How things change!

Mark Anthony glued to mom Holly. Isn't that the sweetest face?

Wow, how things change in two months! First, our pacas have moved to Virginia. The wonderful farm they were staying at sold their entire herd and we had to find them a new home. So they are frolicing with the Alpacas of Nottingham Hollow now. I'm not sure Mark is so thrilled by the idea since he's been weaned from Mom and put in a separate pasture, but I think he'll be okay. Mom is pregnant and due in April and she needs to keep everything she's getting for the baby. Princess isn't quite sure what to make of it either but she's got a couple of maidens her age there and they share a pasture. She doesn't know yet that she's got a date this month with a hunk named Amerikhan Legend. She's been very interested in the boys lately so hopefully everything will go well and we'll have a new baby next year at this time from her. With their combined fleece characteristics we should have a beauty!

Sadly the chickens had to find a new home. We had to change our homeowners insurance and the new company wasn't real thrilled to find "farm animals" on the property when they came out to do the assessment. So, in order to keep from having our insurance cancelled the chickens had to go. They went to live at the former Charmed Alpacas. They don't have alpacas any more but they still have chickens. Which means I now have to add eggs back to my grocery list. But I don't have any more poop in my back yard so I guess it's an even trade off.

The VAOBA show in October was fabulous. I assisted in the fleece show again this year and learned even more about fiber. I got to listen to David Barboza judging the fleece and couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable and educational experiance. The VAOBA store setup this year was amazing as well even though I didn't sell anything. And Princess didn't win anything in the spin off either though I did get some great comments about her fiber. I wish I had a better 2 oz. to send in but her prime is so matted I'm not even going to be able to use it I don't think. I am carding her seconds and will use it for either needle felting or wet felting. It's like working with cotton candy though because it's so fine.
I bought some yarn at the show as well but I haven't found a project for them yet. I'd love to do a vest but since I'm only slightly above beginner when it comes to crochet and knitting and I haven't made friends yet I'm not sure I'm going to be able to pull it off. I'll keep working though!

Other than that, it's getting to be winter in Virginia and it's cold so I'm not inclined to be outside that much which is perfect for working on all those projects that have piled up!

Spin off here I come!

So I'm back from travel and prepping my prime alpaca fiber for entry into the VAOBA spin off in October. My alpaca, Princess, was a bit like velcro and as such I don't think I can really show her whole blanket. But I can get a good 2 oz. so I'm going to enter it into the spin off. I've posted a picture but it's not very good, white fiber and camera flashes don't mix well, at least in my inexperienced hands. For example you can't tell that she has fabulous crimp in this picture, but she does. And I just got her fiber test back, she has a mean diameter of 20 and a CV of 15. All of which means (I'm told) that she's got really nice fiber! Yeah!!

The other item I'm having issues with is a hat. I love the hat, love the color, even ended up liking the design. However, the size is super huge. I seem to have problems with my needle felting technique when it comes to hats. I called Catie Dutcher and she's helped me with some tips but it was too late for this hat. Now I"m trying to find a way to shrink this guy so it can be worn by a normal human and not a giant. I'm currently trying elastic around the bottom, under the band. Not sure if that's going to work though since it seems to make the top sort of mushroom. It has been suggested that I wash it in hot water but I'm afraid that's going to shrink it height wise as well as width wise and I don't want that. And I'm not sure what would happen with my band. That's my lovely "novelty yarn" from my spinning/plying attempts. I managed to crochet it into a hat band. Not bad, huh? Except too big. Such is the nature of experimentation.

On a totally separate note, I was reading the Georgia Mountain Fiber newsletter and noticed that they have a new partner, Amia Yarn Company, for marketing alpaca fiber and products. I haven't dealt with them yet but it's good to see the industry making some strides. Amia is hosting a contest to promote their grand opening. You can find out more by going here: http://knitwitchblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/contest-time-again.html

So, if you read that you know that I'm going to get entered at least once. And if I decide to send a picture of my hat, that's twice. I'm all about entering. I'd love some beautiful alpaca to crochet. Not much of a knitter, goes too slowly for me since I don't know all the stitches. But I'll learn someday. Maybe this winter while I'm freezing in Virginia. Who knows? At any rate, that's all for now, enjoy your pacas!

We've got chickens!

Well the day has finally arrived. We have chickens in the back yard. Four barred rock juveniles. Here they are hiding under the house my husband so painstakingly built. The kids are very excited. Until they realize they have to clean up after them. They had fun going to get them too, the lady we bought them from had just about everything under the sun with wings and pot bellied pigs on top of it. She had two litters of pigs less than a week old.

On a totally separate note I thought I'd try to needle felt a hat out of raw Llama fiber today. Not sure how it's going yet but I don't think I like working with the forms I currently have. That and I'm not sure I'm doing it right, it seems to stretch out and instead of a small hat I end up with a large. Trial and error. That's why I'm using the llama and not my lovely alpaca. I don't want to waste it on experiments. I'll work out the kinks with the llama and then make a final product with the alpaca.

Also, I was invited to join an alpaca forum, alpcasocial.com, where the members can chat live, ask questions, exchange info and generally benefit from a wide variety of knowledge. It's a great initiative and whoever thought of it deserves a big pat on the back.

I'm heading up to Nottingham Hollow Alpacas tomorrow to skirt some prime blankets for show, one more thing on my to do list will be knocked off!