Purchase - Handmade Sock Pins

Isn't this just too cute! It's tiny! Over twice the size smaller than this picture. My pinky finger won't fit down into it. It has one of those little tie tack pushy holders on the back. I purchased 3 of them to give to a few of my sock knitting friends. (I don't deserve to wear one with my one sock syndrome.) Take a look at my cyber friend's Etsy shop to see or order. Collette at Epicurus lives with her family and chickens and rabbits and alpaca on the Mojave Desert and is a fellow fiber addict.

St. Pat's Greeting from the Alpacas

Buddy Beth took pictures in the barn to share with all of us. Above is Berringer (Bear) looking good and sporting his holiday scarf.
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You can read the pictures below like a story. Slammie got his scarf, then Lux, and of course, they had to discuss and admire each other. Well then, naughty Gunny (some of you know him) is determined to get a scarf of his own.

Alpaca, Mohair, Silk, and Wooly Nylon Yarn

This yarn sold before I could put it here but I want you all to see how pretty it is anyway - and how easy to spin. I spun a slubby and thin single from alpaca Black Knight and added dyed mohair and mauve Tussah silk as I spun. The dyed mohair is from Cheryl at her cherylavenue Etsy shop, and the mauve silk is from Rita's shop Castleman.
Then I just plied it in the opposite direction with black Wooly Nylon serger thread. I think that it is very yummy.

Happy St. Pat's Day

from Martini, the barn cat

Photo by Beth

Alpaca Bunny

♥ It's so darn much fun to see how my yarn is used♥
This darling little bunny is named Polly and is in Sara's Etsy shop called Woolies. You must go and read the delightful write up that Sara gave Polly.
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This is just too funny! When I just now went to get the link for you, I discovered that Polly has been sold! And to none other than my favorite Canadian customer, Margaret, who lives in Kitchener, Ontario. You might see "stuff" in my Etsy shop with a reserved for Margaret note. This is she, folks. I do have this uncanny feeling that someday Margaret and I are going to meet.....

The Alpaca Fiber Process from Humming in the Back Yard to Yarn

Orion (Slammie), Pollux (Luxie), and GunnyI'm thinking that it would be fun to give a very simple explanation of the process of making yarn from our alpacas. You need to imagine the step of shearing to get the fiber off the alpacas. I will have pictures in May when we actually do the shear.
This is what the raw fiber looks like. Our animals stay quite clean and free of vegetation because we don't bed with straw and I sweep up fallen hay everyday. When the 'pacas are inside, they live on rubber mats.
To clean the fleece, I spread it out on a screen stapled to a big square, and pick out the vegetation (VM) by hand. Dust and dirt falls through to the floor.
Then I wash it which I have talked about here in my blog. If I am going to immediately dye, I leave the fiber wet after a vinegar solution soak.


My favorite way to dye is in my crock pot. I sprinkle dry Jacquard powder over the wet fiber, pour boiling water over, cover and cook for about 30 minutes. This yellow and green isn't the fiber for the final skein. But this is ↓


Then spread the fiber out to dry. Riley Cat enjoys the drying too much so this usually goes into the tub in the spare bathroom.

The fiber can be spun as soon as it is dry, but I like to card it which lines all the fibers up nice and straight and makes the spinning easier. BTW, this isn't the fiber in the final skein either.

Now the fun part (well, it's all fun, but this is my favorite) SPINNING. For this particular yarn, I tried to make slubby areas and very thin strands. I added some of Rita's (Castleman) mauve Tussah yarn as I spun. Then I plied the single with Woolly Nylon serger thread that had some elasticity to enhance my slubs and bumps.
All this preparation for 50 yards of this ↓

New Bobbin for Majacraft

I have wanted a large bobbin like this forever and bought this at Beth's Spinning Loft in Howell. When I'm using my Woolee Winder bobbins I can get about 3 ounces/200 yards of worsted, plied yarn on the bobbin. Now with this lovely bulky, I can ply a good 400 yards into one skein. Before I had to split the yarn onto 2 skeins which I hated to do. Notice the huge orifice and yarn guides. I could make a super bulky single on here, but guess I would need another one to 2 ply.

Christmas in March

I know, I know. Folks probably aren't interested in family pictures but dear daughter just sent this from Christmas morning, in front of her tree. That's me and husband. Tall girl, Meredith, is only 8 and I'm really worried that the Wallaby sweater, size 12, isn't going to fit her. Elizabeth is 6 and I'm hoping to start her sweater tonight if the yarn came in to my LYS. And, of course, that's my Cassie girl. Can you tell that she adores the grandgirls?