Yarn...the substance, not the tale. The tale comes later.

Since I'm so obsessed with natural fibers, I zipped over to Wikipedia to see what they had to say:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn

Natural fibers

Cotton being spun

The most common plant fiber is cotton, which is typically^[3] spun into fine yarn for mechanical weaving or knitting into cloth. The most commonly used animal fiber is wool harvested from sheep. For hand knitting and hobby knitting, thick, wool yarns are frequently used.
Other animal fibers used include alpaca, angora, mohair, llama, cashmere, and silk. More rarely, yarn may be spun from camel, yak, possum, qiviut, cat, dog, wolf, rabbit, or buffalo hair, and even turkey or ostrich feathers. Natural fibers such as these have the advantage of being slightly elastic and very breathable, while trapping a great deal of air, making for a fairly warm fabric. Also the "yarn" can be made out of the Cameron tree.
Other natural fibers that can be used for yarn include linen and cotton. These tend to be much less elastic, and retain less warmth than the animal-hair yarns, though they can be stronger in some cases. The finished product will also look rather different from the woollen yarns. Other plant fibers which can be spun include bamboo, hemp, corn, nettle, and soy fiber.

My adventure started when I heard there was mink yarn. Mink!!! So I went searching and found some. At the same store I found llama and alpaca so I got some of those too. The mink was lovely and very warm but I have to say....it smelled. It still smells and I've washed it a couple times. I'm hoping eventually it'll stop smelling because it really is soft and warm. The llama and alpaca were mixed with silk and so delicious. They're still some of my favorite yarns to work with and they sent me on an obsessive search for more luxury yarns.

Then I discovered Mini Maiden by Handmaiden Yarns. O.M.G. The colors! The feel! It's a silk/wool blend that is so far beyond amazing and quickly became my favorite go-to yarn. Just feast your eyes on the colors I have coming:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/322711129521210377/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/322711129521210375/

(thought I'd slip in a link to my bolero made with Mini Maiden  https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/183735155/brilliant-bolero? )

The pictures don't capture the glow of the yarn that the silk gives. There's so much depth to the color that you wouldn't believe it. And because I love their colors so much I have used several of the Fleece Artist/Handmaiden yarns and I've loved every one of them. And they don't even pay me to say that!!!

I've worked with angora and mohair which both are delicious but can be really difficult to frog due to the fuzzy fibers. I just read a tip that says throw it in the freezer for ten minutes and it'll be easier to frog so I'm going to try that next time. I love the fuzzy halo but have always been aggravated by the difficult frogging so I avoided them. Hopefully this trick will let me work with them more.

I've found a company that sells buffalo yarn and that's next on my to try list. I used to work on a buffalo ranch and I know just how soft and fuzzy their hair can be and I think it would make stellar yarn. But first I have to work it into my budget :)

Possum? Really? I wanna try possum yarn too! And Qiviut. Cat, dog, wolf, rabbit....so many natural fibers to try! I can see this is going to be an adventure. I'll keep you posted on what I try.

Happy days :)
Tamsin