Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Alpaca yarn and yarn and yarn


My brother has an alpaca farm in Troy, Idaho, about 20 minutes away from me, where my three alpacas live, thanks to him! Well, until he took me to an alpaca show in western Washington state about 6 years ago, I never knew about alpacas. What wonderful animals. They are so gentle and their fiber is absolutely to die for! Here's a picture of a few this summer, taken a month after they were sheared.

I'm fortunate because he "lets" me help him when I can, especially when it comes to shearing days. And we work ogether to plan what to do with the fiber. We've had some fiber spun into yarn at a local mill and we've had roving made at ME2 Farm in Colville, Washington. I met Jayne, the owner, at a Fuzzy Bunz show two years ago, and although she owns no alpacas, she impressed me with her knowledge. I think she has learned to appreciate alpaca fiber as she has worked with ours. She likes to "know" the animals whose fiber she is processing, so I always try to provide pictures. This year, she said she just loved the fiber from Missy, my strange fiber huacaya.


So, last week, my brother imported some baby alpaca yarn from his South American supplier, who guarantees that his yarn is "real, true alpaca." Many folks don't know that in South American, they can claim that yarn or other articles made from only 80 percent alpaca is 100 percent alpaca! That's why the quality, especially of alpaca clothing from South America, can be itchy--something you don't get with true, 100 percent alpaca.

Anyway, this yarn was in scrumptuous colors--I just wanted to touch, hold, inhale! it! I had used some of the same yarn last year to knit the Evelyn Clark's Swallotail Shawl from Interweave Knits.

I have so much yarn now--at least 4 projects on needles--and at least 4 or 5 more planned, but I think I NEED some of this new alpaca yarn--maybe I'll try an entralac sock pattern I've been looking at from the Interweave Sock.
Such yarn hoarders we knitters are--but it's because we can't resist the colors and feels of the yarn. There's never enough time to use all the yarn we want (or that we have!) But, that's what the future's for, right?

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