Our fall line-up

Introducing our last 3 cria for 2011:

Bullet's Thunderbolt (Silver Bullet x ChiChi) arrived October 15 while were at a nearby Farmer's Market participating in the Harvest Festival. ChiChi was meant to give us a girl this year, but hey, we'll take this one - he's adorable and we love his color and markings. 

 

November 16 brought us Bullet's Jolie (Bullet x Maya) and we couldn't be happier with this little gal! With all the grey in Maya's background we hoped for grey but this true black beauty has made us very happy! She's loaded with presence and has spring curls galore. 

Last to arrive on October 18, but the most exciting was Royal Izabella (Royal Crest x Cloudy) ... why?? Because she's Cloudy's 4th cria and her first GIRL!! She's perfect from head to toe and sports absolutely luscious fleece thanks to both parents, just as we expected!!!! Yippeeeee!! 

We are thankful for all of our cria this year and cannot wait until spring to have a few more. Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Warmest regards, Liz

First cria this Fall

Meet Fusion's French Vanilla! Born October 5 while it was still warm and sunny (smart mom!) to Atomic Fusion and Shimmer. She's simply gorgeous!

Beer Gloves

Here is my version of Kurt Fausset's Beer Gloves from the Son of Stitch'N bitch book - patterns for guys. Made with Alpaca with a Twist Highlander yarn, this pattern was very enjoyable and directions were great. Husband, Lee tells me however, this is not a very good "guy color" (but doesn't his hand look handsome in them??). 

 

My next pair will be much more guy-like in chocolate brown. :)

Warmest regards, Liz

Garden Art

Lee's painting of his pumpkin patch now graces our front porch. More time for painting would be nice ....  

Talented brothers!

And brother, Scot is just as talented. He's also an architect in southern California. I'm proud of them!

Talented brothers!

Take a moment to visit my brother, Mike's website. He's an architect in southern California and very good at what he does!

Wooly Lavender

Meet Wooly Lavender named after the soft grey lavender plant that thrives in high heat. She was born on the hottest day of spring to Lotus & Spartacus. Gorgeous little thing!! 

Introducing Sheeza Looker's first cria!

Ridin' The Storm Out 

Storm arrived on Memorial Day and we tried to think of a great patriotic name for him. We had several suggestions from friends but nothing seemed to fit. On the evening of May 30th  our farm suffered another violent wind shear ripping out 9 large trees and damaging 2 more so when we heard REO Speedwagon's "Ridin' The Storm Out" on the radio we knew we had found his name. 

With parents like Sheeza and Champion's Protégé, we are quite sure his fleece will be incredible, however, we DID order a GIRL, didn't we???

Finally finished!

This was the project that spent a few months in my lap this winter. I actually finished it in mid-March except for the buttons. It took a few weeks for the capelet to make it upstairs to my project room where I keep my basket-full of buttons. I always enjoy choosing buttons —I can lose an hour or more just sifting through them. (How boring am I??) Many of the buttons were removed from old outfits and bunches were given to me by both of my moms. One of my favorite things on Earth is vintage buttons! For my Earthy capelet, I decided to use some vintage leather buttons from my mom.  I feel they compliment the capelet nicely. 

This piece is made of 100% Royal Baby-fine Alpaca from our Preferred Herd Yarn Collection making it soooo sumptuous!

On-site tour of our micro-mini-mill

You can view how we process fiber at Turkey Creek Alpacas  http://turkeycreekalpacas.com/fiber/processing.html

Dye day!

Monday was dye day and just look at these gorgeous springy colors: rose, peach and terra cotta. They turned out so luscious. I can't wait to start carding and blending. I have some interesting fibers to blend in. Should be fun!

Introducing my Micro-Mini-Mill

 My fiber storage and processing room has finally come together this winter. For my fiber-minded friends, I know you will enjoy the tour!

The walk-in closet (at left) has shop inventory storage, an area for my antique crank sock-machine (more on that another day), and the “queue-up area” for fleeces. 

The bags shown represent about one-fifth of the fleeces we currently have on-hand to process! (… and shearing day is closing in quickly!)

Photo #2 & 3 show loading up the fiber tumbler with fleece and locking it in. I generally only load a few pounds for the best results and set my timer for 10 minutes. The tumbler works wonders knocking out sand and dirt, and those annoying little second cuts that create noils in the yarn. The tumbler has dowels that aim toward the center around the inside which work to pull the fleece apart as it tumbles. 

My tumbler is a Jiffy made by Alpaca Heights in Ubly, MI - http://www.alpacanation.com/alpaca-products/03_view_product.asp?name=108909

 Photo #4 & 5 show me unloading the tumbler. Yes, I practically have to stand on my head and get inside to reach all the fiber at the bottom. And there’s my exercise routine!

