Alpaca demo

Yesterday I went down to BFE, Texas to a seminar where they had a bunch of alpaca farmers explaining things to people considering buying alpacas. We were there to demonstrate handspinning and the farmers were literally like, "Here, do you need some fiber? Take this. Here, take this too." I got to meet this chocolate brown alpaca named Domino, then spin his wool and knit up a little swatch. I also got to spin some Suri, which was *drool*. Oh! I also got a carding lesson from BJ and carded what I spun too.

Fun day!

I should have pictures of the cute alpacas a little later. I didn't take them, so I'm waiting for my friend to send them to me.

In the meantime, have some yarn porn.

This is the yarn. The top is Suri and the bottom is huacaya, which BJ and I were calling "Peanut butter cup.



















This is a close up of the two. I tried to spin the suri with minimal twist and make it nice and furry. I haven't washed and whacked it yet.

How about some more crappy pictures? Huh?

I swear I need a new camera.

Also, it's hard to take a picture of your own hand. This is one of my Fetching gloves, knit with my very own handspun! This is the first I've knit my own yarn. I was amazed at how knitting it covers up so many mistakes rewarding it is to knit your own handspun. ;)












And here is a crappy picture of my Pomatomus (how DO you pronounce that?) in STR Seduction (50/50 merino tencel) in the Puck's Mischief colorway. Lauren has some of the same yarn, so we're making twin (well, quadruplet?) socks. I can't wait to see hers. She is like a monster fast knitter, so she'll have hers done and I'll still be at the same point. Just you watch. The first one is more accurate as far as color, but the second one shows you the glorious shiny sheen. I love this yarn. I love this pattern. I have achieved Sock Nirvana.

















Regarding the disappointing yarn in my last post, BJ, being brilliant you know, had a simple suggestion for me that made me go, OH DUH! Of course! She suggested I overdye it with some blue so that it'll be more purpley like I wanted. I may salvage this yarn yet. I have only dyed one other time and it was a disaster, so this should be interesting. Stay tuned.