Saturday, October 17, 2009
Cold, Dark mornings
I for one am eager for the time change. Like many alpaca farmers, I have a regular daytime job. I get up, get the kids off to school, and feed the alpacas, so I can get off to work. Well, that's around 7:30 a.m. and it's still dark here. It's been cold too! We are having an usually cold fall. So I bundle up, which is ok, I stay plenty warm in my layers. And the layers keep the hay off my work clothes. We do have lights in the barn, but I feed them their grain out in the paddock. I put down bowls and hope the right animal gets by the right bowl. We have a couple skinny girls who need extra grain. I don't want the good weight girls to get that extra grain. I've discovered it's also hard to see how full the water buckets are. Thankfully we have a pretty good routine with feeding their grain, so for the most part, the right alpaca comes to the right spot. But still, I'd prefer a bit more daylight when doing these chores. Something about going out in the dark and cold isn't so appealing.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Show pictures
Here are some pictures from the Michigan fall show. I am very guilty of not taking many pictures at shows. I don't know why I don't take more pictures. I never seem to come home with very many.
This shows our alpaca's pen. Tehya and Lightning are enjoying some hay:
This shows our farm sign:
This is our stall head on, displaying our two 1st place ribbons, and some hand knit products:
This is the show ring, J is in there with Tehya:
On the side the owners and alpacas line up prior to coming into the ring:
This shows our alpaca's pen. Tehya and Lightning are enjoying some hay:
This shows our farm sign:
This is our stall head on, displaying our two 1st place ribbons, and some hand knit products:
This is the show ring, J is in there with Tehya:
On the side the owners and alpacas line up prior to coming into the ring:
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Shows are so much more than ribbons
I know I am guilty of coming home from a show and focusing on the ribbons we've won. While the ribbons are important, there is so much more to going to a show than the ribbons you take home. Sure they are great bragging rights and do help document the quality of your alpacas, but there is an incredible amount of information and networking that goes on at shows.
One thing we enjoy about going to shows is running into people we've met before. This business connects you with farms in other states that you don't often get to see. So one neat thing about going to a shows is seeing what other farms are there and catching up with people you haven't seen since the last show. At the Michigan fall show we had the chance to not only catch up with people, but an animal who used to live on our farm - Max! Maxito is now owned by Picaso Alpacas and they had him at this show. ( http://alpacanation.com/herdsires/03_viewherdsire.asp?name=31376 ) It was so neat to see him. He has grown so much I would not have recognized him, but since I knew it was him, I could see the resemblance in his face. He won a 1st place ribbon in the shorn white class! How awesome for Max. We stopped by his pen to see him and he appeared to remember J, snuggling into him like he used to when he lived on our farm. I'm glad to see Max doing so well and enjoyed by his current owners.
What I have always enjoyed about the fall Michigan show is that they do a advertising on the radio and this year even on TV. What this does is draw in the public so there is a lot of foot traffic. It is fun to see people excited about seeing alpacas (maybe even for the first time ever). It's fun to explain to them the benefits of having alpacas and how the lifestyle works.
A neat thing about going to shows is meeting new people. Our stall was around farms that we have not had the chance to meet before. It is always good to connect to different farms. It's amazing what you can learn from other alpaca farmers in just 2.5 days. Every time we go to a show we are surprised how much information we come home knowing that we had not realized before. We do a fair amount of reading on alpacas, looking at different websites, and of course there is the hands on learning of the day to day care, but the amount we've learned at shows is by far more informative than any other source.
Another thing we've done at shows is to ask quite a few people to take a look at our animals to give honest feedback on them. This helps us evaluate if our males are worth considering for herdsire quality. It also helps us know what to do with breeding choices for our females. For example, if a female is great but lacks density, you need to bred her to a very dense male. It never hurts to get another opinion on your animal. We make sure they understand we want the honest truth. There a time for telling me my cria is cute, and there is a time to be honest about what shortcomings it may have. There is no perfect alpaca, we are all forever striving for that. Every alpaca could use something to improve upon. We want to make sure we identify what that is.
We also make a point of looking at the other animals in the same class as our animals. It is especially important to see the one who placed 1st, when yours took a lower ranking. For example, Tehya did not win the color championship, so we went to look at the one who did. This helps us identify a great alpaca when we see one, to know what to look for. Most of the time when we really look at the other animal, we can see why they placed higher. It helps us know what our animal lacks, so we can make good breeding choices for her. It also helps us know how to do a good evaluation of our animals back at the farm.
When farmers spend too much time on their own farm and not at shows or visiting other farms you can get what they call "barn blind." This is when you think your alpacas are awesome. You look at them and marvel, but you have nothing to compare them too. Of course your cria are better than their mom (they should be if you have a good breeding program). But, are they show quality? And if they are show quality, how good are they? You can get to thinking yours are so incredible, when maybe they aren't. We had this happen when we took Maddie to shows. When we bought her and even had a couple other people look at her, everyone said how great she is "for a black". We thought she could do very well in the show ring. Not so. It turns out black alpacas have had such incredible improvements in a short time frame that Maddie did not compete. A few years ago she likely would have done well, but the industry is progressive and improvements are continually happening. I remember at one show we had her at, people in the audience were saying that black is getting too competitive, as much as white. This may be, but that is also why black alpaca fiber has had such incredible improvements. That is the way the industry is going. If you don't keep up, your alpacas will be left behind. By going to shows and seeing how she did, we were able to acknowledge her weaknesses. This is essential to make a good breeding choice for her.
I'm a big advocate of going to shows. We've done what we can to fit a few into our budget. I know in the current economy that many farms are cutting back on showing. This is understandable. However, there are ways to learn from shows while not spending as much. We cut back by only going to 1 fall show and only getting 1 stall at that show. We could have cut back even more by not showing our own animals, just attending the show. You can learn that way. Especially if you spend time going around and looking at the top placing animals. You could catch up with farms and meet new farms. Though, I don't think you would come home with as much information. So much happens between the stalls and outside the ring. But if there is no way you can afford to show, it is definitely better to attend than just stay home.
One thing we enjoy about going to shows is running into people we've met before. This business connects you with farms in other states that you don't often get to see. So one neat thing about going to a shows is seeing what other farms are there and catching up with people you haven't seen since the last show. At the Michigan fall show we had the chance to not only catch up with people, but an animal who used to live on our farm - Max! Maxito is now owned by Picaso Alpacas and they had him at this show. ( http://alpacanation.com/herdsires/03_viewherdsire.asp?name=31376 ) It was so neat to see him. He has grown so much I would not have recognized him, but since I knew it was him, I could see the resemblance in his face. He won a 1st place ribbon in the shorn white class! How awesome for Max. We stopped by his pen to see him and he appeared to remember J, snuggling into him like he used to when he lived on our farm. I'm glad to see Max doing so well and enjoyed by his current owners.
