Winter is Back

It was about 6 degrees F when I fed the alpacas this morning.  A far cry from the 60 degrees F of a few days ago.

There's a layer of ice over everything then a small amount of snow on top.

It doesn't look like much but it's c-c-cold and slippery out there.  Of course, I've got my St. Paul Parka, several layers of long-johns and woolies and big snow boots to keep me warm and upright.

With the winds being calm, all of the alpacas were out of their shelters enjoying their toasty warm coats.  I like how they look with the snow sprinkled over the top of them.  I didn't take any photos of that though because my fingers were too cold.

A Beautiful Weekend

The weather has been so lovely in Northern Colorado over the last few days.  It's hardly appropriate for January, our supposed coldest month.

The tree's are budding, the iced-over lakes are melting and the temperature gauge read 60 degrees F on Friday.

I spent Friday afternoon, coming up with anything I could do outside in the sunshine.  I made sure the water troughs were full and clean and the barn was swept out.

I picked up dog poo and the trash that always appears after a wind storm.  I re-staked our future veggie garden so our neighbor can break the ground with his bobcat.

I sat on the back porch and cleaned all of my combs and cutters so I can send them out for sharpening.

I gave the girls a mud puddle to splash around in.

I love these little breaks the Colorado Front Range can give you in the dead of winter.

Of course winter will be back with a vengeance in a couple of days.  They say we will have the coldest temperatures of the season... a high of 7 deg F is forecasted for Tuesday.  {{shiver}}

Fiber Arts Friday: Spinning, three weeks in a row

Are you getting tired of the FAF Spinning posts?  No? Me neither.  ;-)

This time I have 100% Black Huacaya Alpaca from the Wonder Why Alpaca Farm.

The Story

It was last fall and I had just started spinning the Cashmere/Tussah Silk I shared a couple of weeks ago.  The vision of a project appeared.  It was so vivid that it just about knocked me over.  It was as if the Cashmere told me what it wanted to be and I needed to find some black alpaca roving to make it happen.

We don't have any black alpacas, yet.  Hubba really wants one.  The mother of one of our dams is a true black, so I keep hoping she will give us a black one. ;-)  So far she's given us fawn female and rose grey male.  She's bred to a silver-grey now, so we have our fingers crossed for a black, female cria next fall.  :-)

Alpacamundo's Frieda

Alpacamundo's Big Thompson

Anyway, I did a little asking around and the wonderful Wonder Why Gal said she had it, but it would be some time before it was ready.  I told her I would wait because I had plenty to work on in the meantime.

The Spinning

In early January, the Box of Wonder arrived.  Just as I finished spinning the Aspen I told you about last week.  Talk about perfect timing.  :-)

This is my first time spinning from batts.  So it has taken a little getting used to.  Separating the batts into smaller sections (as recommended) helps a lot.

I've only spun a few ounces so far, but the fiber is as lovely as you would expect from the Wonder Why Gal.

Please make sure you visit her and the other Fiber Arts Friday Folks today.

Making Stuff: Skirting Table

I've wanted to make a skirting table for quite sometime.  So finally, I picked up the supplies and put it together.  But before we get too far, I feel I must apologize to anyone who is a skilled wood worker.

I have no delusions regarding my wood working skills.  This project is not square, nor is it plumb.  It does not have any rabbits or dove tails.  No milling, sanding or staining was done.  This project is functional, but in no way should it be considered beautiful.  :-)

The finished skirting table sits across two folding tables.

L-brackets hold the frame together.

Two hinges hold both frames together.

Welded wire fabric is folded over and stapled to the frame.  Handles are screwed down over the top.

Folded up for storage.

Holding our largest alpaca fleece.

Hopefully next weekend will be warm enough to begin skirting the fleeces I mentioned last week.  :-)

Supplies
4 pieces of 4ft 1x2 wood board
4 pieces of 2ft 1x2 wood board
16 sq ft of wire fabric plus extra for attaching to the wood frame
16 L shaped brackets
2 hinges
2 handles
screws
staples

Tools
hand saw
staple gun
screw driver
tape measure
wire cutters

Time Spent
10 minutes drawing a sketch and making a list of supplies
1 hour selecting the supplies at the local home store.
2 hours putting it together

Things that Work: Bribery

Our oldest alpaca, Keyla has a little bit of munge on her nose, which means we need to catch her and apply ointment every day.

I love how Hubba is able to catch her all by himself.


Everyone's excited about a fresh bowl of feed.



Keyla is the white one in the back.  She's wise to Hubba's tricks,



but cannot resist a bowl of feed.



Getting just a little closer and enjoying the yummy feed,



then a headlock and some ointment to make her nose feel better.

After the ointment application is complete, he lets her finish the bowl of feed by herself.  So she knows he loves her.  :-)

Fiber Arts Friday: More Spinning

Two weeks in a row of spinning posts!  I am very proud of myself.  Especially since I haven't done this much spinning since the Tour de Fleece last summer.  ;-)

I am loving it.  There is something about the rhythm and focus of spinning that is very relaxing.

This is an alpaca/silk blend painted by Knitty and Color.  It's just lovely.  So soft and lustrous.

The final result is 4 ounces, 142 yards at 18 wpi.

This yarn is being used for the quasi-commission piece I mentioned last week.

In the meantime, ensure you visit the Wonder Why Gal and all of the Fiber Arts Friday Participants.

Three Seasons of Raw Alpaca Fleece

I have three seasons of raw alpaca fleece in my shop.

There.  I said it.  I feel so much better.  :-)

I have three seasons of raw alpaca fleece in my shop, waiting to be turned into something wonderful.

Why? You ask.

I have very good reasons why.  Ok, I don't know that they're very good reasons, but they are reasons.

The first year, I did not have enough fiber of any one color to meet the minimum requirements for the processors I found.  I had a total of 10 pounds of fiber and did not want all of it combined into one roving.  The resulting color would have been mud.

This fleece has been skirted, but alas has remained packed in boxes for more than two years.

The second year, we were in the process of moving.  So I boxed up our harvest and put it directly into storage with most of our other stuff.

Last year, the third year, I have been on the road a lot.

Now with three seasons of fiber ready to be processed, I can meet the minimum lot requirements on most colors.  I just need to get the rest of the fleece skirted so I can send it out for processing into yummy roving.  Of course in order to do that, I need to build a skirting table first.