Run Bunny Run ! What can I say? Well, first of all : I am getting better, so I guess that is a good thing. I still feel like a 200year old turtle and everything happens in slow motion,but I have to admit the slow motion has sped up a bit. If you would compare me to a car, well, I used to be a Formula 1 race car and now I am a golf buggie…..with electrical problems…..(okay okay, so I have been mind numbingly watching Top Gear..lol)
Anyway, apart from resting a lot, trying to read and a bit of leisurely spinning (I cannot help myself..lol) I am not able to stand at the dyepots yet and get a huge fibre update happening. I apologise profoundly. I will get there but it will take me at least another week before I am less wobbly and fuzzy.
What does happen when I am out of the running and keep up with the daily chores of well, for example GROOMING the bunnies!, is that I now have heaps and heaps of BUNNY BITS . Yes the bunnies are very good at felting their fur while it is still on them in the most explicit little felted art works , which I endearingly call BUNNY BITS. Now you cannot spin them ofcourse although I have spun them into my art yarns and they look absolutely fantastic when you embellish them onto fabric, your handknits or simply attach them as a fringe or a feature. Since I have not been able to groom for two weeks , I had to get the scissors out to free the bunnies from their artworks (and the rest of their good fur). So, what I have on offer is something very soft with angora puffs floating around the edges which you can either spin in, embellish or even felt further and dye to make wonderful felted angora buttons or beads !
Alos, I do have some very exciting NEW YARNS for you that are fingerlickin’good !!!!!! and might I say, unbelievably NICE to knit or weave with! It is a mix of hand spun and machine spun 4 ply yarns I will have on offer here and that you can use as is in their beautiful natural state or you can dye it yourself ! Anything goes! One is extremely special because it has such an amazing special animal blended in the mix: buffalo or BISON ! yep, start drooling people !
So without keeping you on the edge of your seats: get ready to drool and snaffle! There is only a small supply of everything so please contact me by email (ixchel@rabbit.com.au) or on www.ravelry.com where I am Ixchelbunny or even message me on www.flickr.com where I am also known as Ixchelbunny. Drumroll !!!!!!!!!! here is this weeks fibre and Yarn update !!!!!
Have a great grand final week and chat soon !
((hugs)) Charly
Hand spun 100% angora yarn
50gram skeins AU$26
yardage 110m/50g, suggested needles US8-10, 5-6.5mm)
gauge 4.75st/inch-2.5cm
colour natural white
What does happen when I am out of the running and keep up with the daily chores of well, for example GROOMING the bunnies!, is that I now have heaps and heaps of BUNNY BITS . Yes the bunnies are very good at felting their fur while it is still on them in the most explicit little felted art works , which I endearingly call BUNNY BITS. Now you cannot spin them ofcourse although I have spun them into my art yarns and they look absolutely fantastic when you embellish them onto fabric, your handknits or simply attach them as a fringe or a feature. Since I have not been able to groom for two weeks , I had to get the scissors out to free the bunnies from their artworks (and the rest of their good fur). So, what I have on offer is something very soft with angora puffs floating around the edges which you can either spin in, embellish or even felt further and dye to make wonderful felted angora buttons or beads !
Alos, I do have some very exciting NEW YARNS for you that are fingerlickin’good !!!!!! and might I say, unbelievably NICE to knit or weave with! It is a mix of hand spun and machine spun 4 ply yarns I will have on offer here and that you can use as is in their beautiful natural state or you can dye it yourself ! Anything goes! One is extremely special because it has such an amazing special animal blended in the mix: buffalo or BISON ! yep, start drooling people !
So without keeping you on the edge of your seats: get ready to drool and snaffle! There is only a small supply of everything so please contact me by email (ixchel@rabbit.com.au) or on www.ravelry.com where I am Ixchelbunny or even message me on www.flickr.com where I am also known as Ixchelbunny. Drumroll !!!!!!!!!! here is this weeks fibre and Yarn update !!!!!
