Some fiber to look at

Way back at Stitches East 2006, I bought this ball of alpaca:



I had started spinning this up a while back, aiming for a 3 ply yarn that's somewhere around worsted weight. It was frustrating because I had to keep picking the vegetable matter out of the fiber and 3 bobbin fulls take a while to spin up, even though I was pretty much doing the long draw. But over the weekend, I sat down and finished the 3rd bobbin and immediately started plying. I like plying because you're just SO CLOSE to the finished product. I plied and set and it's been hanging out to dry. Now, this first skein is dry and ready to use. It's inspiring me to finish the rest of the ball, which doesn't look like it has gotten any smaller.