What I have always enjoyed about the fall Michigan show is that they do a advertising on the radio and this year even on TV. What this does is draw in the public so there is a lot of foot traffic. It is fun to see people excited about seeing alpacas (maybe even for the first time ever). It's fun to explain to them the benefits of having alpacas and how the lifestyle works.
A neat thing about going to shows is meeting new people. Our stall was around farms that we have not had the chance to meet before. It is always good to connect to different farms. It's amazing what you can learn from other alpaca farmers in just 2.5 days. Every time we go to a show we are surprised how much information we come home knowing that we had not realized before. We do a fair amount of reading on alpacas, looking at different websites, and of course there is the hands on learning of the day to day care, but the amount we've learned at shows is by far more informative than any other source.
Another thing we've done at shows is to ask quite a few people to take a look at our animals to give honest feedback on them. This helps us evaluate if our males are worth considering for herdsire quality. It also helps us know what to do with breeding choices for our females. For example, if a female is great but lacks density, you need to bred her to a very dense male. It never hurts to get another opinion on your animal. We make sure they understand we want the honest truth. There a time for telling me my cria is cute, and there is a time to be honest about what shortcomings it may have. There is no perfect alpaca, we are all forever striving for that. Every alpaca could use something to improve upon. We want to make sure we identify what that is.
We also make a point of looking at the other animals in the same class as our animals. It is especially important to see the one who placed 1st, when yours took a lower ranking. For example, Tehya did not win the color championship, so we went to look at the one who did. This helps us identify a great alpaca when we see one, to know what to look for. Most of the time when we really look at the other animal, we can see why they placed higher. It helps us know what our animal lacks, so we can make good breeding choices for her. It also helps us know how to do a good evaluation of our animals back at the farm.
When farmers spend too much time on their own farm and not at shows or visiting other farms you can get what they call "barn blind." This is when you think your alpacas are awesome. You look at them and marvel, but you have nothing to compare them too. Of course your cria are better than their mom (they should be if you have a good breeding program). But, are they show quality? And if they are show quality, how good are they? You can get to thinking yours are so incredible, when maybe they aren't. We had this happen when we took Maddie to shows. When we bought her and even had a couple other people look at her, everyone said how great she is "for a black". We thought she could do very well in the show ring. Not so. It turns out black alpacas have had such incredible improvements in a short time frame that Maddie did not compete. A few years ago she likely would have done well, but the industry is progressive and improvements are continually happening. I remember at one show we had her at, people in the audience were saying that black is getting too competitive, as much as white. This may be, but that is also why black alpaca fiber has had such incredible improvements. That is the way the industry is going. If you don't keep up, your alpacas will be left behind. By going to shows and seeing how she did, we were able to acknowledge her weaknesses. This is essential to make a good breeding choice for her.
I'm a big advocate of going to shows. We've done what we can to fit a few into our budget. I know in the current economy that many farms are cutting back on showing. This is understandable. However, there are ways to learn from shows while not spending as much. We cut back by only going to 1 fall show and only getting 1 stall at that show. We could have cut back even more by not showing our own animals, just attending the show. You can learn that way. Especially if you spend time going around and looking at the top placing animals. You could catch up with farms and meet new farms. Though, I don't think you would come home with as much information. So much happens between the stalls and outside the ring. But if there is no way you can afford to show, it is definitely better to attend than just stay home.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Two Blue Ribbons!
Our girls have done well in the show ring, but we kept missing 1st place (Shelby got a 2nd before and Tehya has two 2nd place awards). This weekend that all changed. Shelby was the first of our animals to show. They started with full fleece animals, and they start with the darker colors and move to the lighter ones.
I was nervous when Shelby got into the ring, but even from my seat in the bleachers, I could see her fiber shining in the light. It was more shiny than any other animal there! It glistened. Shelby got 1st place of the five in her class. There wasn't a color champion because there were not enough animals in classes of her color to hold one. We were disappointed about that, especially since we heard they were only 1 animal short of holding a color champion.
The judge said that Shelby had density and fineness She has brightness and consistent crimp. He said her conformation was tight and proportionate. The only negative he noted was that her bite isn't 100% right on. But for her to place in first, her bite isn't bad and her fleece has to be good to overcome even a slight bite issue.
Here is Shelby on her big day:
Tehya hit the show ring next among the animals that we took with us. Tehya also got first place!!! Two first place ribbons in one day! My pen stopped working so I couldn't write down all the judge said, but his main reason for putting Tehya 1st is because she was the finest of group. She also has density and incredible crimp. There were six in her class.
Tehya on her big day:
Lightning Bugs was our last to show. He also hit the show ring on the first day of the show. Lightning has the disadvantage of being in the white class. As I've mentioned before, white class is the most difficult. Back in Peru, white fiber animals were the ones they did the most to improve the fiber because that is what the European textiles wanted. While other colors are now catching up to white, white still has a longer standing advantage. Plus, there are quite a few breeders who breed for white, making more in the white classes than other colors. To put it into perspective, there were 5 in Shelby's class, 6 in Tehya's class, and 10 in Lightning's class. It's even harder to do well with more in the class.
Lightning got 4th place, a very respectable place for a white. Given that four in the class got the gate (no ribbon at all), we are thankful Lightning has the quality to keep him placing in shows. The judge said that Lightning was the finest in his class, but said that he is not as dense and lacked good coverage over his front legs. I'm not sure we completely agree with that assessment. We think Lightning is dense, he's just so fine that you can't feel the density. As for the front leg coverage, we asked others what they thought of that and they did not feel that should be an issue. He does have coverage over his legs, it's just not as long and thick as what Tehya and Shelby have. But I will keep that in mind when breeding him, to make sure we breed him to girls with incredible leg coverage.
I was nervous when Shelby got into the ring, but even from my seat in the bleachers, I could see her fiber shining in the light. It was more shiny than any other animal there! It glistened. Shelby got 1st place of the five in her class. There wasn't a color champion because there were not enough animals in classes of her color to hold one. We were disappointed about that, especially since we heard they were only 1 animal short of holding a color champion.
The judge said that Shelby had density and fineness She has brightness and consistent crimp. He said her conformation was tight and proportionate. The only negative he noted was that her bite isn't 100% right on. But for her to place in first, her bite isn't bad and her fleece has to be good to overcome even a slight bite issue.
Here is Shelby on her big day:
Tehya hit the show ring next among the animals that we took with us. Tehya also got first place!!! Two first place ribbons in one day! My pen stopped working so I couldn't write down all the judge said, but his main reason for putting Tehya 1st is because she was the finest of group. She also has density and incredible crimp. There were six in her class.
Tehya on her big day:
Lightning Bugs was our last to show. He also hit the show ring on the first day of the show. Lightning has the disadvantage of being in the white class. As I've mentioned before, white class is the most difficult. Back in Peru, white fiber animals were the ones they did the most to improve the fiber because that is what the European textiles wanted. While other colors are now catching up to white, white still has a longer standing advantage. Plus, there are quite a few breeders who breed for white, making more in the white classes than other colors. To put it into perspective, there were 5 in Shelby's class, 6 in Tehya's class, and 10 in Lightning's class. It's even harder to do well with more in the class.