Have a great grand final week and chat soon !
((hugs)) Charly
Hand spun 100% angora yarn
50gram skeins AU$26
yardage 110m/50g, suggested needles US8-10, 5-6.5mm)
gauge 4.75st/inch-2.5cm
colour natural white
Close up angora yarn
Angora yarn skeins (18 available) Handspun Baby Camel Bunny Yarn (90% baby camel, 10% angora)
50 gram skeins AU$25
yardage 110m/50g, suggested needles US8-10, 5-6.5mm)
gauge 4.75st/inch-2.5cm
colour natural creamy white
close up
Skeins (10 available)Handspun Baby Camel Yak Yarn with a twist
(50% baby camel, 50% caramel Yak)
50 gram skeins AU$25
yardage 110m/50g, suggested needles US8-10, 5-6.5mm)
gauge 4.75st/inch-2.5cm
colour natural creamy white with a caramel brown twist
50 gram skeins AU$25
yardage 110m/50g, suggested needles US8-10, 5-6.5mm)
gauge 4.75st/inch-2.5cm
colour natural creamy white with a caramel brown twist
close up
skeins (4 available) BUNCAYA Yarn
(70% yak, 20% Baby Camel, 10% Bunny)
50 gram skeins AU$19
yardage 135m/50g, suggested needles US6, 4-4.5mm)
colour natural creamy white (dyes beautifully !)
50 gram skeins AU$19
yardage 135m/50g, suggested needles US6, 4-4.5mm)
colour natural creamy white (dyes beautifully !)
close up
skeinsBUFSIYA Yarn
(70% dehaired yak down, 10% silk, 20% dehaired buffalo/Bison down !)
A super deluxe special blend that will amaze you! Soft, luxurious with a mystical shine ! You will never be the same after you cuddle this !
50 gram skeins AU$28
yardage 162m/50g, suggested needles US3-5, 3.25-3.75mm)
gauge 6st/inch-2.5cm
colour chocolate with white silk flecks
Bison Wool Fiber Characteristics and a bit of history
Bison are moulting animals which shed their coats in the spring of each year. Native Americans have used the fibre for rope, stuffing for insulation, and fibre art.
While bison wool fibre has been used for textile products, its textile properties are beginning to be understood. So far, the fineness of the fibre has been measured, fibres have been microscopically analysed and photographed, and the moisture regain of the fibre has been measured.
Fibre from two female bison was analysed, one animal was considered to be dominant and the other subordinate in the herd (Miller, B.). In space restrictive environments, animals very low in rank show an inhibited feeding behaviour, resulting in a diminished nutrient intake (Calhoune, J.B.). In sheep, a low nutrient intake can decrease fibre diameter, making the fibre softer and more comfortable.
Bison fiber is made up of course guard hairs and fine downy hairs. The guard hairs are hollow and range from 21 to 110 microns in diameter, with an average 59.0 microns (this is similar to course human hair). The fine downy hairs are solid and are covered with fine scales. Downy fibres range in diameter from 12 to 29 microns.
Dominant animals downy fibre averaged 21.8 microns and subordinate animal averaged 18.8 microns. Both types of fibre were consistent in size from the root. The fiber diameter of downy bison fibre is similar to sheep's wool in the fine and medium grades.
Moisture regain of bison wool ranged from 13 to 20 percent. This is a broader range than that of sheep's wool, which ranges from 14 to 16 percent. Moisture regain is a measure of the amount of moisture a fibre will hold without feeling wet and is used to understand the comfort level of a fibre. The more moisture a fibre will hold, the more comfortable it is to wear.
There are approximately 500,000 bison in captive commercial populations (mostly plains bison) on about 4,000 privately owned ranches. Under the IUCN Red List Guidelines, commercial herds are not eligible for consideration in determining a Red List designation, therefore the total population of bison calculated in conservation herds is approximately 30,000 individuals and the mature population consists of approximately 20,000 individuals. Of the total number presented, only 15,000 total individuals are considered wild bison in the natural range within North America (free-ranging, not confined primarily by fencing.
