Chocolate River Alpacas & Musing of an Everyday Life

Christmas Party

2010-12-05T17:45:00.002-05:00

My company's Christmas party was an awesome night. It was held on the first floor of the Heinz History Center in downtown Pittsburgh. It was decorated in red and gold and shimmered in candlelight. A beautiful setting among some of Pittsburgh's best memorabilia. The food was spectacular and in the middle of the buffet table was a beautiful decorated 5 foot Christmas tree.

Just like last year we had lobster tails and steak. This is where the above picture comes in. Last year Jim (above) ate quit a few tails. On Monday he was presented with a $75 invoice for eating more than one lobster tail. It was a joke a co-worker plotted and he fell for it all! So this year we had to poke fun at Jim. Donna, Shelly and me plotted a nice surprise for Jim at the party. He was presented with a few lobster mementos by our President. We all had a ton of fun and Jim was a great sport.

The Two Year Sweater

2010-11-19T19:54:00.004-05:00

This sweater should have never taken me two years to make, but I kept ripping it out and starting over. Not only did I keep ripping it out I then would put it away to work on other projects. So it was my then called my go-to project. Finally this year I was committed to finish it. This is only my second adult sweater I made. When I saw the pattern in a book I new the yarn I had at home would be a perfect fit.

The stitches on the body are moss stitch and basket weave with a mistake rib on the sleeves. The yarn was made by Morningstar mini mill in Ohio. It is 70% alpaca and 20% merino/hemp. It is so soft and a beautiful taupe color. I'm not sure I will ever wear it since it will be so warm. I was thinking about entering it in some fiber arts competitions at alpaca shows.

Met one of my favorite bloggers

2010-11-14T19:15:00.006-05:00

I spent my Saturday in Wooster Ohio at a seminar called Paca to Product. The keynote speaker was Susan Gibbs who happens to be one of my favorite bloggers and Twitterers. I have been following her for probably a year. I enjoy reading about her daily antics on the farm and about the quirkiness and personalities of all the animals that happen to find their way onto the farm.

Susan had the courage to leave her high paying job at CBS in New York to become a shepherdess to her flock of sheep. You can read her story on her website http://www.fiberfarm.com/. What really is special is that she can make a living doing it. I was so excited to meet Susan and to get a picture with her. The time flew by quickly listening to her stories.

These two little acorns were hand felted and offered for sale at the seminar. They were for a fund raiser for the local arboretum that lost a lot of trees during bad weather this summer. The top of the acorn is the cap of a burl oak acorn and the heart shape is a pin. Might have to try making these little guys with the tops of my acorns. You can't believe how many fall in my yard.

My New Hat Project

2010-11-09T20:55:00.003-05:00

This is my new hat pattern for Highland Alpaca. It is 100% hand dyed alpaca from their line of yarn. I am thinking of naming it Phoebe's pill box hat.

Blue Ribbon Winner

2010-11-09T20:50:00.004-05:00

This is Lady Guenevere my blue ribbon winner. I can't find a recent pic of her, so I guess I am a bad Mom. :-( This weekend Lady G. is on her way to another show in Maryland. I am hoping she is the first Alpaca that I sell.

New Projects

2010-09-24T20:42:00.005-04:00

These are my two new projects I just finished. If I must say so I think they are beautiful. They are both made for Highland Alpaca and the patterns are free with the purchase of their yarn.

The knitted shawl is called Willow's Shawl and is made from their bulky dyed yarn. Take a look at the edging. That is crab stitch, which is a crochet stitch, that is done from the left to right side. It creates a twist that reminds you of a rope.

This crocheted scarf I made for myself a couple years ago and I love wearing it. The stitch looks like ladder rungs and tied to those rungs are pieces of specialty yarn. In my mind it creates this funky hip look. I always get a lot of compliments when I wear it. Since the scarf is made with 100% alpaca you can also felt is to add a different look.