Lightning got 4th place, a very respectable place for a white. Given that four in the class got the gate (no ribbon at all), we are thankful Lightning has the quality to keep him placing in shows. The judge said that Lightning was the finest in his class, but said that he is not as dense and lacked good coverage over his front legs. I'm not sure we completely agree with that assessment. We think Lightning is dense, he's just so fine that you can't feel the density. As for the front leg coverage, we asked others what they thought of that and they did not feel that should be an issue. He does have coverage over his legs, it's just not as long and thick as what Tehya and Shelby have. But I will keep that in mind when breeding him, to make sure we breed him to girls with incredible leg coverage.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Fall Show
This fall we are attending the Michigan International Alpaca Fest. For this show we are taking last years cria: Lightning, Shelby and Tehya.
We've heard many farms are cutting back a lot on shows because of the economy. Some farms have stopped showing all together. Last year we did 2 fall shows, this year we are only doing this one. We have cut back, but still feel it necessary to get our animals out there. This way people can not only see the animals at the show, but the animals can gain ribbons and recognition.
The fall Michigan show is going to be at a new venue. Last year it was at Birch Run, this year it is at the Perani Arena Event Center in Flint, Michigan. It is this weekend, September 26 and 27. We are excited to see the new venue. We hope another change for this year will be that our animals will show in full fleece rather than shorn. Last year they showed in the shorn class because their fiber was not long enough. Each spring we shear the alpacas. To me the fiber is the end product and is what we are trying to improve. It is the essential part to evaluate an animal on. However, when their fiber is short, it is very hard for judges to evaluate it. So, if the fiber is less than 2 inches long, the alpacas go into a shorn class, meaning they are only evaluate on conformation not fiber. Conformation is things like having straight legs, a straight back, good teeth. This is important of course, but to me the fiber is essential. In shorn you have no evaluation of the fiber. We have been measuring our animals periodically hoping they will make the full fleece cut off and not have to show in shorn. Tehya and Shelby are true fiber machines and appear to have plenty of fiber to show in full fleece. Lightning's fiber is so crimpy that it appears shorter than it is. We feel he meets the 2 inches cut off, but in the end the color check people make that determination.
We've heard many farms are cutting back a lot on shows because of the economy. Some farms have stopped showing all together. Last year we did 2 fall shows, this year we are only doing this one. We have cut back, but still feel it necessary to get our animals out there. This way people can not only see the animals at the show, but the animals can gain ribbons and recognition.
The fall Michigan show is going to be at a new venue. Last year it was at Birch Run, this year it is at the Perani Arena Event Center in Flint, Michigan. It is this weekend, September 26 and 27. We are excited to see the new venue. We hope another change for this year will be that our animals will show in full fleece rather than shorn. Last year they showed in the shorn class because their fiber was not long enough. Each spring we shear the alpacas. To me the fiber is the end product and is what we are trying to improve. It is the essential part to evaluate an animal on. However, when their fiber is short, it is very hard for judges to evaluate it. So, if the fiber is less than 2 inches long, the alpacas go into a shorn class, meaning they are only evaluate on conformation not fiber. Conformation is things like having straight legs, a straight back, good teeth. This is important of course, but to me the fiber is essential. In shorn you have no evaluation of the fiber. We have been measuring our animals periodically hoping they will make the full fleece cut off and not have to show in shorn. Tehya and Shelby are true fiber machines and appear to have plenty of fiber to show in full fleece. Lightning's fiber is so crimpy that it appears shorter than it is. We feel he meets the 2 inches cut off, but in the end the color check people make that determination.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Fiber Festival
I had a booth at my first fiber festival this past weekend. On Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I had at table set up by The Old Farm Girl just north of White Cloud.
The down side would be that I did not plan well for the weather. It's been a cool summer, so the fact the weather man predicted a warm sunny day seemed like a good thing to me. I don't have a tent/canopy so rain would have been impossible for me. But, sun is bright and it was hot sitting there, quite hot. I even got a sun burn, which I am so careful not to have happen. The second day I dressed much lighter and thankfully many people from the spinning guild came and they had a canopy to put up. I also had a cooler of drinks, not just 2 with me.
I learned some tips on setting up my display table too. I had raw fleece weighed out in 4 ounce amounts in zip lock bags. I had read about the idea on Alpaca Nation. Well, this works fine in my basment, but in the blazing sun those bags started to steam up. Not good. I had some baskets with me for display purposes, and thankfully had enough baskets for each color of raw fiber I had with me. So I displayed the fiber in the basket and kept the zip lock bags in my car out of the sun. This worked great and actually was easier to display. Then when people bought fleece, I'd grab a bag out of the car for them, and left the displayed fleece in the little basket.
The big seller was Tehya's fiber. The first thing to sell was the home spun ball of Tehya's fiber. It truly is my favorite yarn. A couple people bought Tehya's raw fiber (1.5 pounds of it!). I loved spinning it, and I hope they do too. I also sold 4 ounces of Lightning's fiber. His is so soft, it is extremely nice (though he does tend to have more vegteable matter than Tehya, so more work to get ready to spin).
It was a fun weekend of spinning and gabbing with fellow spinners.
The down side would be that I did not plan well for the weather. It's been a cool summer, so the fact the weather man predicted a warm sunny day seemed like a good thing to me. I don't have a tent/canopy so rain would have been impossible for me. But, sun is bright and it was hot sitting there, quite hot. I even got a sun burn, which I am so careful not to have happen. The second day I dressed much lighter and thankfully many people from the spinning guild came and they had a canopy to put up. I also had a cooler of drinks, not just 2 with me.
I learned some tips on setting up my display table too. I had raw fleece weighed out in 4 ounce amounts in zip lock bags. I had read about the idea on Alpaca Nation. Well, this works fine in my basment, but in the blazing sun those bags started to steam up. Not good. I had some baskets with me for display purposes, and thankfully had enough baskets for each color of raw fiber I had with me. So I displayed the fiber in the basket and kept the zip lock bags in my car out of the sun. This worked great and actually was easier to display. Then when people bought fleece, I'd grab a bag out of the car for them, and left the displayed fleece in the little basket.
The big seller was Tehya's fiber. The first thing to sell was the home spun ball of Tehya's fiber. It truly is my favorite yarn. A couple people bought Tehya's raw fiber (1.5 pounds of it!). I loved spinning it, and I hope they do too. I also sold 4 ounces of Lightning's fiber. His is so soft, it is extremely nice (though he does tend to have more vegteable matter than Tehya, so more work to get ready to spin).
It was a fun weekend of spinning and gabbing with fellow spinners.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Newspaper
The Fremont Times Indictor has a front page story on the Grant Frontier Festival. I am a featured picture (note the day was cold and rainy so while I am wearing my Tucker Sweater, it is under a rain poncho). To get to the newspaper on-line, click on the title of this post ("Newspaper" above). The link should take you to the newspaper, until it is replaced with a newer version (it's the August 26th edition that I am in).