The Bison provided native Americans with everything they needed : The bison provided meat, leather, sinew for bows, grease, dried dung for fires, and even the hooves could be boiled for glue. When times were bad, bison were consumed down to the last bit of marrow. Later when the settlers came in the Bison were hunted to extinction just for their fur while the rest of the animal was left to rot. They were almost hunted to extinction in a matter of a decade ! Just as the Churro sheep, efforts are made to prevent extinction and restore numbers of these magnificent animals.
A super deluxe special blend that will amaze you! Soft, luxurious with a mystical shine ! You will never be the same after you cuddle this !
50 gram skeins AU$28
yardage 162m/50g, suggested needles US3-5, 3.25-3.75mm)
gauge 6st/inch-2.5cm
colour chocolate with white silk flecks
Bison Wool Fiber Characteristics and a bit of history
Bison are moulting animals which shed their coats in the spring of each year. Native Americans have used the fibre for rope, stuffing for insulation, and fibre art.
While bison wool fibre has been used for textile products, its textile properties are beginning to be understood. So far, the fineness of the fibre has been measured, fibres have been microscopically analysed and photographed, and the moisture regain of the fibre has been measured.
Fibre from two female bison was analysed, one animal was considered to be dominant and the other subordinate in the herd (Miller, B.). In space restrictive environments, animals very low in rank show an inhibited feeding behaviour, resulting in a diminished nutrient intake (Calhoune, J.B.). In sheep, a low nutrient intake can decrease fibre diameter, making the fibre softer and more comfortable.
Bison fiber is made up of course guard hairs and fine downy hairs. The guard hairs are hollow and range from 21 to 110 microns in diameter, with an average 59.0 microns (this is similar to course human hair). The fine downy hairs are solid and are covered with fine scales. Downy fibres range in diameter from 12 to 29 microns.
Dominant animals downy fibre averaged 21.8 microns and subordinate animal averaged 18.8 microns. Both types of fibre were consistent in size from the root. The fiber diameter of downy bison fibre is similar to sheep's wool in the fine and medium grades.
Moisture regain of bison wool ranged from 13 to 20 percent. This is a broader range than that of sheep's wool, which ranges from 14 to 16 percent. Moisture regain is a measure of the amount of moisture a fibre will hold without feeling wet and is used to understand the comfort level of a fibre. The more moisture a fibre will hold, the more comfortable it is to wear.
There are approximately 500,000 bison in captive commercial populations (mostly plains bison) on about 4,000 privately owned ranches. Under the IUCN Red List Guidelines, commercial herds are not eligible for consideration in determining a Red List designation, therefore the total population of bison calculated in conservation herds is approximately 30,000 individuals and the mature population consists of approximately 20,000 individuals. Of the total number presented, only 15,000 total individuals are considered wild bison in the natural range within North America (free-ranging, not confined primarily by fencing.
The Bison provided native Americans with everything they needed : The bison provided meat, leather, sinew for bows, grease, dried dung for fires, and even the hooves could be boiled for glue. When times were bad, bison were consumed down to the last bit of marrow. Later when the settlers came in the Bison were hunted to extinction just for their fur while the rest of the animal was left to rot. They were almost hunted to extinction in a matter of a decade ! Just as the Churro sheep, efforts are made to prevent extinction and restore numbers of these magnificent animals.
The majestic Bison
close up of the yarn
the skeins BUNNY BITS ……….AU$5
A big bag full of felted bunny bits you can have heaps of fun with embellishing, adding them into your artyarns or felting them even more to make your own buttons or beads : Anything goes !
Bunny bits in all the different colours of angora we have (gold, white, grey , silver , chocolate and cream)
Dehaired Cream coloured Yak Down…..25gram bag AU$10
Great for blending in with other fibres, ultra soft and dyes beautifully !
Yak down 
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