Yarn Ball is Almost Here

2010-09-07T13:20:00.002-04:00

This is Amelia, Rebecca's baby. They both are part of my knitting and crochet group. I made the Santa hat for the yarn ball. In fact there will be 4 available for a donation towards either Rwanda Knits or our local VA hospital.

The Yarn Ball will be on Saturday October 9th. Jump over to our website www.threeriverscrochet.com for more details.

Introducing Toby!

2010-09-07T13:16:00.004-04:00

Another boy for me, that's a total of 5 boys. UGH! I keep thinking pink, but I keep getting blue. He is a real cutie and is only a week old in these pics. He is running around with all his friends and enjoying life. He has a lot of friends to play with there were 9 born within a two week period. I have one more due at the end of this month. Keep thinking pink for me!

2010-07-25T21:45:00.006-04:00

Introducing my new baby girl Willow. She is jet black and so friendly. I finally had another girl! I am giddy. In this business you want to have girls. They are the producers for the future. In these pictures she is about a week old. She weighted 16.4 lbs at birth. She is loving life on the farm and has found her best friends to play with and run through the pastures. What a joy to see their love of life.

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-02T20:44:00.002-04:00

This is one of my favorite holidays. Not only do we get to celebrate our country and our freedom. It is filled with sparkly fireworks and the flag flying on our houses. There seems to be an extra skip in my step on this holiday. This is truly summer for me. I am going to celebrate with Jim's (my hubby) family. We are going to have a cook-out. Happy 4th everyone!

North Park Lake

2010-06-27T21:12:00.005-04:00

I have lived in Pittsburgh since I was 5 years old. My Dad worked for Heinz and was transferred here from Chicago. Soon after moving here my Dad found North Park. He loved the park! He was a big hiker and loved climbing the hills throughout the woods. I have a lot of memories of my Dad and I walking many miles through those woods. We would find all kind of things, include grave sites. He handed down the love affair to me. Not a week goes by that I am not at the park. Mostly now with my dogs. I have walked many miles throughout those woods with my dogs and we too have found many things along the way, including new grave sites.

The park has a man-made lake that is going through a much needed re-vitalization. The lake really wasn't much of a lake in the last 10 years. It has filled up with silt and you could basically walk across it. It is now being dredged and will be a lake again. They are just in the beginning stages and should finish next year. There is so much dirt to remove! It will be interesting seeing their progress. So below are some pics of the very beginning stages.

2010-06-20T21:52:00.004-04:00

Today was a perfect day in the Burgh. There were puffy clouds in they sky along with plenty of sunshine. So today was pool day for the girls. The labs love their pool! All they do is dig and splash, but they think it's the best. If you throw a ball in the water they are in heaven.

Elly May getting cooled off. No balls on this trip to the pool.

Phoebe playing with her ball. Black dogs are so hard to get a good picture. I should have used my flash.
Foxie was the life guard today. Not sure if she would have saved either one!

2010-06-13T18:41:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I joined in a a world wide celebration called World Wide Knit in Public Day. Yes, that's right we came out of the closet for one day! Diane from my group, Three Rivers Crochet, planned the event for Pittsburgh. We met under the tent at Scheneley Park. That was my first time under the tent. What a nice place to meet! We had about 25 people, mostly from our group, but we had some newbies. Including a summer Pitt student who is studying Russian Culture. We have such a diverse group from doctors, students, teachers, fiber artists, retirees, researchers and a bank employee (me!). Plus we all walked away with a door prize. Below are some pics from yesterday.

2010 Knit and Crochet Festival

2010-02-15T21:49:00.006-05:00

Wow, the festival is over. It's like Thanksgiving dinner so much goes into the planning and poof it's over. I worked at Highland Alpaca's booth this weekend at the festival. We put a lot of planning into the yarn we made, colors, natural and hand dyed. Patterns to offer and what to bring to sell other than yarn plus what specials to have that weekend. I met so many people that passed through our booth. So many creative woman and men who loved to knit and/or crochet. I loved hearing the stories of what they made out of the yarn they bought last year. I'm trying to collect pictures for the next newsletter. Alpaca socks and yarn were the most popular. Once you put on a pair of Alpaca socks you don't want to take them off. In fact between Jim and I we have about 15 pair.

