I hoped and prayed and wished and was blessed with 2 beautiful girls this week! Both are half sisters out of Rubio’s Ramon and are fiber rich!
First came on Monday and we named her Calypso of Dutch Hollow because it was Talk Like A Pirate Day. First cria I’ve ever seen come out and was up and running in under 20 minutes. After 6hrs her IgG was already at 2400! She has the tightest and most dense little curls all over her body. This one is going to be a show stopper!
I have a theory, when one alpaca has a cria all the others within 2-3 weeks of their due date follow shortly after. Crystal decided to have her little girl 2 weeks early on me. Little Liberty at Dutch Hollow was born yesterday. I shouldn’t say little because she weighed in at 21 lbs but you could tell she needed to cook just a little longer. She was a bit shakey on her new legs and tendons aren’t tight yet in her hind legs, but everything else was good. Good heart, lungs, suck reflex, HUGE ears, and teeth already erupted.
Unfortunately mom didn’t have milk yet because she went so early. Her bags looked full but when I milked her just dribbles came out. *sigh* Thankfully we have a HUGE milk farm next door to us and gave me a gallon of fresh bacteria free colostrum. Liberty didn’t want anything to do with the colostrum until I mixed in some vanilla yogurt though, boy for being only a few hours old she sure had fussy taste buds. She drank down 3 bottles for me throughout the day. This morning I made up a bottle and checked mom before feeding her cria. Squirt, squirt! Milk came out of her as if I was milking a goat! She’s got tons of the stuff now. WOOT! No more bottle feeding.
Well that wraps up my week.
Remember this weekend is National Alpaca Farm Days so visit a local alpaca farm.
It also happens to be National Hunting and Fishing Days so if you’re in the WNY area stop by the Avon, NY DEC Headquarters and come say hi to us. I’ll have a booth set up as well as some of our alpacas.
I’ve been at war with my EZ Blanket which is nothing to the name, it’s just me and my inability to concentrate lately. My lack of concentration has been messing me all up and I haven’t been doing much fiber wise. Maybe this weekend will help, it is the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival at the Hemlock Fairgrounds Sat/Sun. With any luck I can sneak some time off on Saturday to wander through. I’d link to the site but the entire GV Handspinner’s Guild site is down.
On Sunday I’ll be at the Genesee Valley Riding/Driving Club’s Horse Driving Trials. I’ll be the paddock marshal again this year. So if you’re nice to me maybe I’ll bump up your start times 🙂 I can totally be bribed with chocolate and assorted candies.
Still no cria. After losing the one on Labor Day weekend I’ve been obsessed with watching my other 2 pregnant girls, neither of which seem keen on having a cria any time soon. *sigh* I want babies!
The one fiber goody I do have to share with you is my new ball windy stick thingy. I bought it at the NYS fair while I was demo-ing. Finally, I have something that I can wind a center pull ball with on the go. Sorry for the blurry photo, I left my phone at home and had to use a different one for the photo.
I’ve totally hit a fiber arts wall. I have 3 bobbins half filled with spinning, I have 3 projects started 2 crochet 1 knit and I hate all of them. I’m not feeling creative at all this week which is so unlike me.
So, I need some suggestions.
Here is a huge cone of a fingering weight alpaca in heather gray. It hasn’t spoken to me at all as to what it wants to be. Ideas?
I better get out of my fiber funk soon because guess what? I’m going to be a spinning demonstrator at the NYS Fair! Yup, if anyone is planning on attending the NYS Fair on Wednesday 8/31 stop by the wool barn and look me up!
On a side note I’ve noticed that the wild grapes are starting to look pretty good on my nightly walks. I’m thinking of using some of them to dye yarn later this fall.
Hello Fiber Arts Friday Fans! It’s been a while since I’ve done a science behind alpaca fiber so here we go. Today’s question, why is alpaca warmer than wool?
What is Alpaca Fiber?
Well all know that fiber from a sheep is called wool and the stuff that we wash and comb on our own heads is called hair but what is alpaca? The argument can be made that alpaca fiber is really a hair but is often referred to as wool but for the majority of breeders we refer to it as, fiber.
The fiber that is sheared from the alpaca is produced by primary and secondary hair follicles and even a derived secondary which grows in both the primary and secondary follicles.
Primary fibers are what we call guard hair and are straight and stiff often giving that prickly sensation next to the skin. These fibers are most present on the legs and brisket of the alpaca and sometimes can be seen as a halo above the finer secondary undercoat or are called “cria tips” on new born alpacas.