Here is my picture as it was in the newspaper:
I have copied the article because I think they replace it each week with the newer edition.
This is what the article said:
Here is my picture as it was in the newspaper:
I have copied the article because I think they replace it each week with the newer edition.
This is what the article said:
Frontier Festival
features some
heated contests
By Ken DeLaat
The sixth annual Grant Frontier Festival featured
fun for all ages as the area around the Community
Center buzzed with activity.
In a heated horseshoe competition, Peggy Stitt of Hesperia and Pat Gustman of Fremont emerged victorious in the tournament by besting James and Rich Beckly of Muskegon in a finals match that drew a bevy of admiring spectators treated to the nearly constant clang of ringers.
The other “heated” contest involved what many consider to be the mother lode of all comfort food, chili. Tami Roeters cooked-up a victory with her delectable batch of culinary cuisine that sent taste buds soaring. She was asked to reveal the secret to winning chili.
“If I told you,” she replied, “it wouldn’t be a secret, would it?”
Melissa Brock from the Grant Parent Involvement group sold a delightful array of used children’s and youth books at one of the frontier storefronts built for the occasion and Angie Ripley of the Grant Police Department handed out safety information and children’s badge stickers, with the help of the Newaygo County Sheriff’s Posse.
Cara Stray of Oak Haven Alpacas spun yarn as strollers visited the fascinating animals corralled in back of the booth.
Duane and Lacey Bazzett of Grant took in the activities with their four children.
“I like the games the best,” said daughter Alexis. “They’re cool.”
With tractors on display, music in the air, and people milling about to join in the fun, the festival captured the welcoming small-town atmosphere for which these celebrations are known.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Grant Frontier Festival
We have a booth, along with Ashton Stone Alpacas, at the Grant Frontier Festival. This is our first booth, so it will be a learning experience, I'm sure.
Our plan is to have some alpacas there for people to see. I know many people have never seen an alpaca, so that alone should draw some attention. Jillian and I will have our spinning wheels there. I have some of Lightning's fiber ready to spin up tonight while I'm there. Jillian will do some felting demonstrations.
I have raw fiber, yarn and finished product to show the process of raw fiber from an animal all the way up to a finished product.
Here are some of the things I've put together to show off.
I will be wearing my Tucker Sweater (thankfully the weather is cool enough):
And I will have Lightning's fiber to spin up:
I have sets of fiber from individual animals to show the process, from raw fiber to yarn to a finished product. Here is an example from Maddie and from Tucker:
For yarn, I have 2 balls of Victoria's fiber and a ball of Tehya's fiber as example and for sale. The yarn from Tehya is especially nice.
This is one of the balls of Victori's yarn and a scarf made out of her yarn:
Tehya's wonderful yarn:
I have examples of a mixed ply yarn that people can order (sorry, I don't have more than a sample ready). The one that is knit up is a mix of Victoria and Maddie, brown and black ply. The other yarn is a mix of Victoria and Tehya, brown and fawn ply. The Victoria/Maddie mix doesn't show up well in the picture since the brown and black are dark, but trust me, in person it is a wonderful color combination.
For finished product we have the scarves as shown above (out of Victoria's fiber and out of Tucker's fiber). Here is a close up of Tucker's scarf:
Our plan is to have some alpacas there for people to see. I know many people have never seen an alpaca, so that alone should draw some attention. Jillian and I will have our spinning wheels there. I have some of Lightning's fiber ready to spin up tonight while I'm there. Jillian will do some felting demonstrations.
I have raw fiber, yarn and finished product to show the process of raw fiber from an animal all the way up to a finished product.
Here are some of the things I've put together to show off.
I will be wearing my Tucker Sweater (thankfully the weather is cool enough):
And I will have Lightning's fiber to spin up:
I have sets of fiber from individual animals to show the process, from raw fiber to yarn to a finished product. Here is an example from Maddie and from Tucker:
For yarn, I have 2 balls of Victoria's fiber and a ball of Tehya's fiber as example and for sale. The yarn from Tehya is especially nice.
This is one of the balls of Victori's yarn and a scarf made out of her yarn:
Tehya's wonderful yarn:
I have examples of a mixed ply yarn that people can order (sorry, I don't have more than a sample ready). The one that is knit up is a mix of Victoria and Maddie, brown and black ply. The other yarn is a mix of Victoria and Tehya, brown and fawn ply. The Victoria/Maddie mix doesn't show up well in the picture since the brown and black are dark, but trust me, in person it is a wonderful color combination.
For finished product we have the scarves as shown above (out of Victoria's fiber and out of Tucker's fiber). Here is a close up of Tucker's scarf:
The Fiber Process
I know I've done pictures of various stages of the fiber process, like pictures of the spinning wheel and what it looks like when the fiber is washing in the sink (soaking in a mesh bag). There are other steps to processing the fiber. I'm going to try to lay it all out here.
We start with the alpaca, who grows this wonderful fiber. Every spring we shear the alpacas to collect the fiber. We sort this fiber. The young alpacas have very soft very luxurious fiber. That is the best fiber. The older girls and the gelding have rather coarse fiber. Coarse fiber is best for felting, or making something like a rug. The softest fiber should be worn close to the body, like in a sweater or scarf. There is also a mid-grade fiber that would be great for things like slipper socks - not worn right by the body, but also not so far away as being a rug.
After sorting the fiber, the next step for me is some skirting. I hate skirting so this step I do only because I know I will have fun during a future step. Here we take out the large debris and vegetable matter (i.e. large pieces of hay), and we skirt out 2nd cuts. A second cut is when the shearer goes by a spot more than one time and there are very short fibers. Those do not spin up nice so we take them out.
For me the next step is washing it (I have heard some spinners prefer to spin it dirty then wash after it's spun. I personally wash it before spinning, but there are many different ways you can do this). Here is Victoria's fiber washing in the sink:
To wash it, I put some fiber in a mesh bag. I fill the sink with hot water and some Dawn dish soap, then put in the mesh bag of fiber. I soak for 15 minutes, then pull the bag out, drain the water. I fill the sink with hot water, no soap, and put the mesh bag in for 15 minutes, then remove bag, empty sink, and repeat one more time. During this process it is important not to agitate the mesh bag as that can cause the fiber to felt.
The next step is laying out the fiber to dry. I put the fiber on the skirting table in our basement for this step. We've found having a fan blowing under the table really speeds up the drying process. On this table is some of Kateri's fiber, and some of Tucker's fiber:
It takes about 2 days to really dry out the fiber. You don't want to put it away wet or flick it wet. It could mold if it doesn't dry out well, which would be a horrible waste of fiber. We usually check on the fiber a couple times a day to fluff it up and help the drying process.
