Last weekend was our Michigan International Alpaca Fest at Birch Run, MI. This is a picture of friend, Beth, showing Polaris in his class. Because Polaris's (Lars) fleece wasn't a full 2 inches, he had to go into a "shorn" class. Strangely enough, all the dark fawns that were his age didn't make fleece length.
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We were disappointed because in a shorn class, the judge evaluates just the confirmation of the animal and not the fleece. Lars has really lovely, crimpy fleece. He did bring home a fourth place ribbon though.
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Beth also showed Orion (Slammy) who is Polaris's full brother - same mom and dad, just a year younger. His competition was way too keen - a class of 15 really nice brown guys.
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I am so lucky that Beth is not only an incredibly, awesome friend, but also willing to show our animals. I can do it but actually get physically ill in the show ring....heart racing, stomach upset, blurred vision. Of course, the animal can feel all my tension and gets upset also.

The alpaca shows have a competition called a Spin Off in which exhibitors submit 2 ounces of raw fiber along with a picture and information about the alpaca. A judge then evaluates the raw fleece for: First impression, Staple length, Cleanliness, Lack of second cuts, Lack of guard hair, Crimp, Staple architecture, Uniformity, Fineness, and Hand. Points are given for each category.
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Then the judge spins up some of it and evaluates on: Ease of preparation for spinning and Ease of Spinning.
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Finally the yarn itself is evaluated for Hand feel, softness of yarn & loft and Brightness. A total of 100 points can be earned.
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And the winners are....... light fawn, Celeste, on the left above got a blue ribbon with her 100 points. And brown, Sonata, on the right got a blue ribbon for 98 points.

This is the really big news....... Celeste's fiber got the highest score of all the Huacaya samples submitted. The ribbon with red is sort of like a Grand Champion. She scored 100 out of 100 points. EEEHAW! for Celeste.
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Celeste is our goofy girl who makes us laugh all the time. She will sneak up for a mint as soon as she hears the paper crinkle, grab it, and run off. Hopefully, she is pregnant and will have a spring cria.

EtsyFAST is the group that I belong to that promotes Etsy and Fiber Arts. FAST=FiberArtsStreetTeam. Frequently we create a challenge to inspire one another and to just have fun. No prizes or anything. The September Challenge was Apples. I knew that I wanted to do some dyeing for it. The two skeins of yarn above were my creation. I was so pleased and excited to get it into my shop that I didn't even do a final wash. Well, within an hour after posting it on Sunday morning, Teri, who has the Etsy shop knitsbyteri, purchased them. They are going into the mail shortly. Yea Apples! Yea Teri!

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If you care at all, this is the yarn that I had Stonehedge spin for me. Stonehedge Fiber Mill is a 139 year old working farm with a custom fiber processing mill that started up in 1999. It is a really fun place to visit in East Jordan, Michigan. Opps, I got off track there. I wanted to tell you about the yarn. It is a blend of white alpaca, Lady Belita, and a Merino sheep who I don't know. The Merino is giving the yarn more memory than it normally has. I have knit some hats from it and am right now doing a cabled scarf, and it's a joy to work with.

This is our Riley cat in his favorite, come hither pose. If you have read the delightful kids' book, My Big Dog by Stevens and Crummel, you would know Riley's personality. He is definitely Merl, "a very special cat", who tries to rid his home of a Golden Retriever who comes to live with him.
A few years ago we found ourselves house catless with incoming mice. Husband says We must get a cat. Says I Just wait, a cat will find us. I was telling our groomer about the mice invasion and she asked if we would like her Riley, a full grown, neutered, declawed male. And being rather suspicious of any free give away, I asked what was wrong with him. It seems that at night, groomer woman puts her 3 Dalmatians in crates - and Riley spends the entire night, parading, meowing, and jumping on their crates which of course keeps the dogs barking all night.
Riley lives here now and know that his job is to rid us of mice and not to tease our three dogs.
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Well, I'm off to dye this morning. I make myself chuckle when I say that. ☺

The top guy here is medium brown, Orion (Slammer). Remember shear day back in May, we gave him this funky hair cut? We called it a show cut. Well, here he is a week before his show.

Dark fawn Polaris (Lars) will also be going to the show. His cut isn't quite so extreme. Today is Lar's 2nd birthday.

♪♫ ♪ Happy Birthday to Lars ♪ ♫ ♪

These two boys are full brothers, same mom and dad. Mom is white Ariana, our very best fleeced girl and dad is Macusani's Chin Chin, a handsome black guy who lives at Luka's Alpaca Ranch down in Jackson, MI. Because they are related like this, they will go into a class together called Get of Dam, where actually their mom is judged even though she isn't there.

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Within a month before an alpaca show, the national alpaca organization, AOBA, requires a health exam from a vet for alpacas to be allowed onto the show grounds. Next week is our show at Birch Run, so today Dr. Kristin did the exam on these two guys. Both she and I laugh because basically all she does is take their temperature and fill out a health form - to the tune of a $40 farm call.

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Actually, I'm glad that this cursory exam is required because at least runny noses and loose poop is noticed and we sure don't want to be exposed to anything. At the show, another vet will look the 'pacas over and check that their microchips and papers match.

Sharon shawl pattern update. It's available now, all you lace knitters. Pegasus has arrived - only he is called Flight of Fantasy or something like that. Got take a look for yourself at Sharon's Etsy shop.