Welcome to Fiber Arts Friday! Next week we will have Mr.Linky set up so that you can link us with your Fiber Arts post or web page. We are looking forward to showcasing the many different fiber arts and all of our readers’ amazing projects.
Today we are featuring Mariann’s felted hats. Mariann is a fiber artist, mom, and athlete. You can visit her at Big Horn Mountain Alpacas in Wyoming. She can make these felted hats with your fiber or you can purchase those made from her fiber. They come in a variety of styles. So many things can be done with alpaca fiber!
During the next week, photograph your fiber arts project, and come back to post a link to your blog post. Join the fun on Fiber Arts Friday, and tell your friends.
You know when you go to a petting zoo and they let the little kids give the calf or piglet a bottle? And the little creature eagerly gulps the milk down and almost knocks the kid over? Alpacas aren’t quite like that to bottle feed.
Some cria will stand and allow you to bottle feed them. Others run and you have to hold them while you feed them. There are different ways to hold cria while bottlefeeding. You can kneel astride them (just don’t sit on top of them) or sit “criss cross applesauce” with the alpaca on the ground rather than in your lap exactly. I usually have my hand under the crias mouth (shown above) so that I can keep the nipple from slipping out of the cria’s mouth. This also allows me to gently put pressure on the opening of the jaw to encourage suckling from a cria who is sleepy or uncooperative. Not unlike little tricks we devise with human babies.
And, yes, the little blonde girl feeding Bennie a bottle in the top photo is the same little girl feeding Merrie a bottle in this photo.
