FARMERSVILLE, TX - Ameda Holmes of AmedaDesigns (https://amedadesigns.blogspot.com/) sends thirteen skeins of yarn spun during July to Epic Alpacas. Weighing just over three pounds, and totaling 2,424 yards of 3 ply yarn, this was the result of several processes done by hand in traditional methods.

Ameda received a large box in June from the owners of Epic Alpacas in California (http://epicalpacas.com/) that contained fiber from three animals in their herd. "Mithrandir","Iron Belle", and "Ceilidh" are all first quality examples of the grey animals that Epic Alpacas have been specializing in breeding.

Before this fiber could be spun into yarn it needed to be prepared.

First it was run through a bench picker to open up the fiber and allow some of the dust and any vegetable matter trapped in the fiber to fall out.

Then it was washed with a mild detergent without any agitation that could cause felting, and laid on racks to dry.

Finally, it was brushed into mats referred to as batts, and then it was ready to spin.

Ameda decided to spin each animal's fiber as an individual yarn and combine them into a 3 ply yarn for the owner's half of this batch of fiber. From July 7 to July 13, she spun 6 bobbins of yarn and had 6 skeins completed that she could show off at a meeting on the 14th.

These skeins totaled 1,224 yards of 3 ply yarn, and weighed 1.47 pounds.

From July 15 to July 27, another seven skeins were spun and plied, resulting in the total of 2,424 yards and 3.18 pounds. What makes this total more extraordinary is the fact that each of the three plies in the finished yarn were individually spun before plying, resulting in a grand total of spinning and plying of 9,696 yards, or 5.51 miles.

Ameda Holmes is an artist and fiber artist currently based near Farmersville, TX. She works in multiple media, as her offerings on eBay (https://www.ebay.com/str/amedadesigns) amply demonstrate.

She started knitting at the age of five, and added skills and experience with many media over the decades. Spinning wasn't added until 1980 (https://amedadesigns.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-spinsters-genesis.html), but her basic intent has always been to create beautiful things every day.

The Epic Alpacas project is just one installment in a year-long project to spin 60 miles of yarn this year. As of this writing she has completed 36 miles of spinning and plying, and will be writing her experiences in an ebook to be entitled "60 Years - 60 Miles - A Spinster's Journey".

Ameda can be contacted by email at [email protected], found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AmedaDesigns/, and her items can be found for purchase on eBay at (https://www.ebay.com/str/amedadesigns)