Above is part of the booth. These pictures really got a lot of attention. How can you resist such a fuzzy, fun looking animal.

Robyn Chachula, who is an international crochet designer was kind enough to sign a few of her books for us. The black sweater is from her book and was made by Diane Halpern. In fact if you can see the red sweater on the front cover it is the same sweater.

Above are some of the luscious yarns we had at the booth. These are the natural colors.

These are some of the patterns we offered free with the purchase of yarn. They got a lot of attention and questions.

We got a lot of questions about coming up for a visit. The answer is yes, you can visit the farm and meet the Alpaca. They have over 100 now on the farm. It's an experience you will never forget.

2010-02-07T16:20:00.002-05:00

Here are some pics of the "snow event" we had in Pittsburgh this weekend. It was really hard dealing with 22+ inches of snow that I didn't expect. The 6 pm news on Friday said we were only going to get 4-8 inches. So I went to be around 9:30 and woke up on Saturday to snowageddon. How do you move a driveway full of snow on a driveway that is around 50 feet long? It took us 6 hours, but somehow we did it. Our snowblower just couldn't move that amount of snow. So it was a combination of shoveling and using the snowblower. Guess what I am going to buy this year? A freaking snowblower that is more powerful.

I just heard this afternoon we are going to have a winter storm warning again Tues into Weds. Are you kidding? I will have 10 feet walls up and down the driveway. It will be Spring before the snow is all gone.
The doggies made a tunnel under some bushes on the side of the house. Pheobe had to bring her ball out to play.
Phoebe was making pathways out back. She was really tired Saturday night from plowing through the snow. I always say a tired puppy is a good puppy.
This is part of my backyard. It is really pretty. I wonder how long it will take to melt and when will that be?

My New Car

2010-01-31T18:13:00.000-05:00

Finally, we made our decision and got a new mini-van. After 9 years driving our other van the body gave up. Rust spots kept appearing along the bottom. It was a good van, didn't give us any problems, so I am hoping this van will be the same. It seems Kia has a good reputation and it sure has a lot of safety features. If I ever get in an accident little marshmellows (air bags) appear all over. Not that I ever want to find out. So now begins an long relationship with my new van. Should I name her? Mmmmmm.....

Finishing a Project

2010-01-28T20:01:00.002-05:00

It feels so good to finish a project. It is the conclusion of many hours of work and sometimes frustration. I am at the end of my current project which happens to be a baby hat. Last year I made this hat for a girlfriend’s baby and it has become my signature hat.
She fondly named it the dreadlock hat. The name has stuck and that is what I now call it.

I am weaving in the ends of yarn pulling it all into shape. I get to hide all the holes from changing the colors of yarn. After a little blocking this is what it looks like. Not bad!

I would like to make an adult hat for me!

2010-01-18T17:55:00.001-05:00

Did you know handmade is hip? I guess I’m hip now. I don't think I've ever been hip in my life. Well, there was the orange shag carpet and the bell bottom pants I was quit proud of in the 70's. At 50 I’m hip and cool. After all these years I'm hip since I have the crafty gene. Right now my craft of choice it knitting and crocheting. I’m average, by no means a master at either.

I show my friends what I've made they always respond with "you should make them to sell". At Christmas I showed my Husband’s niece a picture of a baby hat I made and in 1\2 hour she had plans for my hats to be made in china and distribution set up. UGH!

I have never been a repetitive person. I have enough repetition at work. I really don't see the fun in making the same hat 50 times and I can’t create a pattern for people in China to make to save my life. Just not interested!

I enjoy my crafty gene and I do like to see a smile when I give someone a gift. It’s a one of a kind gift.

This is a picture of my latest project.

Steel Phantom

2010-01-17T21:28:00.003-05:00

Look at this little pee pot. His name is Steel Phantom. How can you resist this little face. He is trying to eat hay, but isn't really good at it yet. He is my last little baby and is about 5 months old now.

