A lady contacted me via Youtube about how to spin yack. I've never worked with yack, but she offered to send me half of what she had if I agreed to send half of what I spin back and create an instuctional video for her!! SWEET!! A new fiber to try!
Yak down is sooooooooooo, deliciously soft! Softer than the primest alpaca blanket!
From what I can gather, if you have a high speed spinning kit for your wheel, it would make spinning yak easier. If not, then you just have to peddle a lot more to get the twist into the short and slippery fiber. The fiber stable is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches...not very long at all. You can also spin this on a support spindle like you would cotton.
You almost don't need to card the yak either. Most yak down I am discovering is sold already carded into batts because of it's downy nature-it is almost impossible to keep it under control since it flies away at the tiniest breeze. Carding it is a bit of a challange as well as the fiber is so short it wants to sink into the carding fabric (I use hand carders) and is difficult to get back out. It is much too short for use on regular combs.
Look for an instructional video soon on spinning this wonderfully puffy stuff! I think this fiber would make excellant yarn for thrummed mittens!
Until next time...
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