Shearing Day!

Yesterday was shearing day at EyeDazzlerAlpacas! I had so much fun last year that I nagged and nagged Allie until she finally said YES, YOU CAN COME AND MAKE A NUISANCE OF YOURSELF AGAIN THIS YEAR!!! Actually, she was much nicer about it.

Honestly, we worked so hard that my hair follicles hurt, but it was a good hurt, kwim?

Here are the lovely ladies, browsing in their hay bin, not knowing what is to come.

Look at that baby. Too cute! Allie and Phil put name tags on them because, once they are shorn, it is hard to tell one from another. (Actually, they all look kind of stupid post-shearing, but please, don't tell the alpacas I said so, K?)
Here is the first visitor to Paul's Beauty Parlor. Paul is the shearer - he's from New Zealand. Looks like he's praying over this girl, doesn't it? Actually, I think that his back was hurting him, and he's trying to find a position that won't hurt. Poor guy. It must be difficult to do this all day, every day. I have back trouble - I understand.
This is the second packy of the day. I include this photo for my friend, Peggy - she bought the fleece off of this animal, Nellie. What beautiful fleece you have, Nellie! This year, Allie offerred the whole fleece off of certain animals for those who want to do their own processing. Allie will have most of the fleeces turned into roving, but a few animals were sold as complete fleeces. Should this interest you, contact Allie at her website. Wait until you see Micah's fleece - later.
Last year, a distraught animal, Kahlua, entered the barn, singing her head off. My friend and fellow alpaca cleaner, Dana, is a fantastic singer, so she sang to Kahlua, who calmed down immediately.

Well, this year, we knew right away when Kahlua entered the barn, because she was singing her head off, and Dana worked her magic once more. I think that Dana is getting better at singing "alpaca" because Kahlua was entranced.

Just so you know, Dana is not pasty white - it's the pesky flash on my camera. Darn thing.
Once again this year, Emma and Clara kept the place clean. It's hard to believe that all of these girls, Annabelle, Clara, Emma and Grace, were in a ballet recital just two weeks ago, wearing the girliest of girly ballet costumes and today, they are doing barn work. Life is truly grand.

Emma wore blisters onto her hands. Poor kid didn't have too much fun at cello lessons today.
Phil cuts toenails...
...on the alpaca who is in the waiting area of Paul's salon.
Ree's blog isn't the only one to feature cowboys!!! Mine features a genuine Colorado Cowboy. He talked about ropin' and heelin' and workin' calves and rodeos and I wanted to say, "I know exactly what you are talking about because I read Ree's Blog every day!" But, I don't think that he would have cared one way or the other. He also mentioned his wife, frequently, which made me think of Ree and how much she loves her husband.
Girl, it's long past time for a manicure!!!
Next, a little dentistry...
...then, a nice relaxing wait until the shearer finishes with the previous alpaca and is ready for her. Isn't Cowboy so gentle? I complimented him on his gentleness and he said that he surprised himself - that he's so used to being rough with barnyard animals, and he didn't know that he had it in him. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Paul travels the northern hemisphere in our warm months, and in our cold months, he shears in New Zealand. I guess he shears all year long. No wonder his back aches. The young fellow at the head is 17 year old Darcy, also from New Zealand and who is doing a great job. What a wonderful life experience for this lad!
Paul is an extremely gentle and knowledgeable shearer, but gosh, I wish he'd do a better job selecting his clothing. Gasp!
Here is a shot of the front half of the barn, where the shearing is taking place. There are two mats - while one alpaca is being shorn, another one is being readied for her turn, and is having her nails and teeth done. Grouped around the alpaca in the front, you see, in the brown shirt, young Darcy, the man in black is Steve, the "leg man," Annabelle is in green and she's doing "leg girl" duty, Paul in orange, and Allie on the far right.

The "leg man" and "leg girl" are responsible for getting the loops of rope around the alpaca's legs and are also responsible for letting the tension out of the ropes at the end of the job. My son, Sam, was going go do the leg man job this year, but he had a job interview so he had to decline the invitation. (He got the job!!! Yay!!!)
My darling, Grace, holding a day old alpaca. What this little guy must think of his world, eh? Less than 24 hours ago, a complete lifetime for him, he had to endure the rigors of being born.
Now, he has to watch his mama get tied up, and laid on the ground. He has to listen to the clippers (loud), my vacuum (loud), Paul's CD player (loud), Paul singing (loud), and people talking (not terribly loud) and it must all be very confusing for the little dear.
But, Oh My Gosh, what a cutie pie!
Oh wait little guy, it gets better!!! YOU get shorn, too!!! What must this baby be thinking? Something along the lines of, "What next???"