Pray for Haiti

2010-01-15T21:30:00.001-05:00

I am sitting in my comfortable home with all the amenities of life I need. I don’t want for much in life. I have my toys, my dogs, my job and my friends. I try to keep life simple. But tonight I am watching TV about the earthquake in Haiti. I am watching people who had a hard life to begin with and to see their devastation and desperation brings me to my knees. I pray, but I don’t feel that is enough.

I watch the newscasters reporting and I don’t know how they do it. How can you not want to bring the children home? How do you walk away from a thirsty, hungry person and then eat dinner? Do they offer help to some? How do you not need counseling afterwards to deal with what you just experienced? These are my questions, along with so much more.

I am so blessed to live in this country. I am so blessed to be able to have a job. I am so blessed to have healthcare and be healthy. I am so blessed to have the basic needs in life met and not be hungry. I sit on my couch and feel so small in this world with such great needs.

My Nightly Ritual

2010-01-14T19:40:00.004-05:00

Most of us have nightly rituals, mine involve my dogs. Each night we have little things we do and then it's time to snuggle. Foxie LOVES to snuggle. I light the fireplace when I get home and it warms up pretty fast. She loves to lay by the fireplace and get warm. She is around 12 years old, but still acts like a puppy. If I don't sit on the couch right away, she comes over and nudges me. That's her sign to get on the couch and pet me now. Shortly she falls asleep and begins to snore. A dogs life!

Lady G

2010-01-14T19:27:00.003-05:00

I haven't showed you a pic of one of my Alpaca in a while. This is my first girl and the princess. She is so freaking cute and so soft. She is at Highland Alpaca and I call their farm the Alpaca Spa. An Alpaca couldn't live a better life on a farm. All of you need to visit an Alpaca farm and spend some time with these gentle creatures. Did you know they hum to communicate with each other. It is such a gentle sound. I am in love with these animals and love spending time with them. Hopefully, some time in my life I will have a small farm of my own.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T14:05:00.004-05:00

I am not the type of person who makes New Years resolutions anymore. I never kept them and I just got disappointed. So every year I reminisce about the past year and look forward to the new. I love having, what I call, a re-set button at the beginning of each year. It kinda makes things fresh and clean.

I have a lot of plans this year that mostly revolve around Alpaca. Whether is the animal or the fiber. I am going to enjoy this down time at the beginning of the year, before Spring. Once Spring arrives that brings a whole new beginning with gardening and being able to enjoy the patio again.

I can't believe how much my life has changed since leaving Parker/Hunter. It's now been over 3 years. Although the emotion of loosing all those friends still stings. Things change and life moves on. I wonder where I will be next year and what exciting things I will be reminiscing about?

2009-12-30T21:41:00.004-05:00

This was my big purchase while on vacation this week. For some reason the beginning of each year I think I am going to cook more and go out to restaurants less. The year never ends that way, but it's a nice thought and a good start. So I bought this beautiful crockpot and a book from Williams and Sonoma, which happens to be my new favorite store. Ever try their candles? I'm looking forward coming home to a house full of nice smells.

So today I went to the grocery store. Didn't even think how busy it was going to be. There were only 4 grocery carts left! So I take one and off I go. UGH! There were just too many people in the aisles. I couldn't wait until I got out. Of course when I got home I thought of a few things I forgot to write on my list. Now I get to go back....... Lucky me. Not sure why I hate grocery shopping so much. I love going to Target!

Museum Adventure

2009-12-28T22:31:00.009-05:00

I just visited our local museum with a friend yesterday. I haven't been there for a really long time and forgot how spectacular it is. I haven't seen the dinosaur exhibit since it re-opened. It is spectacular! They also have a whale exhibit there from New Zealand. The architecture in the museum is wonderful. The old marble on the floors is worn with time and all the people that have passed through those hallways.

No this isn't the tree in my livingroom. But it is a tree in the Hall of Architecture. They had about 6 trees all decorated differently with different themes.