Secondary fiber is the soft undercoat that gives the alpaca a soft handle. Secondary fibers cluster around a primary follicle and are the fiber that creates the crimp. Note: You cannot have secondary or derived secondary fibers without a primary fiber, therefore breeding to eliminate primary fiber results in a low density high micron fleece. Surprisingly, as fiber density increases the diameter of primary fibers decreases as it is forced to share skin real estate with secondary and derived secondary fibers.
Derived Secondary fibers are the finest of the 3 types and are what breeders strive for. A derived secondary follicle has its own root structure but share the same exit point from the skin of a secondary fiber. This type of fiber can only be identified through a skin biopsy.
Alpaca Fiber Structure:
Alpaca fiber is made up of 3 different parts, Cortical Cells, Cuticle, Intercellular Binder.
Cortical Cells – These are the body builders of the fiber and give it strength along with creating the crimp that we love so much. What causes crimp? Cortical Cells are made up of 2 parts, the orthocortex and paracortex. These 2 parts twist around each other creating the crimp in Huacaya or the twist in a suri. This crimp causes the actual fiber length to be 10%-30% longer than the staple length. Unfortunately crimp is not a reliable when determining fineness.
Cuticle – to protect the cells each fiber is covered in a material that we often refer to as scale. This protective coating is what provides the fiber its strength and also makes the fiber smooth to the touch. This is what we feel when we check for handle in a fleece as we rub the fibers between our fingers. The scale is also reflective and produces luster.
Intercellular Binder – It’s the glue that holds the 2 cell parts together within the cuticle.
Findings:
Alpaca owners who have been telling others this fess up, “alpaca fiber is warm because it is hollow and traps air for extra insulation.” I heard this from several breeders and never really questioned it until now.
The only medullated (hollow) hair fibers are the thick prickly guard hair which none of us wants in our fiber. So what causes alpaca’s superior warmth? The simple answer fineness and density. Alpaca fiber is finer, allowing more hairs to occupy the same space, more fiber = more trapped air = warmer.
Example Wool vs Alpaca
Let’s take a typical worsted weight yarn. The memory of wool causes the yarn to look fluffy and springy and less fibers are needed to occupy the space for a worsted weight yarn. The alpaca yarn does not have memory, is finer and requires many times more strands of fiber to occupy the same space needed to make a worsted weight yarn. (I keep hearing it’s about 3x more but have not found research to back this yet).
Because dense fine alpaca fiber weigh less than wool, lighter weight yarns and garments can be made from alpaca that have the same or superior insulating properties to thicker wool garments.
UPDATE 8/13/11: According to the Yocom-McColl Wool Testing Labs alpaca fiber is NOT medullated (hollow) but most fibers DO have a trapped air bubble within the fiber! Check it out! The dark bubble in the center of the fiber is trapped air.
Alpaca fiber with air bubbleWool Fiber from Sheep
Thank you and this concludes today’s Fiber Arts Science Friday 🙂 Be sure to check out the link-parties page!
Well I haven’t gotten much done since my WIP post. I still need to stage and photograph the rest of my wine koozies that I’ve been making. I’ve also posted a lovely skein of yarn up on my Etsy shop with some wine colors in it. It will only be available until Monday should someone like to purchase it otherwise I’ll be using it to make more koozies.
I was out doing chores last night and the UPS guy came bouncing down our driveway. I met him at the barn and received a rather large box. Usually “M” orders things so I didn’t even bother looking to see if was for me until I got it inside. To my surprise it was addressed to Dutch Hollow Acres from Battenkill Fiber Mill! Yippy, my cria roving is here!
7.2 lbs of luscious cria/tencel pin drafted roving. This is the first time I’ve used Battenkill Fiber Mill after reading about them in the NY Farm Bureau. Looking through their website they were a new high volume fast turn around worsted mill specializing not only in wool but huacaya alpaca as well. Not only that but they have buyers for raw white/beige huacaya fleeces which is great news for me since that is what I breed! Right now my herd is still small and produces just enough for my farm sale needs but as I grow it’s nice to have yet another outlet for raw fiber sales.
Anywho, I have also listed our new 70/30 Cria/Tencel blend roving up for sale in our Etsy Shop as well. As I said I have 7lbs of this lovely stuff so if you want just 2oz or 2lbs let me know.
Check out our Links Page to see what everyone else is up to this week.
