BMCA Bonnie Selected for AOBA National Auction in May

This is Big Meadow Creek Alpaca's Bonnie!! And she has been selected by Celebrity Sales to be sold at the Auction in Denver, CO, at the AOBA National Show May 19-22 in Denver, CO.

We're not surprised, bonnie lass that she is! But she doesn't have red hair--instead she has wonderfully luxurious, white suri fiber!

She carries genetics from award-winning alpacas from both the east and west coast. Chasqui, well recognized in the show circuit, is Bonnie's maternal grandfather--he is one of the premier herdsires at Ameripaca in Maryland; her fraternal grandfather comes from Alpacas of Tualatin Valley in Oregon.

Neither Bonnie, nor her father ATV Hercules nor mother Ameripaca's Blair, have been to alpaca shows, since my farm focus is on fiber, rather than breeding. I'm currently carding Bonnie's fiber from last year so that I can spin it. It's so nice and soft, I'm planning to knit a cowl with it.

Back to the Basics--Well, Almost

Several more inches of snow last night on top of this weeks inches of blowing snow! And then at least four hours without electricity! What a great time to go back to the "almost" basics--sitting in front of the fire and spinning!

Of course, it was a wood stove, and I had some beautiful dark brown alpaca (from Leroy!) to spin--the pioneers would not have had alpaca -- although the alpaca supposedly originated in North America before they migrated to South America. And South America is where all the current North American alpacas have come from. Ending a sentence a preposition with! But I had no real coffee! I usually start the day with a fresh pot or heat up a cup or two from the previous day in the microwave. But the pot was empty. Instant--boo!

But the warmth of the wood fire made me think food, so I started a pot of lentil curry soup. Warmth and a good smell! [I could light my gas stove with a match!] Usually when I'm spinning, I'm listening to a book on tape, but that wasn't possible today. And I had no one to read to me from Pilgrim's Progress or other such enlightening literature! But the crackling fire was great background. And then, so was the plow outside, as a friend came to clear my long, winding, snowbound driveway!

I never did knit anything for my granddaughter Ellie from Leroy's fiber for Christmas (my intentions whe I wrote about Leroy last October). My first skein of Leroy, only my second skein of yarn, was too "beginner-ish." I may make myself a hat for next winter. But I've become a much better spinner and I think this yarn will be "IT." Second spool finished in front of the fire today--I think the plying will make all the difference. A friend lent me a video, "The Gentle Art of Plying," which I'm going to study before I ply these spools. I have a little more Leroy roving to make more yarn if I need it.

This afternoon, the electricity came on and the sun came out! It was beautiful with some blue showing in the sky. I went out for a walk and to say hello to the alpacas. Fed them a little grain as a treat--this is BMCA Desire, who snuffled down into the snow for the last bits of grain that fell.

The alpacas have tracks from their shelter to the hay, to the water, and back again! They don't really mind the snow except when its windy--the wind blows their fiber up (they are suris without the "sheep-like" fluffy coats). The chickens were out and running about and it was very pleasant, with great views on all sides! What a lovely place to live.

Playing with Entrelac

Yes, it's wool! But it's going to be felted, so I can't use my suri alpaca! This is the Hobo Bag from Gwen Bortner's Entree to Entrelac book. I'm going to be teaching a class on entrelac at the Yarn Underground, so I thought I'd get a couple of projects done. I still have to complete the strap and felt the thing. I can't believe I ended up with another orange and brown project! Those were my high school colors soooo many years ago. But I wish I had picked up a blue to use, now that it's almost finished. When done, it will join my other items on sale at the Milk House Fiber Studio at the Artisan Barn in Uniontown.

I'm going to do a scarf with my black and white alpaca, using some lace stitches on the white "blocks" and then add some black beads I picked up in Posts Falls a couple of weeks ago.