This could be my new pet. Now sure if it would eat me in the end, but it sure is cute. What do you think it's name should be? I did get to hold a real dinosaur bone.
This was in the American Indian exhibit. It really does look like I am on a river bank. Well except for the sign that says to come and sit inside the canoe. Just forget that is there and pretend I am on an Alaska riverbank.

You can't imagine how big the T Rex is. They have two facing each other as in battle. After seeing all these exhibits it is fun to think of the movie Night at the Museum and try to think if they all came alive what it would be like.

2009-12-20T16:14:00.003-05:00

This is Amelia. Three Rivers Knit and Crochet's youngest member. I made this sweater for Amelia. Her Mom, Rebecca, made her hat. Isn't she the cutest! She comes every week with her Mom and we love seeing the parade of clothes she has. I have to say she is a fashionista already.

2009-12-20T15:55:00.002-05:00

I have been working on some really cool projects for Highland Alpaca's yarn store. The first picture is a sample of bed slippers. I haven't made them in Alpaca yet. This is the sample I made from Drops Eskimo wool. Then I felted them. I added an acrylic yarn at the top to give it a little embellishment. The slippers are knitted and fast and easy. Great for beginners.

The other project below is made from Highland's signature Alpaca yarn. The signature yarn is 3 strand. One strand is maroon, one black and one off white. I added some of my own Alpaca yarn for the black band. It is crocheted and another fast and easy project.

The hat pattern is offered free with the purchase of their yarn. I'm looking forward to next year and the projects I can cook up.

The Yarn Ball

2009-11-28T22:55:00.003-05:00

Look at all these penguins in a row. Does it remind you of the march of the penguins? Well kinda only the stuffed version. These were just a sample of what was made for the Yarn Ball. One of our members, Theresa, made 10. All sold in the blink of an eye. Well Pittsburgh is the home of the Penguins! We raised over $2400, last count, for Rwanda Knits or our local VA Hospital.

Rwanda Knits trains women with a home business in making knitted items. This donation helps with training and supplies. Did you know our government does not supply our veterans with basic toiletries or even underwear? The money raised will help to provide those basic items or some Christmas presents to the veterans who don't have families that visit.

It feels so good to be part of something that puts a smile a face. We are already talking about next years yarn ball.

Silly Labs

2009-11-27T22:38:00.002-05:00

Two of my three dogs are silly Labs. They make my heart laugh with their personalities. One I call my velcro dog. I am sitting on the sofa with Jim and they both have to be on the sofa with us. Elly May is laying down with her butt up in the air on a pillow. Phoebe doesn't have any room so is sitting against me whining because she doesn't know where to go. Every day these three make me laugh and make life joyful.

Critters

2009-10-17T20:00:00.003-04:00

Aren't these critters cute! Joyce came to the crochet group today and needled felted these little guys. Boy did they get alot of attention. My favorite is the little green guy. He reminds me of a inch worm. The lips are cute and the eyes are really expressive.

New Class at Highland Alpaca

2009-09-12T21:03:00.002-04:00

NEW CLASS at Highland Alpaca

Needle Felting Fun Making a Black and Gold Penguin

Saturday October 10th

9 am to Noon

$40 Per Person

Class limited to 15 people

Register by emailing Karen Cuffaro at kconline1@verizon.net

Join us for a fun class to create a delightful penguin using alpaca fiber.

Class instruction will include discussion on a variety of needle felting techniques for both flat and dimensional felting. Needle felting utilizes small, sharp, barbed needles that cause the fibers to tangle into each other when poked. Endless possibilities exist for the use of this simple tool in creating pictures, embellishments, and three dimensional objects. A variety of samples will be on display showing the great diversity of this felting technique.

No experience is necessary, all materials are included to complete the penguin. 2 felting needles are provided and additional ones will be available for purchase should you break one in class.

