alpaca: beyond samples

The past few weeks I’ve been trying to spin alpaca yarns to show at the farm day event that occurred last weekend. Overall it went well, except for the completely dreary weather on Saturday. Sunday morning we had a birth right at the farm. One of the momma alpacas had a little girl. She had gotten up yet when I left later that day so I’m hoping she’s doing better.

I orchestrated a swap with one of the alpaca owners. She wanted some dyed fiber spun into yarn, so I took that and a big pile of natural colors to spin for myself. My plans for it include mittens for the Christmas show. I think folks will respond to “Handspun Alpaca in Natural Colors” especially since I have some black (close enough anyway). Everyone is always asking about black. Not going to do that!! Plus it’s really boring, but if it’s a natural color fiber I don’t mind so much.

Also, I used the left-over yarns from the green striped hat to make a pair of fingerless mitts for myself. I think I’ve always wanted a matching set, so now I’ll have one! Green and white stripes with brown coat – it should work. Although I’ve never been concerned about matching in the past, so really it doesn’t matter.

We’re finally meeting with the caterer tonight. What’s on the menu? I have no idea!

where to find me!

Come visit me this month at two different events:

• September 12, 2009
  • Saxon Summer IX, Chestnut Ridge Campground, Hubbard OH
  • I will be hosting a Spinners Roundtable: A time for spinners to gather for learning, sharing, spinning. New spinners wishing to learn are welcomed to attend.
  • Saxon Summer is hosted by Rivenvale and is an official event of the Society for Creative Anachronism, therefore an attempt at Medieval garb is required in addition to a fee payable on-site. However, it is open to the public.
  • For more information about Saxon Summer, please visit Rivenvale’s website.

• September 26-27, 2009
  • National Alpaca Farm Day, Ramblin Rose Alpacas, Conneaut, OH
  • I will be conducting an all-day demo both Saturday and Sunday. Spinning, weaving, knitting and yarn samples will be available for viewing. This event is free.
  • Please visit Ramblin Rose Alpacas’ website here for directions.

home again

I had a great time at the Farm Day open house. Even though the weather wasn’t superb, we still had a sizable number of people visit. I really enjoyed getting to talk to folks, meet secret lonely spinners, old knitters, curious youths, etc. Of course, there were a few terrorizing youths also – ugh. One kept putting his dirty shoe ON MY WHEEL. I told him very firmly not to touch it, but that didn’t stop him. Overall it was fun, though. They want me to come back and teach classes.

Originally I set up my table under a lovely tree. Behind me were some youth group kids selling hotdogs. They were very interested and wanted to try out all of my toys. I let them spin on a drop spindle and wind a ball of yarn using the umbrella swift. Eventually I moved into the garage when it started to rain.

Undeniably, I work primarily with wool. I only had two skeins of alpaca yarn and no finished projects to show. This caused some confusion because I was demonstrating at an alpaca farm. Folks would walk up and say, “This is all alpaca fur/hair/wool/skin?” “No, I work with wool mostly.” And then I’d point out my two lonely skeins.

I see it this way: I like variety and wool gives me that. Alpaca is the same thing all the time. It would be similar to someone spinning the same breed of sheep all the time. I do a little romney, a little columbia, a little BFL, a little alpaca. Doing all of any one thing is dull. I want lots of options and I get that more with wool than alpaca.

They were really impressed by my yarn and the colors. I laughed to myself. Sure, this looks nice because you’ve never seen anything like it before. If you were on Flickr and browsed through the yarn groups, your brain would explode! This is nothing! But I still appreciated their enthusiasm and positive comments.

And of course I had to snap a few shots of the animals. These are all the female alpacas; the males are kept in a separate area. Isn’t that baby cute?

alpaca demo!

National Alpaca Farm Day, here I come! This weekend is said open house at the farm and I am really getting excited. Since I’ll be staying up there overnight, it’ll be like a mini fiber getaway. Yesterday I started gathering things together that I want to take. Today I had to warp my small loom. I also want to make tags for different items like “wool yarn, 2-ply” or “handknit hat with colorwork”. The funny part is that I very rarely work with alpaca. I only have two skeins of alpaca yarn and no finished objects. I told them this, but they didn’t seem to mind. What else am I taking?

• Spinning wheel
• Spindles
• Nostepinne
• Niddy-noddy
• Yarn swift
• Small weaving loom
• Knitting projects
• Spinning fiber
• Knitting samples
• Weaving samples
• Spun Yarn
• Identification tags
• Business cards
• Books
• Table cloth
• A smile ;D

Did I miss anything? I love doing demos! I’ve been thinking about getting in contact with the local schools to see if they’d be interested in having me come in. Children are annoying, but they are definitely the most intrigued by these things. The main problem is keeping their fingers out of the flyer and making sure yarn samples don’t get tangled. Unfortunately I think it’s supposed to rain this weekend. Sound familiar?

where to find me

Mark your calendar for these upcoming appearances! In the next few months I’ll be showing up in various places, demonstrating, teaching, or selling. So far, there is only one of each of those things occurring, but that might change. If you are in any of these areas and want to come visit, please do. If you have further questions regarding any of these events, please email me and I will clarify.

Saxon Summer VIII – September 12-14, 2008

• “Every Lady Should be Spinning” – a spinning class with a historical and geographical perspective; introductory lessons and trouble-shooting will also be discussed
• Location: Chestnut Ridge Campground; Hubbard Ohio
• Time: 10 am, September 13
• Website: Saxon Summer VIII
• Specifications: Event, though open to the public, requires payment of a site fee and wearing of medieval clothing; this event is put on by the Society for Creative Anachronism

National Alpaca Farmday – September 27-28, 2008

• Spinning, weaving, general fiber demonstrations
• Location: Ramblin’ Rose Alpaca Farm; Conneaut Ohio
• Time: 12-6 pm both days
• Specifications: Farm is open to the public at no cost

Holiday Fine Arts & Crafts Sale – December 2008

• Selling handspun yarn and knitted items
• Location: McDonough Museum of Art; Youngstown, Ohio
• Time: 10-5 pm (Saturday); 12-5 pm (Sunday)
• Specifications: Craft sale is free

life goes on without you

While I was away at Pennsic, my fleece came home! I walked in to the house on Sunday to find a sizable box with my name on it. I opened it up and WOOL. Recall my horrific story of fleeces gone missing? Well, it made me a bit wary of getting another processed, but I decided to try again elsewhere, and left it with Zeilinger Wool Co, someone different (someone better). So professional! And the end product is beautiful. It’s free of VM, combed so nice and straight and clean. Finished in a timely fashion (May to August). I couldn’t be happier. In the future I would definitely go back to them. In fact, I may do that more often! It’s nice to be able to say: “Yes, this is locally produced fiber.”

Also, right before I left, I did some website helper stuff for a woman who owns alpacas. She was really nice, super friendly, and very enthusiastic. She called me up to ask if I would like to spin at the farm’s open house in a few weeks. It’s a national alpaca farm thingy where all the farms are open for visitors. She wants me to bring everything! My knitting, weaving, spinning – whatever I have. I think it’ll be really fun to get out there and be chatty and it’ll be good exposure for me. Something cute I can put on my resume (which is good because I’m job hunting). Plus I’ll just be fibering all day long!