The next step I do is to flick the fiber. More common is carding fiber, where you have 2 wire brush and pull the fiber between the two. I've found with our fresh raw alpaca fiber that a flicker is all we need. A flicker is one smaller wire brush. It's a little less work than carding. We make the raw fiber into what is called a Cloud. This is sort of like a roving, but not in a straight line, more of a puff of fiber. Here is some of Lightnings fiber in Cloud form:
Next I spin it on the wheel. Here is my wheel:
This is what the yarn looks like on the bobbin:
I don't have pictures of my niddy noddy, I actually broke it. I know, I hated the thing anyway ;) (see previous post for more on that). After it is made into a skein off the niddy noddy, then we wash the fiber. I usually only soak it for 15 minutes in hot water (again, no agitation in the sink or it will felt the yarn). I find a simple soak is plenty because I already washed it really good before spinning. It does need to get wet, as I've read that helps set the twist in the yarn.
Then the yarn is hung up as a skein to dry. Here is Sommerfield's yarn drying in our basement, hanging off the skirting table:
Lastly, I use a ball winder (sorry, I forgot to get a picture of the ball winder), to make the yarn into a ball. Here is Tehya's beautiful yarn in ball form:
After it is in a ball of yarn, it's ready for me to knit. So far I have made a sweater and started on a scarf. J has made 2 scarves:
My Tucker Sweater:
The start of a scarf out of Maddie's fiber (here you can see the stages, from raw fiber to yarn to scarf):
And one of the scarves J made:
As you can see there are multiple steps. And, the reason each picture is of a different alpaca's fiber is because these are all going on at the same time. If I did one at a time, I'd have to wait 2 days for the fiber to dry between steps. So, I'm washing one while spinning another and often J helps out with flicking another. I have containers of fiber all over my house :)
We start with the alpaca, who grows this wonderful fiber. Every spring we shear the alpacas to collect the fiber. We sort this fiber. The young alpacas have very soft very luxurious fiber. That is the best fiber. The older girls and the gelding have rather coarse fiber. Coarse fiber is best for felting, or making something like a rug. The softest fiber should be worn close to the body, like in a sweater or scarf. There is also a mid-grade fiber that would be great for things like slipper socks - not worn right by the body, but also not so far away as being a rug.
After sorting the fiber, the next step for me is some skirting. I hate skirting so this step I do only because I know I will have fun during a future step. Here we take out the large debris and vegetable matter (i.e. large pieces of hay), and we skirt out 2nd cuts. A second cut is when the shearer goes by a spot more than one time and there are very short fibers. Those do not spin up nice so we take them out.
For me the next step is washing it (I have heard some spinners prefer to spin it dirty then wash after it's spun. I personally wash it before spinning, but there are many different ways you can do this). Here is Victoria's fiber washing in the sink:
To wash it, I put some fiber in a mesh bag. I fill the sink with hot water and some Dawn dish soap, then put in the mesh bag of fiber. I soak for 15 minutes, then pull the bag out, drain the water. I fill the sink with hot water, no soap, and put the mesh bag in for 15 minutes, then remove bag, empty sink, and repeat one more time. During this process it is important not to agitate the mesh bag as that can cause the fiber to felt.
The next step is laying out the fiber to dry. I put the fiber on the skirting table in our basement for this step. We've found having a fan blowing under the table really speeds up the drying process. On this table is some of Kateri's fiber, and some of Tucker's fiber:
It takes about 2 days to really dry out the fiber. You don't want to put it away wet or flick it wet. It could mold if it doesn't dry out well, which would be a horrible waste of fiber. We usually check on the fiber a couple times a day to fluff it up and help the drying process.
The next step I do is to flick the fiber. More common is carding fiber, where you have 2 wire brush and pull the fiber between the two. I've found with our fresh raw alpaca fiber that a flicker is all we need. A flicker is one smaller wire brush. It's a little less work than carding. We make the raw fiber into what is called a Cloud. This is sort of like a roving, but not in a straight line, more of a puff of fiber. Here is some of Lightnings fiber in Cloud form:
Next I spin it on the wheel. Here is my wheel:
This is what the yarn looks like on the bobbin:
I don't have pictures of my niddy noddy, I actually broke it. I know, I hated the thing anyway ;) (see previous post for more on that). After it is made into a skein off the niddy noddy, then we wash the fiber. I usually only soak it for 15 minutes in hot water (again, no agitation in the sink or it will felt the yarn). I find a simple soak is plenty because I already washed it really good before spinning. It does need to get wet, as I've read that helps set the twist in the yarn.
Then the yarn is hung up as a skein to dry. Here is Sommerfield's yarn drying in our basement, hanging off the skirting table:
Lastly, I use a ball winder (sorry, I forgot to get a picture of the ball winder), to make the yarn into a ball. Here is Tehya's beautiful yarn in ball form:
After it is in a ball of yarn, it's ready for me to knit. So far I have made a sweater and started on a scarf. J has made 2 scarves:
My Tucker Sweater:
The start of a scarf out of Maddie's fiber (here you can see the stages, from raw fiber to yarn to scarf):
And one of the scarves J made:
As you can see there are multiple steps. And, the reason each picture is of a different alpaca's fiber is because these are all going on at the same time. If I did one at a time, I'd have to wait 2 days for the fiber to dry between steps. So, I'm washing one while spinning another and often J helps out with flicking another. I have containers of fiber all over my house :)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Spinning Mishaps......
Just so you all know, while I love spinning yarn, it's not all happy and wonderful. There are times I mess up and could kick myself. One big struggle I have is with the niddy noddy. A niddy noddy is a long pole with horizontal bars on each end, making it a capital "I" shape. After you ply the yarn, you wrap it on the niddy noddy to make a skein. Then you wash it, hang it dry. After it's dry you can put it in a ball. Though I'd heard it's best to wait to put it in a ball until you are about to use it. I believe the ball shape pulls the yarn, whereas the skein shape is best for long term storage. My struggle comes somewhere between using the niddy noddy and getting it into a ball. That skein that I make always ends up in a big knotted mess. It's horrible! I have literally spent entire evenings getting knots out of my "skein" so that I can put it into a ball. For the life of me, I can't make a skein that doesn't end up in a knot. I know the problem starts with putting it on the niddy noddy. I've wondered if I just made a skein off of the swift instead if that would work better. But, I think the niddy noddy is supposed to pull the yarn straight which the swift would not do. If any of you have more experience in this area and could offer suggestions I would love to hear them!
Another spinning mishap is something awful I did the other night. Oh could I kick myself over this one. I had a strand of Sommerfield's fiber on 2 bobbins, ready to ply. To back up a bit, to make yarn you spin up 1 strand at a time, take 2 (or 3) stands and ply them together to complete the yarn. I was in a great mood because in one evening I had made 2 strands of Sommerfield's fiber. I waited to the next night to ply them. I've read that it's best to wait overnight to ply to set the twist in the strands. When creating a strand, you spin the wheel clockwise to make a twist (this is a Z direction twist). Then to ply, you spin the wheel counterclockwise to ply into yarn (this creates a S direction twist). Plying does sort of loosen the twist in the strand because you are going the opposite way. This to me make sense in why you would wait overnight to ply, so that you don't twist it the opposite way right away. I can imagine a more experienced spinner would say they have plied right away and all was fine, so maybe this isn't an essential step. But, since I read this was a good idea, I try to work it out to include this rest period to set the twist.
