Tag: alpaca wool

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FAF – Heat Wave

Well I’m a Fiber Arts Friday slacker this week.  Not that I haven’t been playing with fiber but I have not taken any photos of my work.

Right now I have a some alpaca/wool on my wheel that my MIL dyed a while back.  I’ve been saving it for Tour de Fleece.  I’ll spare you the artist renditions this time.

What I can show you is what is on my needles.  I’m still working away at the cowl when I’m not spinning.  Since TdF is taking most of my time I’ve been going very slowly at the knitting end of things but it is about 1/3-1/2 done.

Big thank you to everyone who suggested I learn the Norwegian Purl Stitch.   It has cut my slow knitting time in half if not more.  Here’s a short video of me with my new stitch.

Lastly here’s a photo of one of my dogs, Brindee, napping by the lake last week.  Oh what I wouldn’t give to be back up in the mountains right now with all this heat this week.

Be sure to click on “link-parties” on the menu bar at the top to see what everyone else is up to.

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Fiber Arts Friday – Flat Alpacas Don’t Spit

Hello again Fiber Arts Friday and Crafty Friday Folks.

Good weather and big crowds made our stay at DEC days great!  Day 1 I had both CoHo and CW with us but CoHo decided he no longer wanted to be at trade shows.  He hummed, squealed and when some rowdy teens started to provoke him he covered them in spit.  Normally I’d be upset and embarrassed at this but as I said, they were rowdy teens *grin*

Day 2 I left CoHo home and CW came with me.  He must have been tired from all the fuss the day before because he slept almost the entire time.  The alpaca that got the most attention is what I called our “flat alpaca.”  I brought my Miracle blanket and any time someone wanted to pet the boys I herded them over to Miracle who was kind enough to never run away, kick or spit. 

All in all, it was a great weekend for both answering alpaca questions and selling my wears.  Next trip will be to the GV Hunt Races on October 9th.

I have a new hydrant!  M. Finally finished the trenching and my new hydrant is in and looking oh so pretty next to our new barn.  Believe it or not I haven’t had a chance to use it yet because it’s been raining so much the boys are getting all their water intake from the grass.

I did manage to get one silly project done this week.  I was playing around on my knitting loom and worked up a small dog coat.  Since I don’t own a dog that small I opted to test it out on our new kitten Frito.  Well that turned out to be a good laugh since he couldn’t figure out how to walk with it on.  He figured out how to wiggle out of it in about an hour though.

Photos!  I got a call last night from a Photography student at SUNY Geneseo who’s looking to showcase local farms as her project.  She’ll be stopping over tomorrow morning to photograph our cute and fluffy herd, I’m sure the horses will get their moment too. 

 Speaking of photos here’s some of the girls I got this week.  Babies! Awe…..

 
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Fiber Arts Friday – Preparing for Shows

Welcome to Fiber Arts Friday and Crafty Friday!

What a crazy week!  I’ll try to keep things short and to the point and in some sort of order without too much babbling.  Hope you can keep up.

1. We have yet another new cria!  Last Friday I got a call around 4pm saying there was another cria bouncing around the pasture.  Sure enough I came home to a very strong 17lb fawn girl who was already dry, up, nursing, and running around with her half sister.  I present to you Dutch Hollow’s Fontia.

2. Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival.  I did manage to sneak over to the fiber show for only an hour.  Next year I want to take classes and stay for a whole day.  It was the first time I’ve ever been to a fiber show and WOW, I so wish I could spend more time. 

I went for the purpose of talking to my local mill which I did.  I’ve got about 30lbs of fiber heading their way to be made into rug yarn.  

While I was there I ended up finding another tannery that captured my interest.  They claim they can process sheep/alpaca hides and make them washable! I’ll have to contact them when I have more time and learn more.  I was under the impression that the chemicals needed to make a fleece washable were illegal in the US but apparently they have another way?

3. This weekend is not only National Alpaca Farm Days but is also National Hunting and Fishing Days.  Since my neighbor happens to be the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and hosts the oldest DEC Days in the country I piggy back off them.  My farm is not able to handle the thousands of people that come for the DEC show so I set up a booth and bring a couple of my boys over to them.  This will be me 2nd year participating in DEC Days and it is a whole bunch of fun with the exception of hunters constantly asking me if they can eat them.  I tell them no but they do give you great fiber to keep feet warm while in tree stands!

4. Inventory!  With vendor shows comes the need for inventory.  Here are some of the hats/scarfs that I’ve been making all week. 

That about wraps it up what did you do this week?

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Fiber Arts Friday – Where Did Sept Go?

Welcome Fiber Arts Friday and Crafty Friday folks.

What a crazy week.  Unfortunately it wasn’t all fiber fun.  Instead I was dealing with things like my car failing inspection, my herd sire getting beat up by 2 intact fiber boys and crappy weather making it impossible to get things done outside.  But, I did manage to do some stuff.

HATS!  I didn’t get photos of 2 of my favorite hats but here’s a  photo of 2 kids hats I’m making for vendor shows I’ve got coming up. 

Roving! The alpaca/merino I got back from the mill was in 1lb bumps so I have been weighing out 4oz of roving and hand rolling them back into center pull bumps for sale.  Completing them of course with DHA logos.

Fiber weekend coming up.  The great Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival is going on this weekend at the Hemlock Fair Grounds.  Can you believe I might not actually be able to go?!  I totally forgot I’m volunteering at a Carriage show all day Sunday which leaves only Saturday for Fiber time.  But that also leaves only Saturday to re-fence a “dirt” paddock around the new alpaca barn.  I’m so hoping I can get that done early Saturday morning so I can go to the festival in the afternoon.  *crosses fingers* Why is there never enough time for fun things?