Then, today (the day after shearing), all he hears is the wind and the birds and the soft sounds of his mother. He must be very deeply confused.
Here you can see Micah, a proud male, getting ready for his turn at the spa. Cowboy is going to lift him (he's a BIG alpaca!) while Grace and Steve tie his legs.
I never did get a photo of him standing out in the field, darn it all. I kept forgetting. Well, just imagine how wonderful he looks, all fluffy and proud of himself. He doesn't look terribly dignified right now, but trust me, this guy is a Dude. He's a Rose Grey Dude. He's stunning.

Getting his teeth trimmed.
Relaxing with the Cowboy.
What do you think is going through the Cowboy's mind, right about now? Maybe he's contemplating the green splotches on his clothing? Maybe he's wondering if his wife will be thrilled by the green splotches? Do you know what the green splotches are? It is the way that the alpaca demonstrates his disdain for the day's events, and let me tell you something, it stinks beyond your wildest imaginings. Alpaca spit.

This "tough cowboy" expression never left his face. Not once.
Finally, it's Micah's turn! I had my camera ready. I really wanted to see him get shorn because, see, I am currently knitting with the yarn made from his last year's fleece, and it's to die for gorgeous, so I was anxious to see the preview, so to speak.
It kept coming, and coming...
...and coming, and coming....
..until, finally, his blanket is shorn! I think that now, he looks like a cat.
Oh! I forgot to tell you! Allie and Phil have branched out! They are not going to focus only on Alpacas any more. They are going raise PushMePullYous, too! How cool is THAT?

The back end of the barn is where the fleece sorting is taking place, with the sorter, Nancy, doing a bang-up job of it. Peggy is the official "scribe" - this is all part of a new shearing and fleece handling system known as "Certified Sorted." I'm just a helper girl, I don't know too much about the whole deal, but it's something relatively new in Alpaca Circles.
Anyway, Nancy went through each fleece in fine detail, grading it for fineness, length, color, and a bunch of other characteristics.
Margaret was the "fleece runner" - she carried the bins from the shearer to Nancy. I wish I could have gotten a better photo of her, but she was really FAST, and BUSY. See all of the bags, waiting to be sorted? Nancy didn't have to throw alpacas around, but she sure worked hard, and she and Peggy worked LONG, too.
I don't know. It's just a little hard for me to look at this guy (Micah) and think, "Studmuffin" - what do you think? *snort*

But, Studmuffin he is. He is lots heavier than are the girlie girls. Wait until you see them, they look like waifs.
Last year, we were able to look at the mountains through the barn door. This year, it was way too windy for the door to be open, but look at *my* view! This is the window in the area where Dana and I cleaned the alpacas, and I admired the view all day long! It took my mind off of the smell of the alpaca spit. Urgh.
Someone is feeling a little left out, today.
The minute mother and son were reunited... dinner!
Do you remember Bri from last year? She's all grown up, now. She looks like something straight from Doctor Seuss, don't you agree?

Spindles! Great Western Alpaca Show! Spinning Cotton! OhMy!

I've always heard that small spindles which spin very fast are good for spinning cotton, so I decided to give it a try. Here you see me spinning a cotton ball - just a regular old cotton ball out of a bag of cotton balls from my bathroom closet. I've lost my mind, it's assured.

But, it was quite fun!

I made this spindle as part of my current project - I made a whole bunch of them, actually. I'm going to try to sell them at GWAS - the Great Western Alpaca Show. Actually, the booths will be part of the Fiber Fiesta, which is upstairs from the GWAS. Look for me, and my tiny spindles, at the Eyedazzler Alpaca booth
Here are the ones I’ve made so far – there are a couple more in the works. I’m going to ask a rock-expert-friend to identify the stone ones – it’ll be fun to know the names of the stones.
This is the one I used to spin the cotton ball – it’s just fancy glass, I think, but the blue one below it is “something” – I’ll ask my friend, she’ll know. (The spindles will all have hooks - I took the photo before the hooks were added.)
Three glass versions – how I love the milky one, on the upper right; it seems to glow.
They look surreal from underneath, don’t they? Giant Spindles! Run for your life!

These little spindles are so much fun! They spin like crazy – very fast! They are pretty, fairly well balanced and best of all, they're completely convertible. They can be top whorls, bottom whorls, middle whorls, whatever you like, as the "jewel" slides up or down the shaft, but once you move it, it stays where you put it. I can put a notch into the jewel, if you like, but I prefer them without a notch.

Also - the spindle comes with free drop spindling lessons. Allie, the co-owner of EyeDazzler Alpacas, will have fiber to sell - lovely, beautiful, wonderfully prepared, alpaca fiber. Ahhhh.....

