Two bags full

Todd and Christine Burton from Burton Alpacas were kind enough to invite me to help them shear 10 of their 60 alpacas today. It was such a fun experience!


Some of their females were already sheared last week.


We sheared some of the boys today. This guy's name is leo. He had quite the messy hair-do.

Before:

After:

Bet you didn't know that alpacas are ticklish? Yup, and because of that some of the big boys required several people to hold them down, even though they are tied to the table.


We started by shearing some white boys and they had lovely fine fleece (even though the Burtons consider them "fibre males" meaning they don't use them for breeding).


Still... very luscious!

We also sheared some brown boys, with coarser fibre but lots of personality!


And in the end I cam away with two big bags of fibre... beige and chocolate brown. This is my first raw fleece and I'm so excited. More on that later though!!

Kool-aid fun :)

I needed to have a little fun this week and I had this yarn in my stash that was calling me. It was creamy white alpaca lace weight and I have been dream about dyeing it with kool-aid since I got it at Christmas time.

Yesterday I tested out some Kool-aid colours, to see which combo would give me the best raspberry red.

I used different combinations of strawberry, grape and cherry.


(the darker one in the top right had all colours plus extra grape)

Combining all three in a 1:1:1 ratio gave me a very rich colour, so that's what I went with.


I then bought four packets of each flavour, and started out with a dye bath of half of them. But first I soaked the alpaca overnight in water with a little bit of dishsoap. I was told this would help the dye penetrate.



I then put it in the microwave and heated it in two minute intervals. I then let the bowl sit on the counter until the water went clear.



I ended up adding more dye, twice, as the dye bath exhausted, because the yarn wasn't quite as dark as I wanted. Eventually I got a colour that was pretty close to what I wanted. It's slightly orangey, but the colour is very rich and it has lovely tonal qualities that change in different light. All in all, I'm happy with the result! :)

Now the question is, what should I make with it? Maybe Cascata or Abrazo? Or the larger version of Pine and Ivy? What do you think?

Alpacas!

Hubby and I went to an alpaca show this weekend, in Brandon MB. It's not very far but it was a fun trip.



Of course there was spinning in the car:


And then there were some very cute (and incredibly soft) alpacas from across the prairies!



I wanted to take several of them home with me.

(I think these ones liked me too! :)

Easter spinning

I got some lovely hand dyed Blue Faced Leicester roving from Unwind Yarn and Gems. I think it's the perfect colour for Easter and totally makes me think of spring :)



Happy Easter everyone!

Socks... almost

When I got my first spindle a few months ago, one thought jumped into my head and I had to try it.

I wanted to make a 3-ply sock yarn.

From what I read, you need a number of things to make a good sock yarn. First, thin singles with LOTS of twist.



Some folks say that this is best achieved on top whorl spindle. But I like to do things my own way, so I used my Turkish Delight (the middle size of my three turkish spindles). I made sure to add extra twist.


Next it's good to use a durable fibre. Cashmere, silk, etc will wear out really quickly. I chose Falkland wool, which is a longwool (I think...) and when I felt it, it seemed really sturdy.

Lastly, lots of twist when plying. That's where I'm at now. :) I'm using my "comets" top whorl for that. It spins fast and long and I love plying on it. I think the plied yarn is looking really good and it looks like it's the about sock-yarn weight!!! (somewhere between fingering and sport)



The only thing left after I ply is to knit a pair of socks... I think I even know someone who would thoroughly enjoy a pair of handspun GREEN socks. (The yarn is actually greener than the photo would have you believe.) If only I could remember her shoe size...

OMG I'm such a geek.

So I bought a new bottle of vitamins and there was this big wad of cotton in the bottle.


I normally throw this cotton in the garbage. But then I thought:

Gee I could spin that!

I'm so incredibly pleased with myself.
I think I might need to change my blog to Allison's Knitting and Spinning Addiction. The "spinning" part is getting a little out of hand...

And CANADA takes GOLD!!!!!

Well the olympics are officially over. I feel such as sense of pride. Team Canada really did an amazing job on home turf. 14 Gold medals, 26 overall! I feel so happy to live in this great country :)


Though it doesn't compare to the trials and triumphs of the athletes, I completed my socks tonight while watching the closing ceremonies.


There were a few set backs early in the first week. I had to rip back the snowflake bit on the first sock and re knit it on bigger needles. And today I ripped back and redid the first toe. But I persevered and the really are the perfect Canadian socks :)

It's been a great Olympics, Canada! Good work!