The Hollyhock Blog

Vagabond's head

Another shot

And this:

Vagabond's legs

The evil seed balls

But just to show me that all of Mother Nature is not evil, this lovely butterfly was flitting around the paddock enchanting the crias. 

Tiger Swallowtail

A while back I got this:

Bags of fiber

That is 19 fleeces from Kinney Valley Alpacas.  All have low micron counts (that measures the diameter of each fiber) which makes nearly all of them fall into the ‘baby alpaca’ category of fineness.   Only a few were just outside the range considered baby alpaca.  Slowly that became this:

Going down, down, down

And finally, this:

All gone from here

Meanwhile, on the other side of the shop in the barn, this was appearing:

Two full bags

And then became this:

Six bags of cleaned fiber

Another angle – yes, I’m very proud!

These bags are big

Each of those bags average over 6 pounds of cleaned, very soft fiber.   Five bags will be sport-weight yarn, one bag will be lace weight.  All to be dyed and for sale!   This was left behind:

Under the skirting table

Tomorrow I’m making a run toRach-Al-Paca fiber processing mill.  I will be bringing these six bags as well as some from our animals – Vagabond‘s, Jose‘s, and Pelasia‘s.  I’ll get some roving and some yarn from each of these.  It will be a while before I get this back, but I do have roving from Toro waiting to be picked up.  I’m also picking up a big yarn order for Twisted Suri Alpacas.  They have asked me to dye some of their white yarn.  Can you guess what is on my schedule for next week?

Speaking of next week – we’ll be at Pie Day in Braham on Friday – Aug 6.  Come see us and have a piece of pie!  YUM!

Can you believe our little boy crias are over 3 weeks old?  Yesterday we sheared off their baby fiber.  (and today is it really hot and humid, so I’m sure they are happy!)  Besides being cooler for the remainder of the summer, those cria fiber tips collect a whole lot of ‘stuff’.   So I will have 2 very nice clean fleeces for sale next spring.  (Interested?  You can reserve one now!)   Just the big alpacas, we strap them down to the shearing table. 

On the table

Since they are so small, Darryl can hold him down while I hand shear.  I just shear off the blanket area, the hips  and the base of the neck.   This will be the prime blanket when we shear next spring.

Shearing in progress

I try to blend the cut areas into the longer fiber on the neck and legs.  It usually requires a couple of touch ups over the next few days.

Embrace's boy

Annie's boy

I save the super soft fiber and use it for kid’s projects during Farm Tour.  Mark your calendar – Sept 25 & 26 - it will be here before you know it!

Last Saturday we had some pretty strong winds here, then lots of rain.  After the storm had passed, I was headed to the barn to check on the alpacas and came across a phoebe nest on the ground.   I had been watching the little birds poking their heads up for food when the mama bird flew in for feeding.  This is where is should have been.

Downspout

I called for Darryl and he climbed up on a ladder and put the nest back on the downspout.  There were five babies in the nest and they had stayed tight in the nest for the ride to the ground.  Their little claws were clenching the inside of the nest – which I noticed was lined with alpaca fiber.  On Sunday morning, I noticed the little birds were still alive and mama had come back to feed them.

A few days ago, I saw the nest was empty.  So I climbed up and took it down, since it was no longer very stable.  The nest was lined with alpaca fiber and dryer lint! 

Phoebe nest

I can only assume that all 5 of the babies survived.  I could never see all 5 heads at once from the ground.  It’s nice to know that some of the alpaca fiber that ends up blowing around the yard went to a good home.  And maybe kept these cold and wet baby birds warm after a long and scary ride to the ground in a nasty storm.

All my yarn

100% alpaca bulky

80% alpaca / 20% silk lace

100% alpaca sportweight

All still a little damp, so it is enjoying the cool, dry air on the deck.  If you are interested in a certain skein let me.  It will soon be going the farmer’s markets with me.  And supper…  as yummy as the yarn!   Dyeing and dining with friends is my favorite way to spend a day!  Thanks, Sandy and Terry!