Reading from my favorite book "Start Spinning, Everything You Need to Know to Make Great Yarn" by Maggie Casey, I see there are several good reasons to ply yarn:
* plied yarn is stronger
* plied yarn will even out inconsistencies. All home spun yarn has spots that are thinner and wider than the rest. "By plying, chances are the skinnier and fatter spots will balance themselves out in a plied yarn."
* plied yarn is easier to use than singles
* yarn is plied in the opposite direction of how it's spun "which removes some twist, balances the yarn, and allows the fiber to bloom."
* "A plied yarn has more personality." You can ply the same color together or mix colors. I've had a lot of fun mixing colors. I love my Maddie (black) and Victoria (brown) mix. Oh, or the Tehya (fawn) and Victoria (brown). This part is so fun to me!
So my adventurous plying starts, I have both bobbins ready and start the yarn on the wheel. I'm excited to see how this Sommerfield yarn is going to look! As I get going, I can't figure out why but the yarn is very twisted and almost creating hard bumpy knots. I loosen the wheel adjustments, and try to adjust the speed at whichi I treadle. Nothing is working, so I work harder and hard. I'm about 1/3 of the way through plying the yarn and I take a quick break. When I come back to the wheel, I realize my horrible mistake. While I had the yarn on the right side of the wheel to ply in an S, it was going under the bobbin, not over, and was actually a Z direction twist. I had been turning the wheel the wrong direction all along! I was over twisting my yarn, creating a very tight twist and knotted spots.
Oh the mess!
So, there I am at a crossroads. Do I continue to twist in the wrong direction and end up with an over twisted knotted yarn? I can't see much use for that kind of yarn. It was hard and bumpy. Do I scrap the whole thing? I hate to throw away such nice fiber, but where do I even start to fix this? Do I attempt to un-ply the yarn? I can't just start twisting it the other way (at least I don't think I could).
I decided to un-ply the yarn. But I had no good plan of how to untwist it. Maybe there is a suggested way to do it, I'd love to hear about it if there is! I ended up having to cut each strand at the bobbin. Then I stood on a bench and held the plied yarn up, letting it dangle and un-twist itself. This worked well until the un-plied yarn got longer and longer. In the end, I had a huge knotted mess. Several hours later (and let me add that our dog Quinn ran off with a strand at one point, so add in chasing down the dog in there), I finally had my strands back on their bobbins ready to ply. By that time it was way past my bedtime. All that work and I accomplished nothing for the day. I wish I had just not even tried to ply that night.
The next night I did ply Sommerfield's yarn and it is the most wonderful yarn! It was worth all that :)
I don't think I will ever make that mistake again. What a huge mess that created!
Another spinning mishap is something awful I did the other night. Oh could I kick myself over this one. I had a strand of Sommerfield's fiber on 2 bobbins, ready to ply. To back up a bit, to make yarn you spin up 1 strand at a time, take 2 (or 3) stands and ply them together to complete the yarn. I was in a great mood because in one evening I had made 2 strands of Sommerfield's fiber. I waited to the next night to ply them. I've read that it's best to wait overnight to ply to set the twist in the strands. When creating a strand, you spin the wheel clockwise to make a twist (this is a Z direction twist). Then to ply, you spin the wheel counterclockwise to ply into yarn (this creates a S direction twist). Plying does sort of loosen the twist in the strand because you are going the opposite way. This to me make sense in why you would wait overnight to ply, so that you don't twist it the opposite way right away. I can imagine a more experienced spinner would say they have plied right away and all was fine, so maybe this isn't an essential step. But, since I read this was a good idea, I try to work it out to include this rest period to set the twist.
Reading from my favorite book "Start Spinning, Everything You Need to Know to Make Great Yarn" by Maggie Casey, I see there are several good reasons to ply yarn:
* plied yarn is stronger
* plied yarn will even out inconsistencies. All home spun yarn has spots that are thinner and wider than the rest. "By plying, chances are the skinnier and fatter spots will balance themselves out in a plied yarn."
* plied yarn is easier to use than singles
* yarn is plied in the opposite direction of how it's spun "which removes some twist, balances the yarn, and allows the fiber to bloom."
* "A plied yarn has more personality." You can ply the same color together or mix colors. I've had a lot of fun mixing colors. I love my Maddie (black) and Victoria (brown) mix. Oh, or the Tehya (fawn) and Victoria (brown). This part is so fun to me!
So my adventurous plying starts, I have both bobbins ready and start the yarn on the wheel. I'm excited to see how this Sommerfield yarn is going to look! As I get going, I can't figure out why but the yarn is very twisted and almost creating hard bumpy knots. I loosen the wheel adjustments, and try to adjust the speed at whichi I treadle. Nothing is working, so I work harder and hard. I'm about 1/3 of the way through plying the yarn and I take a quick break. When I come back to the wheel, I realize my horrible mistake. While I had the yarn on the right side of the wheel to ply in an S, it was going under the bobbin, not over, and was actually a Z direction twist. I had been turning the wheel the wrong direction all along! I was over twisting my yarn, creating a very tight twist and knotted spots.
Oh the mess!
So, there I am at a crossroads. Do I continue to twist in the wrong direction and end up with an over twisted knotted yarn? I can't see much use for that kind of yarn. It was hard and bumpy. Do I scrap the whole thing? I hate to throw away such nice fiber, but where do I even start to fix this? Do I attempt to un-ply the yarn? I can't just start twisting it the other way (at least I don't think I could).
I decided to un-ply the yarn. But I had no good plan of how to untwist it. Maybe there is a suggested way to do it, I'd love to hear about it if there is! I ended up having to cut each strand at the bobbin. Then I stood on a bench and held the plied yarn up, letting it dangle and un-twist itself. This worked well until the un-plied yarn got longer and longer. In the end, I had a huge knotted mess. Several hours later (and let me add that our dog Quinn ran off with a strand at one point, so add in chasing down the dog in there), I finally had my strands back on their bobbins ready to ply. By that time it was way past my bedtime. All that work and I accomplished nothing for the day. I wish I had just not even tried to ply that night.
The next night I did ply Sommerfield's yarn and it is the most wonderful yarn! It was worth all that :)
I don't think I will ever make that mistake again. What a huge mess that created!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Dark Rose Grey!?
can it be?!
I have wanted a dark rose gray since I first saw one. It is dark brown with gray hairs running through it. I have thought that they look pink with this color combination.