Bring your camera! After class enjoy spending time with the Alpaca in the pastures and shopping in the Farm Store. Plus see the babies! There are over 85 Alpaca on the farm and come in over 20 different natural colors. Alpacas are gentle creatures that hum to communicate with each other and are very social. Alpaca fiber is one of the finest animal fibers in the world. Because of its fiber structure it is considered warmer than wool and isn’t itchy like wool. Many people who can’t wear wool can wear Alpaca.

Instructor Wini Labrecque

Fiber professional & textile artist

STAR WEAVER FARM/SWF FIBER INNOVATIONS

www.starweaverfarm.com

724-272-4285

Wini Labrecque has made fiber her profession, studying, training and evaluating its properties from both a scientific and hands on approach. As a textile artist, she has developed a solid background and interest in a wide variety of techniques for utilization of fiber from raw state to finished product. Since the late 1980's, utilizing natural fibers, Wini has been spinning, weaving, knitting and felting. Her handspun skeins and woven/knit goods are sold at area art festivals and in area specialty shops. Wini lectures on all aspects of fiber as well as gives classes in beginning spinning, felting, dying and/or weaving to individuals or small groups. She is a Fiber Arts judge as well as a judge for spin offs, hand spun and mill spun skein competitions, an apprentice camelid fleece judge, and currently completing certification as a camelid fiber grader/sorter.

Our New Crochet Member

2009-08-30T16:54:00.002-04:00

This is our newest Three Rivers Crochet Member

This is Amelia Rose. This is Rebecca's baby, only two weeks old. She is so tiny and was so good at the group yesterday. The sweater was made by another group member Lisa Valentino.

2009-08-30T16:40:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I took a trip with some of my crochet friends to Stramba Mini Mill in Wampun PA. Terri Stramba just opened her mini mill and was kind enough to take us on a tour of how animal fiber goes from the animal to yarn.

There pictures are not in correct order, but this will give you an idea of the process.

The picture below is the machine that is spinning the roving into a strand of yarn. It runs really fast and sometimes you can't see the strand of yarn as it's running through the machine.

This machine is the carder. It separates the good fiber from the bad. The bad fiber would be coarse hair and any object that is attached to the fiber.

This is the yarn drying after being made into yarn.

This is the fiber being skirted. All the debris is picked out before being washed.

This is the fiber drying after being washed. It takes about 24 hours to dry. It all depends on the humidity. The fiber takes longer in high humidity.

My Newest Baby Lady Guenevere

2009-08-25T20:58:00.004-04:00

This is my newest baby Lady Guenevere. Hopefully I spelled that correctly. My husband Jim wanted to name her that. It is my first girl to be born. She is the princess of my little herd. She has a ton of fiber that is thick and soft. Her Mom is Boudica. Boudica's tail is wrapped so it doesn't get all gooky when the baby comes out. Lady G. is less than an hour old in this picture. Ain't she a cutie pie!

Suffering for a Sweater

2009-08-25T20:43:00.005-04:00

Dang sweater! I keep muttering that beneath my breath. These are the sleeves to the sweater that had to be ripped out because patterns never seem to work for me. I made the back and I had to rip that out once also. Why do I have this funny feeling that once I put this together I am going to look like the Michelan tire man? The pattern on the sleeve is a mistake rib. Should have known from the beginning. It might end up in some fiber shows at Alpaca shows. It may be destined to look better on a hanger.

The yarn is my favorite so far. I sent the Alpaca fiber to a mini mill for processing last year. It is a blend of Alpaca, merino, hemp and nylon. It is beautiful to look and work with.

Oh boy.......

2009-07-05T21:22:00.002-04:00

Isn't this the cutest picture! Rebecca, from my crochet group, thought of the pattern for this hat. Our group makes preemie hats for Save the Children. They send them to Africa to give out to new Moms. So this one will be added to our collection of hats to send in December.

My New Baby Coal

2009-07-05T20:50:00.004-04:00

This is my new baby Coal. He was born July 4th. This picture was taken less than 24 hours after he was born. How sweet is this little baby boy. This is Ebony's first baby. So far she is a great Mom and is taking good care of her little boy.

Ebony and her little boy Coal.

Coal in the pasture.

