Swatchless

One month ago today….

I was on vacation, meeting alpaca.

and dyeing roving on the fire.

Today I’d like to present to you the result of all that spinning

I have completed a pair of mittens for Evan (my traveling buddy) to commemorate our adventure, and remind him of his introduction into the crazy world of fiber arts.  (He spun the white fleece on a drop spindle at our campsite)

The mittens have 2010 on the cuff (palm side) and on the back of the wrist they have alpacas!

All of the black stranded colourwork is done with alpaca that I bought on our trip.  This means that the inside of the cuff is extremely soft and fluffy.

I like how all of the colours stripe and blend together.  The mittens don’t match perfectly, but I think that adds to the charm.  They are one of a kind, and will be making their way to Providence this fall for his birthday!

I’ve been enjoying a luxury knitting project these past two weeks.  I spun up one package of alpaca roving from Island Alpaca, that I picked up on my vacation.  It is incredibly soft, and made a wonderful DK weight 3 ply yarn.

The yarn has traveled with me and has slowly been transformed into a pair of mittens.  These mittens will be an excellent autumn/spring pair, and will serve as the most soft and toasty liner mittens all winter long.  Look at the halo that has developed already!

Mitten #1 was completed last week after a night at the movies

Mitten #2 was worked on during a few meetings, and is now almost complete

I thought that I had spun enough roving for two mittens.  My estimation skills are usually pretty good.  These mittens are a little extra long in the cuff, which might explain why I ran out of yarn.

Whatever the reason….I was so close!!!  There’s half of the thumb left to do.  I’m guessing that it will just take a few more meters of yarn, but that requires me to sit down at the spinning wheel.

In any case, I’m sure these will be finished before it gets cool enough to need them.

While on vacation this summer, Evan and I ended up taking the ferry from Falmouth Harbour to Martha’s Vineyard, where we spent the day walking around exploring, and navigating the bus routes to arrive at Island Alpaca.  If you are ever in the area, it’s worth a trip.

image source: islandalpaca.com

I was really excited to see alpaca, and was eager to get my hands on some luscious spinning fiber.  Evan had never seen alpaca before, and couldn’t really understand why I was so excited, but he got pretty excited himself when he saw the cute animals frolicking in the fields.

They make whining and grunting noises, and one of them let our a real squack!  When they run, their thin long necks seem oddly misproportioned.  The first field we saw had a self guided tour of posters on the fence posts.  As we took our time reading all the information (good English practice for Evan), we noticed several of the young male alpacas with necks tangled, wrestling each other into the dirt, biting and spitting at each other.  Boys will be boys I guess!

image source: islandalpaca.com

We followed the signs to the barn and saw more alpacas inside.  They were way too busy eating, or moved too quickly to photograph well in the dim light.

Next up was the lovely farm store with yarn and roving and knitted things of all shapes and sizes.  I think Evan got a kick out of seeing me totally hypnotized by the soft fiber.  I met Philippe who showed me where the roving was hiding.  He’s a spinner too, so we had a good time chatting about spinning things as I tried not to drool over the superfine jet black alpaca roving.  It was so gorgeous that I had to buy 8 oz worth, and probably should have gotten more when I had the chance.  I’ve started spinning it, and it spins like a dream!

Philippe and the girls

Through another doorway, and we were out with the female alpacas and the HUGE guard llama.  We could get close enough to pat them as they were eating.  They are the softest fluffiest creatures I’ve ever met.  Evan kept repeating a phrase from Despicable Me:  “It’s so fluffy, I’m gonna die!”.  I think that in this case, it is a valid statement.

Philippe and a cria

Philippe picked up one of the babies (young alpaca are called cria), and this one was even softer than the other older alpaca.

On our way out, we purchased alpaca fiber, and some white wool fiber to dye and spin back at our campsite (more on that later!).

Everywhere on the island is so pretty.  Here are some of the more beautiful views we saw that day.