Latest Spinning

I'm just flicking the ends of this lovely wool I received in a trade with Becky. I didn't want to use my combs to prep it because that would waste too much of it. I've only a pound and it's very precious.

It's soft and shiney and has the most beautiful moorit colour.

I will finish filling this bobbin and then start on the second. This will be a two ply fingering weight.

Handspun, handdyed 2ply pygora spun last year. This is the Scarlet colour from my Ashford dyes. It's a very orangey red. I fulled this yarn alittle bit to make it fluffy. Not sure what I'll do with it yet.

WIP's

Front and back of Birch Leaf socks knit in 3 ply handspun, handcombed grey alpaca/nylon blend.

Ene's scarf knit in handspun, handcombed 2 ply grey alpaca/kid mohair blend. Soft and shiney with a slight halo.

My stepsister Michelle has learned two-handed colour knitting and is working on her first Selbuvotter mitten.

She's doing a fantastic job!!

More Alpaca Ontario 2009

Alpaca Ontario Show

What a great show. I enjoyed getting to meet new people who were interested to learn more about this wonderful fibre and I got to meet more of the alpaca breeders. The alpacas just keep getting better and better every year. It was pretty tough for the judges to decide!

For me personally it was extra sweet. The handspun and fibre arts competition was tough as well. There were so many talented people that entered this contest ( I will show more pics next time). The handspun yarns were so beautiful...I honestly never expected to win but I did! Supreme Champion handspun and my two handspun,handknit mittens took first place as well. I received perfect scores on both of my mittens. I was truly in shock over that. So I have been feeling extremely lucky all weekend. I received a nice little check and 8 new ribbons.

Last year I won Alpaca Canada and now Alpaca Ontario....I still cannot believe it :) Best of all though...my very sweet DH had roses waiting for me when I got home and a cute little card calling me 'Miss Alpaca'. Inside the card it said how proud he was of me and that I had 30 seconds to decide if I wanted botox treatments or a new electric drumcarder! I chose the drumcarder of course :)

Not Handspun

Sorry for the mix up if anyone thought those Alpaca Ontario yarns with the labels are handspun! They are millspun yarns. I wish I could spin that fast! The pic of the black, fawn and brown is handspun. I do boast about those yarns because I got to make the decisions about how those fleeces would be spun and what weights, blends etc. I do not get any money from the sale of those yarns.

Handspun Sock Yarn

Three ply grey alpaca (what else?) and nylon blended on my English combs. I prefer a more homogenous colour so I will attempt another sock blend on the handcarders. I so desperately need a drumcarder. The finished yarn yielded just 300 yards in 120 grams. Crappity crap. Not the yardage I was hoping for. Back to the drawing board.

Alpaca Ontario yarns, rovings and more handspun......

Brown blend, cria roving....mmm..soft.

Suri/huacaya roving.....silky.

Handspun yarns that will be on their long trip to Norway soon.

Posing together for a group shot.

Grey is alpaca/wool/bamboo.

Tri-colour is fawn, med brown and dark brown.

White is alpaca/soy.

Brown is alpaca/bamboo.

Lopi herd blend.

Lopi suri/soy.

Fantastic sweater yarn!

White and brown/rosegrey.

There you have it. I think they turned out great and they are very soft. It was fun to play with it all weekend. I hope to see any bloggers in Ontario at the show on April 18 and 19!