Photo #6 and 7 show the skirting table, the next step after tumbling. Now is the fun part (really kidding here). Skirting is the process where you remove debris, guard hair, inconsistent lengths, and whatever else you may find that would not look very pretty in your rovings or yarn. 

If the fleece is very fine and very dirty, I use a dog brush to help get out debris. Unfortunately this process wastes more fiber but if the fleece is that dirty, at least you are to salvage some of it. Brushing also removes the “Velcro” ends from an unshorn cria fleece.

After skirting, the fiber is placed loosely into laundry bags and washed. I purchased an old washing machine from craigslist.com and Lee removed the agitator. Fleece condition will determine how many washes are required to clean it up. Once the fleece has been cleaned, if you are going to dye, this is the best time for that.

In photo #8, I’m feeding raw cleaned fiber into the drum carder.

 #9 & 10 shows me pulling the batt from the carder and rolling the finished batt up for storage.

Another nice way to display it is to braid it together which looks really pretty with dyed rovings.

Next up … fun with dye! J Stay tuned …. 

Crazy Cute Creatures!

I know … I know … I said I wasn’t going to buy any more books, but how could I resist this one? Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh is full of crazy critters created from bits and pieces of left-over yarn. 

The patterns are colorful, so very creative and utterly adorable! What child could resist a red octopus, striped spider or the Loch Ness monster made out of soft alpaca??

My favorite though is the praying mantis knit in bright green yarn with incredible detail. Often thought of as good luck, we always cherish them when we discover one on a bush or tree on the farm. (… off on a tangent …) Last summer at the farmers market, I bought a 2’ high mantis made from old shovels and bits of junk metal. “Manny” as we dubbed him, has a place in the garden off the deck overlooking a bird bath.

I’m always looking for interesting patterns to knit or crochet and was excited to find one for a small llama purse. I’ve seen the purses for sale on various sites but have not run across a pattern until now. It looks like a fun diversion and would be a really cute gift for a little girl.

I’ll share the results of some of my creatures as they come to life.

Stay warm! Liz

I hereby resolve …

For some reason I always feel the need to declare a new year’s resolution. More often than not they don’t stick very long. Last year I resolved to use up the yarn in my stash before buying any more. While I did buy some yarn, I didn’t do too bad working with much of what I had on hand. Generally the skeins I bought were for a specific project where more yarn was required in a color or weight than I had on hand.

The 2^nd part of the resolution ‘making at least one pattern in each book I own’ didn’t pan out as well. I did make several things from my own patterns but somehow it’s hard to resist when I’m on so many email lists and patterns come my way about every day. And there are so many wonderful free patterns (thank you)! In my defense, I can assure you that I love each and every book I own and have poured through them over and over again, each time seeing something that renews my creative juices. That’s got to be worth something.

So, this year, I resolve to finish all the ‘works-in-process’ I have in various stages of completion. Let’s see … 2/3rds of a Fair Isle mitten, 2 or 3 brim hats, a lacy cardigan sweater … and then there’s the line-up of projects I have already pulled together with pattern, yarn and needles ready to go … more hats, 1 or 2 scarves, a cabled capelet … to name a few. Yes, I’ll do my best to finish all those WIPs in between some new projects (like the adorable ‘mad bomber hat’ pattern I just found!).

A glimpse of summer ...

There’s nothing like sitting in the yard at day’s end on a nice summer evening to watch the alpacas. It’s a great time to catch the crias at play and the best way I can think of to wind down. 

Sorry to make you think of summer half-way through winter! J  I just couldn’t help sharing this photo.

Warmest regards! Liz

Huntress Sweater

I made this sweater for myself (a rare occasion) and then decided I’m just not worthy! Actually I have a wardrobe full of alpaca sweaters now and not enough places to wear them all! 

The sweater is made from a blend of Ginger Snap, ChiChi and Cloudy – super-soft, yes they are! It’s thick and cozy warm, and it’s possible that it still may end up in my wardrobe.   

Warmest regards! Liz

  

    

New product will soon be on-line!

My good friend’s daughter, Kaitie and boyfriend, Dustin modeled some of my outfits and accessories on New Year’s Eve. Kaitie and Dustin both had such natural smiles making my products looks “so fine!”

Here’s Kaitie modeling the slouch hat made from Spirit’s cria fleece. Très chic!

And Dustin modeling my Embers ribbed scarf and hat. 

Watch for these items and several others on-line soon! 

Warmest wishes for a happy new year!

Liz