(no subject)

[unicornduke]

my favorite fiber dyer has just discontinued the base fiber that I liked so much :'(

they're switching entirely to merino or blends with nylon, which. fine I guess.

They just aren't my favorite to spin because they are much better suited to short draw and I only really do long draw. You can long draw them, but its much more difficult. 

now there's the decision of: do I buy the discontinued fibers that are left in their shop or do I stick to my resolution not to buy fiber until may? 

I did just spend a ton of money on seed orders......and I already have a ton of fiber.......

(is this what fomo is)

ugh

Comments

[graydon]

Well, boo.

Anyone else sell that sort of base fiber? (At least, someone who isn't in Upper Outer Elsewhere?)

[unicornduke]

It's more that they do some amazing dye work that is absolutely beautiful and they're a queer owned business. The impression I got from their posts is that the base they've been dyeing is harder to get now, so they're switching to one more readily available. I would love to keep buying their merino and blends because the colors are great but I don't enjoy spinning them as much as the targee and BFL.

An example is this page Merino Blend Page. The colors are really bold and beautiful and neat. A lot of dyers I see tend to do more muted colors, rather than the bright gradient that Llady Llama does. Like this dyer who is pretty popular Hello Yarn Fiber.

They are also a New York State dyer. So all in all, arg decisions. I don't want to dye my own, I've thought about it and nope. So they have some stuff on their store of all the stock left of those bases and I kinda want to buy them but I don't know if I should or not.

[graydon]

It sounds like the objective is to keep spinning Lady Llama dye work fibre.

If they can't get the long base (at a reasonable price, reliably, etc.) you likely can't. (Unless you want to take up producing it, which has a definite feel of "and the Devil crept up behind them" even to type.)

So your non-be-sad options would appear to be to stock up and hope for a better future, or to add to your spinning capability so the short draw stuff is fun/practical. (Which might not be an option, but if it's a question of the wheel rather than your preference you could plausibly get another wheel instead of buying out the remaining stock of the pretty-and-fun-to-spin stuff.)

If the wheel option is cheaper/comparable, it's a permanent gain in capability and thus inherently preferable. If the fun-spinning issue isn't the wheel, buying up the remaining fun-to-spin stock, provided this doesn't threaten rent or nutrition, seems like a no-brainer. (the supply of fun spinning inputs has gone from a flow to a finite, shrinking stock; the most fun-spinning future available is to have all of the stock.)

This may not have been helpful, but I hope it might be.

[unicornduke]

It has been helpful! I needed to think it through and type it all out and you've helped for sure! I might stock up on the ones that look good and maybe give the newer stuff another try since I do love the colors.

The long vs short draw is entirely how to spin preference, I hate short draw spinning, its just not comfortable for me and I find it annoying so I prefer the fiber types that lend themselves to long draw, which is ones with more crimp and length. Merino: not so much.

[graydon]

Heh. The Merino Mafia get everywhere.

Glad it helped!

(Given that short-draw is annoying, you might-maybe need to find a shepherd with a heritage flock of something. I'd bet you could do a deal with Lady Llama on the order of "I get a quarter of this back, you sell the rest" were you to show up with some long-draw fibre.)

[unicornduke]

Everyone is into Merino and I am Not.

I've got some great sources on heritage breeds and I'm actually working on a project with that right now where I'm spinning as many types of fibers as I can. Blog is here And once I figure out what I like, I'm going to spin a lot of it lol. The sheep and wool festivals are great for this sort of thing and I'm planning to make the trip down to MD in may for that festival.

I do want to look around for some more indie dyers doing neat stuff with various fibers, finding them is the problem, but again, festivals. That's where I found Llady Llama, so they are out there!

[graydon]

I am not! I get contact dermatitis from wool and what you have to to get warm socks that haven't got wool in them these days is go on a quest.

I recall your long list of fibres! And may you have the best of luck at festivals!

[dragonlady7]

ooh i have no particular insight ( but i am a Hoarder so I Feel You on the need to buy the stuff you like while it's still available) but I meant to drop you a line--
Aaron and I moved all the flax out of the greenhouse and upstairs into the granary, and we bound yours up with baling wire to make sure it was easy to tell which it was. Everything's in the last grain bin on the side toward the house, should you wish to interact with it. There was some rodent damage but mostly to my un-rippled stuff, not too bad, and I think yours is pretty intact. It's just that it's going to start getting real damp in the greenhouse real soon, and I wanted to get it out of there.
I tried to keep stuff sorted but I could only see three categories of flax that were distinct, so that's all that's really preserved... it's on tarps to reduce lossage, at least, but it's uncovered so as not to get damp or moldy. Should be fine up there, no birds shit in there and there's a lot of airflow.

[dragonlady7]

oh and last year's flax is still in the woodshed, aaron's moved it a couple times but insists it's really not in his way, and he's the one who heats with wood so if he says so it's probably fine.

[unicornduke]

Awesome!! Thanks for letting me know. I keep saying I'm going to do something but sitting around is easier to be honest. I'm less concerned about keeping it all separate. I suspect we'll end up with more this year although I'm planting a lot less. I think once I start planting things, I'll get my butt in gear. I also got the madder seeds, so next time I see you, I'll bring them!