Well, we had Pocahontas's cria tips shorn off near the end of last week. We got out our color chart but still were not sure what color she is. She definitely has dark brown, but we couldn't tell if maybe there was some black in there making her a bay black or what. This weekend we were doing herd health and J notice gray on her tail, then we looked and could see it all over her chest and neck. We dug around in her blanket and it's there too! A dark rose gray :)
I have wanted a dark rose gray since I first saw one. It is dark brown with gray hairs running through it. I have thought that they look pink with this color combination.
Well, we had Pocahontas's cria tips shorn off near the end of last week. We got out our color chart but still were not sure what color she is. She definitely has dark brown, but we couldn't tell if maybe there was some black in there making her a bay black or what. This weekend we were doing herd health and J notice gray on her tail, then we looked and could see it all over her chest and neck. We dug around in her blanket and it's there too! A dark rose gray :)
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Auntie Maddie
Maddie has always been one of my favorite alpacas. She has such a nice disposition. She's never spit at me, or even seemed angry with me (unlike some others that give me nasty looks all the time). We've always known the young alpacas look up to Maddie and she acts like a aunt to them, taking them under her wing. This past week we've seen why they love her so much. Our dog, Quinn, an American Eskimo, got loose in the pasture. He's not supposed to be there, but he was. It's impossible to catch him. I tried to talk Spot (our great Pyrenees) into chasing Quinn and catching him for us, but Spot wasn't interested. So Quinn runs around like a crazy dog all over the pasture. The moms, who you would think would naturally protect their young ones, barely even look up while munching in the hay bin. Instead, Maddie, who has not yet had a baby, sees Quinn running all crazy and barking and she herds the babies into the paddock. Maddie stands between barking Quinn and all the cria! I told her I knew she was my favorite for a reason :)
We think Maddie is now pregnant, so she will have a chance to be a mom come next summer. She is going to be a great mom too.
We think Maddie is now pregnant, so she will have a chance to be a mom come next summer. She is going to be a great mom too.
Busy with Fiber
Fiber is what they call the fur on the alpacas. Selling the fiber and fiber products should bring in enough income to offset the cost of feeding and vet care of the alpacas for the year. Though, I have to say when we initially went to visit alpaca farms, we found many of them had bags and bags of fiber in their basement or attic. I swore I was getting into alpacas to do something with the fiber. I had envisioned having yarn made at a mill, then I would knit product. After seeing someone hand spin, I decided I wanted to give that a try too. I love it! Knitting is great too :)
So, now comes the hard part of marketing our product. Well, not hard, but not my personal favorite thing to do. I'm more a behind the scenes person. I love spinning the fiber and knitting things. I'm not so fond of washing fiber and flicking (sort of like carding) the fiber, and promoting it. But it's all part of the process.
To start, I put fiber lots on our Alpaca Nation page. I didn't expect that to draw in a lot of people since many farms have fiber up for sale. Plus, most people on Alpaca Nation have their own alpacas. But, it got me to sort our fiber and start the process of selling it. I also set up my Etsy store. I am excited about getting that up and running. A dear friend of mine, Eliz, bought the first lot of fiber from us. She wants to try dying and felting. She bought some of our coarse fiber for this project. I am anxious to hear how her projects work out!
We will have a booth at Grant's Frontier Festival in mid-August. They will allow us to have some alpacas there, so we are planning to take Shelby, Tehya and Brooklyn. Ashton Stone Alpacas will be there too. I think Jillian and I will spin some yarn and see who stops by the booth. I won't have a lot of product ready by then, but I will have raw fiber available, and I will have samples of yarn and products (scarves) for people to see. We will have order forms since I don't have product ready for purchase. I am also looking into getting a booth at a fiber fair in White Cloud for Labor Day weekend. I likely will only have raw fiber for them too.
I have been very busy getting samples of product put together. I washed a sample of Maddie's fiber, Tehya's fiber and Victoria's fiber, and have that spun into a sample of yarn. Maddie's I started to knit into a scarf to show what it will look like in a finished product. I have to say Tehya's was the most fun to spin! She has variation of color (beige to light fawn to medium fawn). The yarn is so soft because it's her first fleece, and the color is heathered that looks so neat. I still need to get a sample of Sommerfield's spun up (it's washed but not spun). For fun, I mixed up some yarn, for example, I had a bit of Victoria's spun up but only 1 strand, so I plied it with a strand of Maddie's fiber. The mix of brown and black is really neat. I knit up a sample of what that will look like in a product. I also did a mix of Victoria (brown) and Tehya (heathered fawn). That one is so pretty too.
This has been what has been keeping me busy lately. It's all about fiber :)
So, now comes the hard part of marketing our product. Well, not hard, but not my personal favorite thing to do. I'm more a behind the scenes person. I love spinning the fiber and knitting things. I'm not so fond of washing fiber and flicking (sort of like carding) the fiber, and promoting it. But it's all part of the process.
To start, I put fiber lots on our Alpaca Nation page. I didn't expect that to draw in a lot of people since many farms have fiber up for sale. Plus, most people on Alpaca Nation have their own alpacas. But, it got me to sort our fiber and start the process of selling it. I also set up my Etsy store. I am excited about getting that up and running. A dear friend of mine, Eliz, bought the first lot of fiber from us. She wants to try dying and felting. She bought some of our coarse fiber for this project. I am anxious to hear how her projects work out!
We will have a booth at Grant's Frontier Festival in mid-August. They will allow us to have some alpacas there, so we are planning to take Shelby, Tehya and Brooklyn. Ashton Stone Alpacas will be there too. I think Jillian and I will spin some yarn and see who stops by the booth. I won't have a lot of product ready by then, but I will have raw fiber available, and I will have samples of yarn and products (scarves) for people to see. We will have order forms since I don't have product ready for purchase. I am also looking into getting a booth at a fiber fair in White Cloud for Labor Day weekend. I likely will only have raw fiber for them too.
I have been very busy getting samples of product put together. I washed a sample of Maddie's fiber, Tehya's fiber and Victoria's fiber, and have that spun into a sample of yarn. Maddie's I started to knit into a scarf to show what it will look like in a finished product. I have to say Tehya's was the most fun to spin! She has variation of color (beige to light fawn to medium fawn). The yarn is so soft because it's her first fleece, and the color is heathered that looks so neat. I still need to get a sample of Sommerfield's spun up (it's washed but not spun). For fun, I mixed up some yarn, for example, I had a bit of Victoria's spun up but only 1 strand, so I plied it with a strand of Maddie's fiber. The mix of brown and black is really neat. I knit up a sample of what that will look like in a product. I also did a mix of Victoria (brown) and Tehya (heathered fawn). That one is so pretty too.
This has been what has been keeping me busy lately. It's all about fiber :)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Etsy
I'd love some feedback on the Etsy account I just set up:
oakhavenalpacas.etsy.com
Other than raw fiber, I only have 1 ball of handspun yarn ready for sale. I'm working on more things! But I thought it would be good to get this account up and going.
oakhavenalpacas.etsy.com
Other than raw fiber, I only have 1 ball of handspun yarn ready for sale. I'm working on more things! But I thought it would be good to get this account up and going.
