There has been spinning. September 26, 2007

I have proof.

First, the blue and green yarn that my Sock Swap partner sent to me; 196 yds that have already been turned into a pair of handwarmers and a Bubby bear from Knitty.

and, just added to the etsy store, the Burning Tundra superwash merino… 506 yds of superwash handspun merino loveliness.

We’re starting to put more and more stuff into the store, and soon we’ll make another yarn order so I’ll have pre-made yarn to dye. Ben’s been working on the dye studio, and it’s coming right along. The sink has been installed, the countertops are up, the carpet is out, and the cabinets are in. There are shelves that need to go up, and we need to put everything where it’ll go, and get the downstairs cleaned up some so that dyeing can be efficient and fun again.

I’m hoping to have a “dye day” with the gals I knit with soon. The last one was tons of fun, but this one… well, there will be more space, and more people can dye at once.

Alpaca Ranch (with photos) September 26, 2007

On Sunday, we visited an alpaca ranch, Double Helix Alpacas, which is a couple of miles from my house. Kirsten & Jerry, Linda, and I met at the Coffee Haus in Black Forest, and carpooled over. We saw the alpacas first, then the fleeces. No pics of the fleeces, though.

Here’s a mama alpaca and her little baby cria:

The cria liked to hide behind its mama, and did so most of the time we were there.

There were plenty of cute alpaca faces:

Cria faces:

And sweet moments like this one:

There was even some 80’s hair. Like totally!

I bought 3 lbs of fleece from Peekaboo (whose cria is using her as a pillow), and it’s lovely, a long staple fleece with great crimp. I can’t wait for bobbins to be empty so that I can spin it.