November 05, 2012

Whirlwind

It's been a few weeks since I last posted because I have just been busy, busy, busy with this yarn business of mine and such!  Between festivals and fiber shows I've been filling orders left and right!  Absolutely no complaints, though, because this is the kind of busy that everyone wants to be and I am happy to be able to toot my own horn. (Beep, beeeep!)

I have managed to do a little knitting (note the understatement because I did this in 6 days, flat!), and friends have been awaiting the posting of these pics of the Estonian lace "Lily of the Valley" cashmere scarf that I knit for my mother's birthday.  Viola!






And right after I finished that--literally the next day--it was off with my mom and daughter to SAFF to buy alpaca blanket fleece by the pound. 




Unfortunately, they weren't showing alpaca while we were there, but they were showing sheep and angora goats.





7 lbs. of blanket fleece in chocolate and cream for less than $13 per pound was a pretty nice score (and including 2.5 pounds of Suri).  I also picked up a wool fleece for a sheep of which I had never heard:  Tunis.


It's an interesting fleece in that it is not sticky with lanolin like most wools, but greasy like it has been oiled.  I was thinking that this fluffy, spongy fleece might be both easy to clean and easy to spin.  I have plenty (4 lbs) so I will have much time at the wheel to come to a final conclusion.

And some of that alpaca was spun up during a frenzied week of spinning, carding, and dying for my booth at the Royal Alpaca Challenge this past weekend.  I met many very nice breeders, learned a ton about the alpaca and the breeding business, and was invited to attend some additional alpaca shows in February--could be a very busy travel month! 

 The vendor snacks (see pic) and dinners were awesome!


It was all great fun and good business, except for Rocket moping around because we couldn't take a live alpaca home with us.  They are her new obsession.  If ever a child were destined to be a veterinarian ... it's Rocket.  These are a few pics of the booth and our "neighbors" next to the booth.






I even had time to cast on for a pair of light blue alpaca fingerless gloves for myself and to finish up sleeve #1 on the Amiga cardi that I am doing with the top-down cardi class that I am currently teaching. And since the alpaca bug has bitten me this Autumn, the cardi is, yes, being done with a single-ply alpaca/mohair blend.  (Pics to follow in a later post.)

I hope everyone is having a wonderfully knitty and fiber-filled fall!  Knit happy friends!
 

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