Surgical Masks and Hair Balls.........

What do these do things possibly have in common?  Aside from the norm..nothing....unless you happen to be spinning Alpaca.

Yes, folks, I stupidly decided that the ball of grey alpaca I've had for years would be the perfect compliment ply to the oatmeal generic wool that was just finished being spun.

I don't know if it's the dryness in the air or a forgetful memory, but the last time I spun alpaca (over a year ago?) I'll be danged if I remember it being soooo fly-away.  Yikes!  I'm talking hair everywhere, including all over my clothes, up my nose and down my throat.

Hence, all day yesterday and all last night, I was coughing, hacking, cackkking.....like a cat trying to bring up a hairball.  I felt little annoying wisps all over my face, in my eyes, on my arms, even though nothing was visible.

Well, I don't want to throw the alpaca away!  That would be crazy talk. It's so silky, so smooth, such a beautiful grey.  And I know how it can transform a so-so yarn into something luxurious when it's plied with even a generic wool.  So what's a spinner to do?.........Surgical masks!!

So I went over to the storage house and dug out 3 masks.  It's gotta work, right?  I'm going to try it today.  If it doesn't, and I'm still coughing up hair balls tonight, then I might consider ditching the fiber.  And that would break my heart.  Because.....there's 4 ounces of white alpaca in the storage bin waiting to be spun.....at another time.  Maybe in a couple of years.  When the memory of the  hair ball causing, fly-away fiber is very, very distant.

I just hope I don't try to sip my coffee while forgetting the mask is on my face!