Monday, April 5, 2010

Full of Fleece

We've had several warm days of late and the alpacas are beginning to rush me whenever I appear with the hose to fill water tubs; however, in the interest of not messing up their fiber (which is well ornamented with plant matter already), I'm making them wait until after shearing--this weekend. In the meantime, I've tried to capture photos of the gals in full fleece. They're puffy, rounded, and very full.

Lili and Judith, our crias, have almost rounded faces in contrast to the adults whose fluff does not encroach over their cheeks.

The alpacas are so pillowy soft at this time of year that I caught the little Nubian buckling Samuel trying to use Shaun as a pillow one afternoon when Samuel was very tired after a busy day.



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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 11, 2010 at 6:33 PM

    Hi Cynthia,

    Can't wait to see the pictures. May I ask, what is the purpose of plant matter in their fur? What do you do with the shearing? My ex's mother makes her own yarn, which I always thought was really cool.

    Signed,

    Silly City Girl

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  2. CynthiaApril 21, 2010 at 10:22 AM

    Dear Silly City Girl,

    The purpose of plant matter in alpaca fleece is to aggravate and frustrate owners (or the person who is trying to clean the fleece). Alpacas are fluffy--sorta like your hair when it's natural but with the Brillo pad feel replaced with something like a microfiber dust cloth. In other words, stuff sticks. And, alpacas eat hay and are bedded with straw and/or wood shavings, so they have many daily opportunities to get it in their fleece.

    That is cool about your ex's mom. What does she use for the base of her yarn? Raw fiber or fiber processed into roving?

    Best,

    Cynthia, now a country gal

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  3. AnonymousApril 21, 2010 at 10:48 AM

    Lol! Oh I see. Yea, I think so.

    I had to look up roving on wikipedia. She uses raw fiber and then she cards it...I think:)

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  4. CynthiaApril 26, 2010 at 1:45 AM

    I have not yet learned to do much with the fiber myself. Just as roving was an abstract term for you, carding is for me. I want to learn to spin and weave and felt -- when time is available. For now, I have fleeces processed for me at the local mill (New Era Fiber) and the finished yarn and roving come to me in the mail.

    Thanks for reading this blog!

    Your Friend,

    Cynthia

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