Sunday, I'll be giving some tips on knitting lace at the Woolgatherer's meeting. One of my tips might be to be careful of your lace knitting when you're drinking tea! I had my shawlette with me when I was knitting a couple of Sundays ago at the Yarn Underground and alas! part of it ended up in my cup of tea. I didn't notice right away, and even though I tried to get the tea out with some cold water, it did't work. So now I have the entire shawlette sitting in some weak tea, hoping that I can get the effect that you get when you put fabric in tea--just a light "antique" look that won't detract too much from the nice blues in the Starry yarn.

I'm looking out the window at two inches of fresh snow--everything looks so clean--and there's even some blue in the sky today and very little wind. Hard to believe that just a week ago, it was approaching the high 40s and everyone was thinking "spring"!!

So, back to my hobo bag!!! Cheers!

Yarn Ahoy!!

When the Yarn Underground opened in Moscow, I took some of my alpaca yarn to add to their inventory. Not that I needed any yarn, but I and spied this yarn--Starry sock weight with silver from Dream in Color--98% superfine merino! It called out to me, and I wondered how it would work for a shawlette pattern I had downloaded recently from Ravely. It really knit up fast and I was pleased with the results!

One skein had 450 yards, so I probably have enough left over to use in a pair of fingerless mitts!

And speaking of finished project, I also finished the alpaca jacket/sweater I started knitting for myself more than four years ago! Disappointment! It's too big; it's too heavy. Although I blocked the individual parts (fronts, back, sleeves) before joining, I may block again just to see how it changes. I don't even remember what size I chose to knit from the pattern--but I know I never measured a sweater that fits me to compare (this is something that I've learned in the intervening years I should have done). Since it's the first sweater I ever knit (except for baby sweaters), I'm going to use it as an object lesson! I'll probably frog the whole thing and use the yarn for something else . . . . eventually.

I've been considering joining the ongoing KAL on the Knitting Daily--even purchased some yarn for it--but for some reason, I keep backing off from starting. The Seaweed Cardigan is not a "full" cardigan--the two fronts are considerably smaller than the back--the modeled picture uses a belt to "close" it--I'm not sure it's meant for my body size (In the manner of Alexander McCall Smith, I'm a "traditionally built" woman!) I might just knit it for my studio at the Artisan Barn--it's a lovely lace pattern, and I do love to knit lace.

I'll be giving some lace instruction at the next Woolgatherers meeting here on the Palouse--talking about reading lace patterns, what all the stitches are, using a lifeline, etc. It should be fun. And I'm scheduled to do an entrelac class in two sessions at the LYS (Yarn Underground in Moscow, ID) in March.

AND, my alpaca yarn has been leaving the shelves at the Yarn Underground in leaps and bounds! I've been selling it at a pretty low cost, since it's part of the stash I inherited when I inherited the alpaca farm. But I'm getting ready to send off some more fiber to get more yarn made, which I will have to price at a more "fair"--to me price.

I put new yarn on my needles two nights ago--scarf with beads now in progress!

Celebrate a New Local Yarn Shop!

My good friend Shelley Stone and her partner Marissa Gibler opened a new yarn shop in Moscow, ID--Yarn Underground! Shelley, a great spinner, has been one of my spinning inspiration-ers! A couple of years ago, at a Woolgatherer's meeting, she let me try her wheel. Then she even plied the several yards I made and presented it to me. Most recently--just yesterday--I took my wheel into her shop along with some dyed superwash wool I bought from her a couple of months ago.

Decided I needed to try something other than my own alpaca for spinning. As an alpaca farmer, I wanted to start with and learn to spin alpaca. Now that I'm a little bit confident with the alpaca, I wanted to stretch out to something new. It seemed that with the superwash I was getting either too much spin or not enough.

Shelley worked with me a little at the shop, helped adjust the tension and assured me that I was not getting too much spin, and I think I've got it! The yarn will be a somewhat laceweight mixture of blues, greens, yellow! I'm planning on making myself a pair of socks.

