dirty - what was I thinking! Average brightness, wonderful architecture - Grade 2, mostly WR - has a wonderful handle in spite of the dirt and great density.
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Sunday, July 1, 2012
7-4-12
Dash - Neck - year unknown, shearer unknown - Turquoise Trail Alpacas - 3.8 lbs. White male 50% WL4 5% WL5 45% Rug - some second cuts - not a lot of waste
Dash Neck year unknown, shearer unknown - Turquoise Trail Alpacas - 1.2 lbs White male 60% WL4 - rest went to the rug bag more second cuts than previous fleece
7-5-12
Theresa Marie - Neck - 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - Que Sera - 1.5 lbs. White Yearling Female Mostly WL2 - about 80%, the rest was WL 4 or Rug. Very consistent, good density, very bright. 2nd cuts not too bad.
Jeanie's Dream - Neck - 5/4/11, Cody Fiefield - Dando Luz Alpacas 1.6 lbs. White Female OMG! beautiful fleece - very badly shorn. Grade 1 - 4" staple - I think it may be under 17! LOTS went to trash due to 2nd cuts. Probably only salvaged about 60 % Super density - very uniform character.
Soleil - Neck - 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - Que Sera 1.2 lbs. White Female Nice Fleece - about equal parts WL1 and WL2. like the crimp style - good uniformity, well organized, great density and brightness.
7-7-12
Opal - Neck - 5-4-11, Cody Fiefield - Dando Luz Alpacas 1.2 lbs. White female Very nice WL2, badly chopped up with 2nd cuts, also very green with VM. Only managed to salvage about half. Below average density
7-11-12
Benita - Neck - 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - Dando Luz Alpacas 1.1 lbs. White female Lots of variation in micron - strong fibers - sent to rug bag
Beacon - Neck - 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - Dando Luz Alpacas .7 lbs. What female Pretty nice, about a 23 micron but very short - most was under 2" What was suitable for processing is WL3. Not bad for an overweight mom
Treno Relampago - Neck 5-15-11 - Pete Connelly - Dando Luz Alpacas 1.9 lbs White Male - Grade 5, good volume, above average density. Bit of a surprise - he makes nice babies Processed to rug.
Avianna - Neck 5-17-12, Pete Connelly - Que Sera 1.6 lbs White pregnant Female Ooooo-ee oooo-ee baby! Pretty stuff. WL2 - 21 micron maybe and LOTS of it. Remarkable in that her primaries are really quite consistent with secondaries -super hard to see them. There was really not even a lot of rug. Great density, very bright
7-12-12
Belle of the Ball - Neck, 5-4-11, Cody Fiefield, Que Sera .8lbs White female (cria fleece) Heart breaker - badly chopped up with 2nd cuts. Beautiful WL1 - great density and brightness, good consistency. Managed to salvage about half for yarn production
Belle of the Ball - Neck, 5-17-12, Pete Connelly, Que Sera 1.2 lbs. White yearling female Grade 1, may have lost a micron or 2 from cria fleece, but still under 20. wonderful fleece, reasonable consistency between primaries and secondaries. Nice long staple - over 4" - about 60% to WR above average density
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