...Vamil the alpaca

 

 Each bag seemed to have a name written on it.  This one had Vamil. It is absolutely beautiful.  So crimpy.

Pulled out a hunk from the bag and this is what it looked like. Very cool.  Kind of like an alien, but cool.

 

 After I pulled it out of the bag and cleaned it over my lap I threw it in the plastic bin to card later.

 

Pleasantly surprised to see Michigan sand in my lap from fine tuning the fiber before carding.  I was quite tickled about it.  I knew 'dirt' was coming out and I expected it to, but up on closer inspection....SAND!

...hair of the camelid

So, here is the thing.  I grew up with horses. Lots of 'em.  They don't scare me.   But, honestly, these critters kind of creep me out a bit.  I haven't spent enough time around them to get familiar with their habits and little quirks.

Llamas on the left ~ Alpacas on the right.  At the farm where I attend spinning lessons from Kate.

It's not Kate's farm it belongs to Susan. 

Three bags full.  This is alpaca fiber from a nice farm in Michigan.  I have never spun alpaca before.  I purchased a 2 ply hand spun hank at the Kentucky Fiber Festival a few years back and made a simple ribbed hat.  This simple hat was the go-to hat for all heads in the household.  It seems to fit everyone.  M had taken to wearing it over her dreadlocks (when she had them).  She had taken them out and was still wearing this hat when we made a run to Meijer and some how it became lost. Never to be found.    This fiber was on sale due to the farmers moving south, so I thought I would give it a try and attempt to create the beloved Alpaca Hat.  Of course, I will let you know how that turns out.   My previous alpaca adventure is here.

...Icelandic wool

Icelandic Fleece.

Prepared Icelandic wool.

I was very excited for this class because when I first started knitting I watched the Elizabeth Zimmermann videos over and over and she seemed to use Icelandic wool for everything!  So now I was finally able to meet some face to face.   I really liked it.    Alas, I had a really nice picture of the raw fleece and some samples that I had spun up and I lost it in cyberspace.  :( 

....cheviot

My wonderful spinning teacher, Kate, has her students try different types of wool to spin.    I wasn't able to spin this in class, but she did save some back for me and I am now in possession of Cheviot, top and raw wool.  I am looking forward to spinning this up soon.

...journey of a hat, part two

This hat was great fun to knit.  The pattern repeat was fun.   It's my first hat that I didn't do a 2 x 2 ribbing.  It fits great and is cozy on my head.   The tassels were fun to make.  I had never made the kind that you twist to create, which makes perfect sense.  I purchased the pattern on Ravelry and you can too.  It is called Norby.  It's hard to put down once you start.  Give it a try.  It's fun AND easy.   Disclaimer.  It may not be as fun on commercial store bought yarn.  Just sayin'.

....journey of a hat, part one

Three ply.

It's more than blue.

Gave it a bath.

Hmmmm, it left a little color in the water.

My new favorite thing!   I have learned to make a center-pull ball of yarn. 

It is fantastic!  Your yarn doesn't roll all over the place.  It just sits nicely next to you while you knit away.

....it's the little things that make me happy.

      

Very happy with  my 3 ply handspun yarn.