My apologies once again for my lack of blogs but I’ve had my hands rather full of late. With our shearing day fast approaching I thought it was time I sorted through the alpaca fleeces I had stored in my barn from the previous two years, before we had another pile to add to the collection. Shame on me for having that much fibre stored, but it was packed away saftely for a reason. Three years ago I had a batch of fibre spun and I have to say I was really disappointed with the result. It’s so disheartening when you send superb quality fleeces to the mill and you get back, admittedly a very soft yarn, but a yarn that was full of bits of vegatation, had thick lumps along it’s length where it hadn’t been twisted properly and it shed horrendously. The last batch shed so bad that knitting with it left you covered from head to foot in fluff and wearing black any where near it was totally out of the question. Not good, not good at all and certainly not a true representation of the quality of fleece my alpaca herd provides. So that’s why I have fleece stored, I made the decision to safeguard what I had until I could find a mill that would do my fleeces justice. Did I find a mill? I did, Happy Days!!! π Hence for the last couple of months or so my hands have been full of fleece, loads and loads of lovely fleeces π I’ve skirted it, graded it and picked it free of vegetation, and have probably discovered more about my herd genetically speaking in those few weeks than in the whole time they’ve been in my care. Alpacas are all about the fibre, our breeding programs are about improving fibre quality and how better to learn that than to get elbows deep in their fibre. Very quickly it becomes obvious what certain genetic lines bring to the mix and this can only aid in the breeding decisions I will make this summer. Anyways enough of my waffle, let me show you my yarn that arrived just last week and a couple of the infinity scarves that I have already knitted. I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and here’s my excuses now for being so keen π Looking yummy is not enough, it has to be very soft, no vegetation embedded along its length, no lumpy bits and definitely no shed!!! The yarn has been put through it’s paces, all the boxes have been ticked most especially for shed. My knitting uniform consisted of a black T-Shirt and black trousers and guess what? they are still black, No Shed π
MAY