Behind the Scenes: Cloister Hood
It’s a wonderful thing, to see in print a project that started out as an idea in your own head, brought into existence by your own hands!
I worked hard on planning, spinning, knitting and writing during the first weeks of 2020, and sent everything off to Spin Off magazine in early March. Then, just as I was sighing with relief at meeting the deadline, the world turned upside down. But after all the weirdness that has been 2020, it is here at last.
The article is about working with John and Sara Morris at a local mill (HLA Fiber Mill near Augusta, Kansas – and on Facebook) to create a custom fiber blend for a specific project; the pattern for my Cloister Hood follows the article.
Some hard decisions were part of the deal – and the hardest was selecting photos to submit, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to use all of them. However, I don’t have those page space restrictions here, so can share lots more pictures that will help tell the rest of the story…
The raw fiber: black alpaca, white BFL (Bluefaced Leicester wool) and grey BFL 
Ewe lamb 1911, grower of the grey wool. She and the white BFL ram are from Caryn Miller’s flock near Smithville, MO. 
Princess (of Hidden Lane Alpacas), grower of the black alpaca 
A good cold rinse gets out LOTS of dirt before the actual scouring. 
Dyeing white and grey wool all at once 
Dividing and weighing the fiber for a consistent blend 
Into the picker… 
and it comes out here! 
A room of fluffy fiber 
Weighing again, ready for the carder 
Into the carder… 
which is an impressive machine! 
And out the business end… 
as roving. 
A custom spin for someone else; alpaca with flecks of silk 
A delicious bag of roving 
Singles on the bobbin 
Closer look at the 3-ply yarn 
Almost ready to start knitting! 
The finished Cloister Hood 
The prototype hood, made with millspun alpaca yarn 
My friend and coworker Stefanie modeling the (first) alpaca hood 
Soft and warm and ready to brave the cold
And now I see that I need to take some more pictures of the finished item!
Great story in Spin Off Mag, and thank you for sharing more! So jealous, it sounds like such an awesome adventure.