Some Beautiful Things

2009-05-30T19:19:00.007-04:00

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. To me it is an awakening of Mother Nature. The buds are so beautiful and everything is so green. Plus the green is so fresh and new. Above is a picture of my Redbud tree. The blossoms are so pretty in the Spring and the leaves are heart shaped and purple. I always smile when I look at it.

Below are my lilacs. They are by the garage and when I drive in I catch their scent. Some years they are plentiful and some not. This year the weren't so plentiful. I have to work on more blums this year. So much to do outside this year. With all the rain we have received everything has grown very fast.
I have been working really hard on my Alpaca sweater so I am finished by the Yarn Ball. The Yarn Ball is a party my crochet group puts on in the Fall to raise money for two charities. I have until November to finish it. I hop I can make it. I am almost finished with the back and am currently working on the sleeves. I like working on the sleeves two at a time. Below is a picture of the back. This sweater and yarn were meant to be with each other. This yarn just looks perfect with the pattern.

Photo Contest

2009-05-30T18:56:00.011-04:00

In May the Pennsylvania Alpaca Association had their Breeders Showcase. Breeders Showcase is an Alpaca show for those farms in Pennsylvania. I submitted a photo of Angus when he was about 2 months old in the baby division. I won 1st place and Peoples Choice! Peoples Choice voted by those who attend the show. Mine was their favorite photo. This is so exciting for me. I have loved taking photos for many years and this is the first time I have won a contest. I believe they will use the photo in either their advertising or magazine.

Summer is here a little eary

2009-04-26T21:51:00.002-04:00

I can't believe the temps this weekend. High 80's, way too hot for this time of year. But like everyone else I was out enjoying the hot days. I bought some grass seed to fill in all the bald spots from last summer. It was a little too hot to plant the seed this weekend. I even got my pepper and tomato plants. Home Depot had a great selection. I got some plants that are for container growing. Hopefully they product a ton of peppers and tomatoes this year. Last year I didn't get much. It was too dry. Next purchase is mulch.

Shearing Day

2009-03-24T16:53:00.007-04:00

Shearing day is a blur of activity. All the Alpaca at Highland get sheared in May. Their fiber is thick, heavy and dirty. If there are any warm days in April and May they are definitely ready to get rid of their coat.

I drove up to the farm and got there about an hour after they started. The two guys who came to shear are originally from New Zealand, but now live in the states and travel around to farms shearing animals all over the country. It is really hard, back breaking, work bending over animals all day on your knees. When I walked in the barn they had two mats set up on the floor so there is always an animal to shear. The guys work together and they move from one animal to the next. They only take about 4 mins per animal. That day they had 85 Alpaca to shear. They separate them by color and sex to shear. Fiber is flying around along with the dust from the barn floor. All you hear is the buzz from the shears. The animals are all restless and crying, especially the ones being sheared. The only breaks are to oil the shears and briefly for lunch.

The blanket, which is the middle section of the Alpaca is the best fiber. The blanket is placed in a plastic bag marked with the Alpaca's name. The neck and butt fiber is segregated by color, which is still good quality, and placed into large bags. This fiber can be made into socks. I had some of this fiber made into yarn last year and it is spectacular. I am making a sweater from the yarn. The fiber from the legs is courser and very dirty. It is usually thrown away, but can be used as nesting for other animals. One of the ladies last year brought some home for her chickens. I brought some home for the birds to use in their nests.

When you see Alpaca being sheared for the first time you think the contraption they put them in is a torture device. They have to keep them still so they aren't hurt during the shearing process. Ropes are put around all four legs and the front and back legs are gently pulled apart until they are lying on the ground. The ropes are around pulleys, so they go down nice and smooth. They shear one side at a time. This is also a great time to trim their nails, as Jenny is doing below.

Once they are done the ropes are taken off and they are able to get up. At first they are disoriented from the shearing process and need to be guided out into the pasture. It takes a couple minutes, but then they begin to eat and act normally.

I was beat after shearing day. I was soar all over and couldn't wait to get into a hot shower. But have such great memories and can't wait for shearing day in 2009.