Monday, July 27, 2009
New Genetics - a trade
A neat way to spice up your herd's genetics is to trade animals with another farm. We offered Sommerfield up in trade. We have her brother, her mother, and now her younger sister, we don't need so many from the same line.
A farm in Ohio offered up their girl, Brooklynn, in trade for Sommerfield. Brooklynn was born in December, so she is 7 months old. She was only recenlty weaned from her mom. But she's a big girl! We are excited to add her as a foundation animal to our herd. She has completely different genetics than we currently have. She has a different look to her too, especially in her face, a cute look at that!
Welcome to our farm, Brooklynn!
A farm in Ohio offered up their girl, Brooklynn, in trade for Sommerfield. Brooklynn was born in December, so she is 7 months old. She was only recenlty weaned from her mom. But she's a big girl! We are excited to add her as a foundation animal to our herd. She has completely different genetics than we currently have. She has a different look to her too, especially in her face, a cute look at that!
Welcome to our farm, Brooklynn!
Cavalier Pictures
Newborn pictures:
Birthday picture with his mom, Victoria:
This one is from today, he's a couple days old:
Here are all our 2009 cria - Lily is white, Po is brown and Cavalier is fawn:
Birthday picture with his mom, Victoria:
This one is from today, he's a couple days old:
Here are all our 2009 cria - Lily is white, Po is brown and Cavalier is fawn:
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Cavalier
Our newest alpaca cria was born today sometime between noon and 2 p.m. I checked on Victoria at noon, and decided she did not look like she was in labor. She was in the barn chewing on some hay. So, I took Zack swimming. Emma called us around 2:30 p.m. and said she saw a baby on ground in the pasture.
It's a boy :) Baby was up and walking well by the time I got there to check on him. He looks like a fading fawn. Dad is Peruvian Twister from Sanborne's Great Northern Alpacas. Twister is fawn. Victoria is our maroon, dark brown.
Birth weight is 17.4 pounds. He was born on day 354, healthy and doing well.
For Victoria's offspring we have been using a "car" theme (using the name of cars as the offspring's name). We had a really hard time coming up with a name. We had several picked out, but none of them seemed to fit. He's tough, but elegant. All the names seemed tough and rugged. Finally we arrived on Cavalier, that has an elegant yet masculine feel to it. To make it formal we decided on The Cavalier. We will use our Oak Haven logo of OHVN The Cavalier.
This finishes cria season for this year. We are blessed with 3 wonderful cria. All are healthy and doing well. We continued our 2 girls and 1 boy ratio that we had last year.
It's a boy :) Baby was up and walking well by the time I got there to check on him. He looks like a fading fawn. Dad is Peruvian Twister from Sanborne's Great Northern Alpacas. Twister is fawn. Victoria is our maroon, dark brown.
Birth weight is 17.4 pounds. He was born on day 354, healthy and doing well.
For Victoria's offspring we have been using a "car" theme (using the name of cars as the offspring's name). We had a really hard time coming up with a name. We had several picked out, but none of them seemed to fit. He's tough, but elegant. All the names seemed tough and rugged. Finally we arrived on Cavalier, that has an elegant yet masculine feel to it. To make it formal we decided on The Cavalier. We will use our Oak Haven logo of OHVN The Cavalier.
This finishes cria season for this year. We are blessed with 3 wonderful cria. All are healthy and doing well. We continued our 2 girls and 1 boy ratio that we had last year.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tucker's Sweater
This past weekend I blocked the sweater so it is ready to be worn. I do still need some buttons, but haven't found the right ones yet. This is me in the sweater with Tucker. He doesn't seem too impressed though.
Victoria
We are still waiting on a baby from Victoria. We can see it in there, every so often a leg can be seen on her side.
This past weekend I spun up some of Victoria's fiber into yarn. One ball is 5 oz, the other 3.5 oz:
This is what the yarn looks like:
This past weekend I spun up some of Victoria's fiber into yarn. One ball is 5 oz, the other 3.5 oz:
This is what the yarn looks like:
Thursday, July 16, 2009
My sweater
It might have been greedy for me to first make something for myself. But I wanted something I could wear to alpaca shows and craft fairs to show off our alpaca product. This is a very artsy sweater. For one, I spun it with any color variation that came along. I could have picked out the really white parts and the browish spots to make the color uniform. I chose to keep it artsy and natural. It is also one of my first spinning adventures so the yarn has it's bumps and variation. This makes it very natural and artsy looking.
I am exicted how the sweater turned out. I did have to make some changes in order to get it right in the end, but it's finally there!
I do need to block it yet and put on buttons. The way it's hanging here is a bit off center, but it gives you the idea:
After I finished my sweater, I washed up Victoria's fiber from 2 years ago. To wash it, I put a bunch of it in a netting bag and wash it in sink with very hot water. The first time I put some dawn dish soap in there first to clean it. I fill the sink with hot water and dawn, then immerge the bag of fiber. I let it sit for 15 mintues then squeeze it out. You do have to be careful because aggitation will cause the fibers to felt, and I don't want that! I sometimes repeat with another dawn washing, depending on how dirty it is. Then I do at least two soakings in plain water to rinse off the soap. This is what it looks like in the sink:
Once I have it clean, I spread the fiber out on a skirting table J made for me that we keep in our basement. While laying there, we will fluff up the fiber from time to time to help it dry and make sure it doesn't set in a clump. Then I use a flicker to make a cloud of fiber to spin from. Another option would be to send it to a mill and have rovings made to spin from. So far I've done fine with a cloud that we do ourselves. It saves my having to wait for the mill :)
Once I have the sweater blocked and buttons on, I'll post a picture of me in it.
I am exicted how the sweater turned out. I did have to make some changes in order to get it right in the end, but it's finally there!
I do need to block it yet and put on buttons. The way it's hanging here is a bit off center, but it gives you the idea:
After I finished my sweater, I washed up Victoria's fiber from 2 years ago. To wash it, I put a bunch of it in a netting bag and wash it in sink with very hot water. The first time I put some dawn dish soap in there first to clean it. I fill the sink with hot water and dawn, then immerge the bag of fiber. I let it sit for 15 mintues then squeeze it out. You do have to be careful because aggitation will cause the fibers to felt, and I don't want that! I sometimes repeat with another dawn washing, depending on how dirty it is. Then I do at least two soakings in plain water to rinse off the soap. This is what it looks like in the sink:
Once I have it clean, I spread the fiber out on a skirting table J made for me that we keep in our basement. While laying there, we will fluff up the fiber from time to time to help it dry and make sure it doesn't set in a clump. Then I use a flicker to make a cloud of fiber to spin from. Another option would be to send it to a mill and have rovings made to spin from. So far I've done fine with a cloud that we do ourselves. It saves my having to wait for the mill :)
Once I have the sweater blocked and buttons on, I'll post a picture of me in it.
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