Anyway, back to the yarn shop: Marissa is a great knitter, especially of children's clothing. Shelley has knit some yummy sweaters and she recently got into dying. Yesterday in her shop, she showed me a shelf full of new yarn she spun (from her own dyed fiber).

And, some of my alpaca yarn is on consignment at the shop. On display there will also be two of my knitted projects--I took in a new entrelac scarf I made with my own Big Meadow Creek Alpaca yarn and some Cascade Eco alpaca (that I really don't like that much--one-ply, feels more like a lopi--but it is soft). The scarf is "fancied up" with some crocheted corkscrew fringe--I should have taken a picture! I also took in a lace hat made with some of my four-ply alpaca.

Now that the Christmas season is coming to a close, I might get back to knitting something for myself. I started an alpaca sweater two years ago that is 80 percent complete! It doesn't look like much in this picture I took--I guess in the summer of 2008! Definitely time to get that project finished!

Why Do I Love Entrelac?

Why do I love entrelac? I don't know the answer. I just know I do. It seems to go faster. Of course, my other fave is lace, so of course, entrelac goes faster--don't have to think, just knit, backwards knit, pick up, purl 2 together; sl-k-psso--it all just happens. And although Noro is not my favorite yarn--compared to my favorite alpaca--it's scratchy and not soft at all--it works for entrelac. When I'm done with a project, I soak the finished product in water with some hair conditioner added, and that softens the entire thing.

My lastest project, a shawl and slouch hat, used Noro Silk Garden Lite in colors that reminds me of a pumpkin patch.

What I really need to do is combine entrelac with lace and maybe beads, too! I'll need to find just the right yarn to use, though. Maybe I'll just stick with a nice white or off-white alpaca!

I just ordered the new book by Gwen Bortner, Entree to Entrelac--I'm sure that will give me some new ideas.

In the meanwhile, last night I picked up a skein of 80% alpaca/20% silk "Paca de Seda" (imported from Peru) in some great autumn colors and started a quick and dirty Quant, which will be soft and silky, yet warm--a great combination (alpaca and silk)!

Some fluffy white snowflakes are beginning to fall outside. I guess winter is really here. Temperatures are going to drop to zero and below this week--a great time to sit in front of the fire with needles and yarn!

Knitters can Support Doctors without Borders

Knitters/spinners/crocheters who spend any time on the internet will be (or at least, should be!) familiar with Ravelry. As they say on the website, "Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration."

Free and easy to use, the folks on Ravelry definitely inspire me. I find out what others have done with the yarn I have and what yarn others have used to complete projects. I can ask questions, get answers, give and get opinionsabout practically anything under the sun, but especially knitting and yarn.

But last night, as I was seeking inspiration, I discovered that some generous creators of knitted patterns have donated their patterns to be used to raise funds for Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontiers), an "international medical humanitarian organization working in more than 60 countries to assiste people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe." For instance, by October 31 (according to their website), they have treated close to 3,600 Haitians with cholera symptoms.

Back to those pattern creators: they have donated patterns to a fantastic knitting fundraiser called "pennies per hour of pleasure" or for short, p/hop. On that site, you can download knitting patterns for free. All that is asked is that you freely donate pennies for the time you get pleasure from using those patterns. I was able to wish p/hop a happy second birthday today and write on their blog--you can read it here.

My church has an annual "Quilt Sunday" on which the PPQ (the Purple Paisley Quilters) display quilts, serve brownies, and have a service based somehow on quilting. Yes, quilting--but since so many of us PPQ folks are ceaseless knitters as well, the talk I gave a couple of years ago focused on the way both quilters and knitters are workers for social justice. It doesn't take much investigation to find out that knitters use their artistic talents to provide comfort and warmth to premies, cancer survivors, soldiers, the elderly, etc.

If you are a knitter, join me--download a pattern (and there are many great ones--I especially love Susan Pandorf's shawls (thank you Susan)--and donate! p/hop is at 73 percent of their goal of $5000--let's make it 173 percent!