Tag: Alpaca

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Fiber Arts Friday: Alpaca Rug Yarn

Hello Fiber Arts Friday Fans.

This week will be a quick one.  Usually I write up my posts days in advance but I’m late this week and scrambling to get one up.

Last weekend my mom, hubby and I packed into the car and took a trip down to Autumn Mist Fiber Mill to pick up my recently completed goodies. Last year I had sold my entire raw prime fleeces which left me with 3 years 3rds and some 2nds to play with.  I decided on having it made into rug yarn which is thick spun roving looking material spun around a cotton core. 

I’ve been waiting for this yarn for some time now to use on my homemade pegloom.  Even though we didn’t get back from our trip until 7pm that didn’t stop me from warping up the loom and start weaving. 

Just 1 hour after I started I had this beautiful rug! 

 

Shameless Plug:  I am going to start Fiber Market Monday’s back up next week.  You’re welcome to post about fiber projects your making that will be for sale or highlight a fiber animal that is for sale/stud or maybe their fleece is for sale.  Free advertising is always a good thing 🙂

Lastly I’m going to change how I share the link parties I participate in.  Instead of spamming you with all the buttons that I usually put here I’m on a collecting mission and will be organizing them all here.  Right now it is a work in progress but I have plenty of link parties to fillin all those blanks.   Still want your site on the front page? I offer very affordable advertising rates for everthing on the right hand column.

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WIP: Fan Pattern Shawl

I’m not sure why but I have a thing for shawls at the moment.  One thing I’ve learned is never pass up motivation! 

At first I decided this next project would be for ME.  But as I started working on the shawl with yarn I bought by ME for ME I realized it’s not what I wanted.  Ugh.  I’m so complicated sometimes!  I did realize that I love this pattern but the colors of the yarn weren’t doing anything for me.  Don’t get me wrong I really like this microfiber yarn, it’s soft, shinny and worked up easily but, I think I want some minor changes for a self-kept project.

So, this shawl, when finished, will be put up for sale.

Fan Pattern Shawl

My shawl will eventually be the exact same pattern but in an ivory (or charcoal) 100% alpaca lace weight yarn instead.  I’ve never attempted a lace project before.  I’m hoping having muscle memory with the green shawl will help me tackling a lace weight project.

I found the shawl pattern on Ravelry and it is written very well.  I had to read it line by line until I committed the pattern to memory and I’m thankful it was written correctly.

What are you up to this week?

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Fiber Arts Friday: Hog Island Sheep

I have been slacking in my fiber duties as of late but this past weekend brought me back into the swing of things.

Saturday I got to enjoy a day of fiber fun with my neighbor Stephanie who raises the rare breed of Hog Island Sheep.  I’m told there are about 200 head left in the US but you can see them in their original home setting still at Mount Vernon.

Clover_Hill_Hog_Island_Sheep

Note: Hog Island lambs are usually born with color but 90% of them end up turning white as adults.

The most fun we had with the fiber was rug making.  Using raw fibers and only hand carders we wove the raw fleece straight onto the pegloom.  Stephanie really enjoyed the ease of using the loom and tells me her husband is in the works of making one for her.  I can’t wait to see her first full size rug on it.  I’m rather jealous since my raw alpaca doesn’t hold together even a 10th as nicely as her Hog Island does for weaving.

One thing I learned about Hog Island fleece is that it is springy! I think a small child could use a pile of their fleece as a trampoline. BOING!  She left me a small bag to play with and blend with other fibers. I think I’ll save it for the Tour de Fleece to work with.

I was a total idiot and didn’t take a single photo the entire time!  ARGH.  I blame it on the fact I was computer-less, the darn thing blew up on my Friday night and now I’m waiting for my new computer to come in. 

Be sure to check out Stephanie’s farm.  She is new to the fiber side of the business and has tons of this rare fleece. I’m sure she’ll be willing to sell some, if there are interested parties.

Stephanie Dempsey
Clover Hill Farm
2747 Bronson Hill Rd
Avon, NY 14414

Anywho, having a fiber weekend inspired me to finally finish my sock yarn shawl.  I am proud to say as of Thursday I finally bound off, wove in all my ends and even got some fringe on it.  All that is left is to block it.  Oh and of course mail it off to its new owner.

The photo is not a true blocking, I just tacked it up to my cubicle wall at work to have a look at it.  I was so proud of my last bind off stitch I could help but get a photo of it too LOL.

Sock Yarn Shawl

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PS I just read through this post and realized my thoughts are rambling with no real path.  I guess that’s what 2 over night shifts this week will do to a person.  I’m SO tired!

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Fiber Wordless Wednesday

The Ground may be covered with snow and another storm on the way but
visions of spring cria are dancing in my head!

Do you raise alpacas? Sheep? Goats? Rabbits? or other fiber animals? 
Share your photos with us every Wednesday!

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FAF: Where do you fiddle with fiber?

I’m often asked how I find time to do all that I do.  The key for me is to never have down time.  Even a 15 min break can net you 1-2 rows on a project. As long as I can fit what I’m working on into my jacket pocket I’ll carry it with me and work on it little by little.  I save the night time for bigger projects that have outgrown my pockets. 

I relish the down time I get in the office with a few minutes knitting or crocheting. Sometimes I even bring in a drop spindle and spin on breaks.  I’ve even been known to knit away while on conference calls, which by the way I think helps me remember more on the call.  There’s something about fiber arts that wakes up your brain.  Mind you it must be an easy mindless pattern but having my hands fly away somehow controls my ADD and lets me absorb more that goes on around me.  Ah ha! I knew I saw an article about this before.  At least I’m not the only one.

Anywho! This week my day job had me playing “field tech” and I toured almost all of Western New York without setting foot in the office.  But even as a traveling tech I am allowed lunch breaks! Even the cramp confines of a truck can become a knitting parlor once a day! 

Knitting and Driving

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Where was the weirdest place you fiddled with fiber?

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