Two weekends ago I had the great pleasure of working at an alpaca farm near my house. The place is called Ameripaca and they raise and sell alpacas. Their farm has over 300 alpacas from Suris to Huacayas. Lovely creatures! Anyways, I helped out one of the vet techs weighing and feeding the little crias (newborns). I also got a chance to meet some of the younger males (they all have separate eating areas).

Belvedere is one of the young males waiting to be weened from his mother, and this Spring he was sheared for the very first time since his birth! He has a luscious grey fleece with the very tips dipped in a rich brown (see below). Anyways I met him after he was sheared and thanked him for his lovely fleece which I now need to have cleaned and prepped for spinning.

2lbs of Belvedere’s fleece

Since this is a desirable color the price was more than average but that’s ok! I just love the combo of grey and brown and can’t wait to spin it up. For those of you seeking an alpaca fleece source I would recommend contacting your local alpaca breeder…they’re always looking for people to buy their fleece.

My first scarf made just for me!

Pattern: Monette, Rowan Vintage Style
Yarn: KidSilk Haze, US 4

This is the lightest, most beautiful thing I’ve ever knitted! I swear!!!

Purchases
Ok, here’s the haul from Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I present to you…

Fluffy balls from Wild Meadow Angora:

Three Waters Farm mohair yarn, and wool/mohair fluffly fiber

More yummyness from Three Waters

Dyed mohair locks from Three Waters

From Tess’ Designer Yarns

Last night I arrived home to find loads of gifties! Well, some were purchased but regardless they’re gifties to me.

SP3
Thank you Secret Pal. I love my package!!! A picture later, I promise. I got some gardener hand cream, jewelry findings, picture magnets, a little toy and a wonderful card. Thank you soooo much.

RAOK
I received a chocolate bar, handmade stitch markers, and candle from the wonderful Mindy. Thank you!

eBay - my purchase of Yoshitomo Nara postcards and Origami paper arrived!

Yoshitomo Nara’s work:

Loobylu - her Holiday cards arrived! Thank you, thank you! Gorgeous work!!

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Small Talk:: too much
2. Evidence:: not necessary
3. Drifting:: logs
4. Hostage:: kids
5. Beauty:: Beast
6. Automatic:: response
7. Asking for it:: punishment
8. Visene:: seek
9. No strings attached:: always
10. Frizz:: curls

But first, here’s a picture of the festival from the parking area:

I meant to take more of the vendor area but got caught shopping with not much time to spare. As promised, here’s the haul from the event…

click image for larger picture

Pikachu and Lobo feel the need to inspect before I can take a picture. They are very curious about the cashmere and coopsworth fiber. Starting from the top left corner: 6oz of handdyed wool/mohair from Three Waters Farm, 14oz of multicolored coopsworth, 2 skeins of Salsa from Dancing Leaf Farm, 2 oz of cashmere fiber, 2.5 oz of mohair locks from Spirit Trail, 5 oz of kid mohair from Misty Mountain, 1 skein of handspun, handdyed wool/mohair from Three Waters Farm. That’s it! Oh and I picked up a pattern for a flapper hat, which the Three Waters skein is slotted for.

I had loads of fun finding these items and making my purchases. Now I just need to figure out how to spin. For now though, I’m starting to stress on my holiday knitted items. I need to start on those otherwise I’ll never finish. Yikes!

Are you knitting any gifts this holiday season? If so, I’d love to hear what others are doing.

If so, I think I need to join one. Now don’t hate me for my addiction, please help me find a “My Name Is Carolina, and I’m a Yarn Addict” group.

So, what has caused this revelation? I don’t have pics but here’s semi-proof. The yarn binge began a week ago with my trip to Folk Art Studio. I had never been to this shop before and what a great place! They had wonderful art hanging, lots of seating space, cafe, and yes, YARN. I picked up two skeins of K1C2 Bon Bon in a very pretty pink colorway. Prices aren’t bad either.

Then the gluttony continued at Aylin’s Woolgatherer. Now I didn’t say much about this place before but now I will. Where shall I begin? Yes, the place has yarns and lots of them but that’s the problem. I can’t stand messy stores especially when they are overpriced. Sure the staff is nice but PLEASE organize your inventory. Don’t let yarns just live on the floor.

Is it over yet? Nooooo…our trip to the Eastern shore had to include a quick trip to Yarns & Co in Easton, MD. This is a much better organized shop then the one mentioned above. The prices are decent and the selection has enough variety. I picked up some DPNs and 2 different skeins in the Artful Yarns line.

Moving on to this week. By this point, I began to feel guilty for the obscene splurge on yarns. Did that deter me? No, of course not. My visit to Knit Happens was very productive both for my Klaralund knitting and stash enhancement. I picked up the latest Rowan Vintage Style and gorgeous skeins of the Rowan Kid Silk Haze to make one of the scarfs in the book.

And last but not least, I love visiting Springwater Fiber Workshop. They not only have a great selection of yarns but also sell their own line. I picked up a skein of K1C2 Richesse et Soie in plum. This stuff is gorgeous and super soft—-Silk and Cashmere. Yummy. This lovely item was 40% off. Perfect! Then I saw that they had some awesome handdyed 50/50 wool and silk yarn. I picked up a skein and one skein of their handdyed Lamb’s Pride.

Pheewww. I feel so much better after that confession.

Basketweave Pullover

I’m finally done with my first swatch. The hubby is starting to feel left out so I had to get it done. The problem is I didn’t get gauge. Nope. Not even close. I’ll have to redo again.

Klaralund

Progress is coming along mighty fine. I’m about 15″ into both sleeves. I hope to have all of this done within 2 weeks.

Kitty Beds

I’ve joined the Wendy bandwagon and have promised to finish a kitty bed by Nov. 6th. I’m thinking of using some Ironstone 100% wool and Lamb’s pride with a touch of eyelash.

Book Envy

Yes, I have that too. Now whenever I get into a hobby, aka addiction, I go haywire and read up everything on it. Most of the time this includes purchasing books for said addiction. I have many garden books, but can you believe it nothing on making jewelry? For knitting, I have three books. My first book was Vogue Knitting: Quick Reference, then I picked up Stich & Bitch, followed by 1030 Stitches and Patterns ; Mon Tricot Knitting Dictionary.

I’m currently envious of Julia’s latest purchase. She got four volumes of Barbara Walker’s treasures. As much as I would love to own one of these I think my skills are too new to appreciate them. I think they would be a great gift when my knitting skills turn five years old. In the meantime, I’m coveting the Knitting On the Road by Nash Bush. This is an awesome book, which reminds me I’ve got to return my copy to the library.

Finding Goodies

While surfing I discovered a link to this interesting search engine - Vivisimo. Your search results get clustered within categories and you can search many different sources: eBAY, FirstGov, NIH, other search engines, and online news resources. Awesome!