I’ll also have loads of toy wheel spindles for sale. These are the workhorses in my stable of spindles. I’ll have top whorls (shown on top) and bottom whorls… …in three sizes – 2 inch, 2.5 inch and 3 inch diameter wheels, all notched, all with brass hooks. You'll love 'em.
Also, you are most certainly invited to take a “test drive” so that we can be sure that the hook is adjusted exactly right for you. I just love these spindles – since the wheel has spokes, it puts the weight of the whorl at the outside - rim weighted - and the result is a nice, long, spin. They really work well. The smaller ones are nice and light, just right for lace weight spinning.

As a matter of fact, I’ll be teaching spindling all day long, just drop in. I’ve learned a new technique, and I’m thrilled to pieces. I’ve learned to Ply On the Fly – knowledge courtesy of a genius person, Tammy Rizzo. This is the smartest thing ever!!! You spin a length of yarn, ply it, wind it onto the spindle, spin another length, ply it, wind it onto the spindle, and so on. Do you get that? You spin AND ply, more or less at the same time.

Honestly, this bears repeating - -

You spin AND ply, more or less at the same time.

So, when you get to the end of your roving, you are all done. No plying step waiting for you. No trying to estimate how much over ply to insert in order to compensate for the fact that your spindle has been sitting there for a month, waiting for you to get back to it. None of that. I tell you, Tammy Rizzo is a pure genius, and this spinning technique is one to know. I’ll teach you.

Allie's booth will also feature knitting lessons (Hmmm... I wonder who is going to teach those? *blush* That would be... ummm... me...), crochet lessons, needle felting, wet felting, and I don’t know what else. All of the lessons will be free to those who purchase the kits which Allie will have available in her booth. There is no advance sign-up required for the knitting or spinning lessons, just show up and you can get started. Consult the link, scroll to the lower half, for information about the other classes, as they have set times.

This is what the knitting kits feature – Coffee Cuffs! These are small projects, each with a different technique to learn. The I-cord cuff (shown in brown – other colors available, too) is knitted with an I-cord cast on and I-cord cast off. You will learn how to graft the front end of the I-cord to its back end, which makes it seamless and beautiful and you will marvel at your knitting and grafting ability! The I-cord cast on and cast off are brilliant techniques with lots of other applications - once you know how, you’ll be I-cording everywhere; it's tremendously useful. The other Cuff is worked from the top down and it features a tubular cast on in the round – yes, in the round! There is no going back to sew up the cast on edge – when you are done, you are Done. This makes for a lovely edge, and what a great technique for cuff-down socks, mitten cuffs, sleeve cuffs, hats, and other applications. It’s fairly easy, once you get the idea.
If you are interested in knitting lessons, then – Bring Your Needles, all of them! Both projects can be worked on dpns, if you like, or I can show you how to knit them on one circular needle – the Magic Loop – which some folks loathe, and others just LOVE. I’m one of those who love the technique, which is wonderful for socks, sleeves, hats – basically anything which is tubular. It also works for flat items such as doileys, shawls, and so forth. No more dpns for me! However, I completely understand the lure of dpns, and can teach the techniques with any tools that you like.

For the very beginner student, the cuffs can be worked in garter stitch as a straight band which is later sewn into a tubular shape. This would be a good project for a young child who wants to learn to knit. I’ll have some chunky yarn available, so if this interests you, then please bring your larger needles!

My teenaged daughter, Grace, will be there on Saturday, teaching knitting and crocheting. She’s developed a line of totally cute cases for cell phones, ipods, mp3 players, and sunglasses, in knit or crochet, and she’s working on a cute crochet scarf pattern. She’ll have some cases for sale, and will be teaching these classes on an on-going basis on Saturday afternoon. These are worked in “Punch,” a wonderful alpaca yarn in bright, fun colors. The techniques taught will include the Turkish cast on (wonderful for toe-up socks), the jogless jog, I-cord bindoff, picking up stitches in an already knitted item, and who knows what else Grace will come up with. Her classes are appropriate for everyone, but the projects are definitely aimed to the teenaged audience.
Some hook onto a belt - others have straps for wearing necklace-style, because, you know, you don't have a belt when you are in a swimsuit... just sayin'...
First Weekend in May - National Western Complex. The animals are downstairs, and the Fiber Fiesta is upstairs. Join us! I'll be there, all weekend. I can't wait!

Best Stretchy Cast OFF ever!

This is a stretchy cast-off which is the exact match to the stretchy cast-on that I blogged about a year or so ago. By the way, there are many different ways to work that cast on - a friend of mine does it in such a way that she ends up with a lacey edging of a row of tiny loops. She rolls her needles in the opposite way that I do, and she picks up the inside thumb strand, rather than the outside strand. It is really pretty! There are lots of variations – experiment and find your own.