Below is what they look like sheared and at the top is Boudica before she was sheared.

My First Show

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Yes, there are Alpaca shows. They are very similar to dog shows. You walk the Alpaca around a ring. They are shown by color and are judged on their confirmation and fiber quality. While I was off looking for a job Jenny and Fay from Highland Alpaca were able to take the time to show me the skills I needed to step into the ring.

I was so excited to attend my first show in Michigan. There are rows and rows of Alpaca in stalls. Farms have display's with the ribbons they have won. Lots of display's of each farms best Alpaca. Vendors have their booths set up selling all kinds of things for and with Alpaca. It is very festive.

I drove up with them to Michigan. We took two vehicles. One was a commercial van with the girls in the back and the other was a truck, which they towed the boys in a trailer.

The show was magical. It was a Cinderella moment. I took Boudica and Morag to the show. Boudica won a color championship and Morag won reserve color championship. Which is second in her color class. Some people wait years or never win a championship. I never thought the first time I walked into the ring that I would win. So many people came up to congratulate me. Even some were judges.

Highland did really well at the show too. All their Alpaca won some kind of ribbon. When you win a ribbon you hang it on the stall. Well, it was a sea of blue at their stalls.

That was just the beginning for Boudica. She ended up winning many ribbons and color championships. Below is a picture of the ribbons I have won so far and Boudica along with her little baby boy Angus.

The Beginning...

2009-03-13T23:02:00.001-04:00

The company that I worked for in 2005 merged with another company and I lost my job in 2006. I got interested in learning how to knit and crochet in 2006. I attended a local yarn festival where a local Alpaca farm had a display. For most of my adult life I wanted to have a farm and own Llama. So I was immediately attracted to Alpaca. They look like small Llamas, but much smaller.

So I ended up visiting that farm to buy more yarn and fell in love with their soft fiber and large dark eyes. They make a soft humming noise to communicate. I fell in love. After this visit a local yarn store had a day trip to a local Alpaca farm, so I went. After I heard the owners of the farm talk about Alpaca I had an Oprah moment. I thought I can do this!

After a couple months of visiting local farms and asking a lot of questions we bought our three girls Morag, Ebony & Boudica in August 2006. All in different colors. It was hard to decide whether to buy maiden or proven females. The difference is you have either had a baby or not. These two choices brought many possibilities, all with different outcomes. We choose girls with excellent backgrounds and fiber that they would pass on to the next generation. Since we are boarding them at a local farm we had to consider the monthly expense too.

Ebony was bred in the Fall of 2006 then Morag and Boudica were bred in the Spring 2007. By buying maiden females this gave us some time to adjust to the business and attend a few shows before the babies came. A females show career ends when she gets pregnant.

After picking out our three girls we made a trip up to the farm to see them again. We weren’t sure which ones were Boudica, Morag and Ebony. After Jen & Fay, the owners of Highland Alpaca, picked them out for us we took a lot of pictures. Morag came right up to me and leaned on me. She loves attention. I gave her a good neck and back rub. The whole time puffs of dirt were coming out of her fiber. She loves to roll in the dirt! All I could think about was Pigpen from Peanuts. Boudica and Ebony just weren’t too sure about us two-leggers. They kept a safe distance.

Now some of the fun began. We picked our farm name, Chocolate River Alpacas. I was watching the Travel Channel and they were talking about the Chocolate Mountain range and it just clicked. What woman wouldn’t like a river of chocolate!

In the next few months after we bought the girls we made many trips to Highland Alpaca along with a trail of friends. Our friends didn’t know what an Alpaca was. Some laughed, but for the most part all were interested to hear more and see the pictures.

The most memorable trip was with my girlfriend Lori and her granddaughter Regan. Regan took to the Alpaca right away and it seemed they realized she was a small two-legger and she was able to move easily around them. They weren’t scared when she approached them. She was able to get really close and pet them.

Some More Pictures........

2009-03-13T22:34:00.005-04:00