If you want to see my past posts about the stretchy cast-on, then please click here for videos, http://rosemaryknits2.blogspot.com/2006/11/best-stretchy-cast-on-ever.html, and here for still pictures, http://rosemaryknits2.blogspot.com/2006/11/best-stretchy-cast-on-ever-continued.html
This is a wonderfully useful cast-on to know. I’m happy to have it in my arsenal of tricks.

This sewn cast-off is not terribly difficult - if you want a REALLY clear understanding of the structure of the cast-on, and the cast-off, then I recommend that you do just what I did – cast-on with two different colors of yarn and then just study it. Watch what is happening as you do the cast-on. Pay attention to what the yarn is doing every step of the way. After you have an understanding of it, then knit a bit with a third color of yarn. You'll say, "Oh, NOW I get it."

Here is a photo of the cast-on --- the cast-on edge is on the top in this photo - with three different colors of yarn. Lavender and white are the actual cast-on stitches, and the green is the knitting which followed. Study these photos carefully and see if you can tell how to work a matching cast-off.





Here, you can see my sewn cast-off in progress. What follows are a million photos of how you can do it, too. Lots of cast-off-seamstresses are worried about taking the stitches off of the needle for the sewing up process, so I'll show it twice - first with the stitch being sewn while still on the needle, and far below, with the stitch taken off of the needle.
Your first step (photo above) is to go through the left most stitch on the right hand needle coming from the back through to the front of the stitch. This step isn't shown in action, but is indicated by the white yarn coming out of the front of the stitch. The stitch is a little bit twisted, so you'll just have to take my word for it - the white yarn has gone in through the back of the stitch and is coming out through the front of it.

Your next step (photo below) is to stick your tapestry needle into the front of the next stitch on the right.
Next, through the first stitch, from the back of the stitch -
Pull the yarn, but not too tightly. Match the tension in the cast-on edge. Note how the yarn is coming from below the loop just sewn? Another way of saying this is to be sure that the yarn is emerging from outside of the loop. If it is above the loop, then it will end up inside of the loop, when the loop is pulled snug. Get it?
Almost done. One more step to go...
Now, go through the knit stitch from the back of the stitch, to the front.
Pull it snug, but not tight.
Done.
Now, you can take this stitch off of the needle.



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Below, the same procedure, but the stitch being worked has been removed from the needle.




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(The reason that the knitting needle has a black line on it is because I was teaching a friend how to Magic Loop and she kept getting mixed up. When knitting with the magic loop method, the needle in the right hand is *always* the right hand needle, so I put a mark on the needle in her right hand, so she'd get it.)

This cast-off can be used for articles worked in the round, such as sock cuffs, mitten cuffs and the like, just be sure to sew the last stitch to the first stitch. Lots of knitters cast-off all of their stitches and omit this last step, and it leaves a notch which is annoying and unfinished. This cast-off is the match to the cast-on – very stretchy, but it bounces back quite nicely.

I strongly suggest that you swatch to see how you like it. Also, swatch so that you are casting-off with the right side facing you, and make another swatch where you are casting-off with the wrong side facing you – both are valid techniques, and each one looks a little different from the other, but it makes no difference to the stretchyness. As with most knitting, it will look better after washing and blocking.

Enjoy!

Even MORE needle felting!

I'm so thrilled with my new trick of needle felting-finishing knitted items, I can't contain myself, I have to tell you all about it.

Here, you can see me needle felting the yarn-end into the brim of a knitted hat. It is worked from the brim to the top - just a plain jane rolled brim. I never know what to do with the tail because a rolled brim doesn't have a right side and a wrong side - both sides are "right side" sides.

In the past, I've worked the tail up into the crown of the hat, but that isn't necessary any more, not since I've figured out this needle felting trick.


With the needle in place, so you can see where the felted bit is located - -
Needle removed - - Gone! This hat is knitted out of Encore, a really nice wool blend. My daughter just loves these hats.

In the series of photos, below, you can see me needle felting a wayward thrum back into place

Before the needle - - see how it pokes out?

During the process - -

After. How nice.
You know, you can do the same thing with pulls or snags - just work the snag to the wrong side of the item and felt it in place.

I'm obsessed.


In order to work with the pokey needles on a mitten, without poking myself or needle felting the mitten closed, I stuffed it with the bags from my onions and oranges.

Unless you give this a try, you'll have no idea how handy this method is for finishing your knitting. Are you put off by the imagined cost of needle-felting needles? Have you checked the price? My LYS sells them for less than a dollar a piece, and for finishing projects, you'll only need one, or two if you should choose to strap them together. These little doozeys are REALLY inexpensive. Try it!