A couple of weeks ago I went out to the barn to see Rusty.  Rusty was our old Great Pyrenees livestock guard dog who has been with us for over ten years. He was one of the most incredible dogs I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.

But that day Rusty didn’t know me. because he was dying.

I was filled with regret. I wished I had been there one more time with him. Why couldn’t I have just one more time to love on him, when he knew me? Why does death cheat us of our loved ones? – take them from us before we are ready? I wanted to know, anger burning, tears not stinging yet.

I took the kids out to see him. They looked at him and didn’t understand why he didn’t raise his head in greeting, why he didn’t look at them. My oldest explained that his muscles were in the process of trying to relax. His breathing was beginning to cease. His eyes had already stopped focusing. He was really gone already, his spirit seemed to have already flown away.

Rusty last November

The alpacas that he had guarded kept coming in and milling around. They didn’t seem to notice that their big protector was gone, but I did. It sliced through my heart like a hot knife cuts through butter. I swiftly hustled the kids out of the barn, swiping at tears with the back of my hand, forgetting the box of tissues I carried.

“How in the world am I going to dig a hole big enough to put him in?” I fretted to myself as I hugged my babies one by one as they walked by me on their way back to the house in the sweltering heat.

On my small farm we don’t have a backhoe, though it is at the top of the my wish list for my next farm. Let’s face it. Digging a huge grave in South Alabama in the summer is just not fun. Nothing about it is fun.

Usually when animals die on our farm, the children gather flowers and place them on the grave, especially if it was a beloved animal like Rusty. Usually they make designs like crosses and things. There was something special about how this time they just threw flowers all over with abandon for Rusty! He and his partner Joy, were our first livestock guard dogs. They have been with us since the the beginning of our alpaca farm. This was a sad day for us all.

We will really miss you old boy…..

Read more about Rusty here.

July 12th, 2010 | Tags: alpaca farm, Alpacas, children, funeral, grave, great pyrenees, livestock guard dog, Rusty | Category: Lifestyle, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (19)

Roo and Katy

A couple of months ago I had the pleasure of meeting a fiber diva, Roo of Moonwood Farm whom I had long admired – in the flesh! I had heard about this incredible lady and I had almost gotten the chance to meet her at SAFF. But every time I had gone past her booth, she was mobbed with admirers. It’s true. She is so charismatic, and her fiber is to die for. When I heard she was coming to my farm, I knew I was in for a real treat!

My dear friend Pam Pullins, of Sweet Home ALApaca was bringing some alpaca girls down for breeding, and she was bringing Roo with her. Roo is someone who is well-known in the fiber world, to which I am a novice. And Roo is newer to the alpaca animal world, to which I am not. So this was a joy for us both.

It was so much fun getting together! We talked alpacas, fiber, and girl stuff. We got to giggling so much that Pam and I couldn’t stop.

I was doubled over laughing, we had so much fun. I wish they lived closer so that we could get together more often!

Pam and I really couldn’t get our serious face on for the camera, oh well.

Roo and I had a lot of fun getting to know each other and talking alpacas, fleece, and drum carders. I’m hoping to get a chance to learn from her in the future. She is an awesome talent. You can see some of her fiber art in her Etsy shop.

Moonbeams

Above are strips of fiber from Roo’s Moonbeam Club – 4 months subscription – long ago sold out, of course. Color me gorgeous, aren’t they to die for? Now do you see why I just had to meet this woman! She is an Alabama treasure. (Oh, yes, she is in Alabama!)

And, for an added bonus, how sweet is this, it was Roo, who went home with the sleepy Loretta from the How To Put Your Alpaca To Sleep Post. What a fun day we had. Makes me motivated to start playing more with fiber!

July 9th, 2010 | Tags: Alpacas, Etsy, Fairhope Alpacas, fiber, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday, Katy Spears, Moonwood Farm, Pam Pullins, SAFF, Sweet Home ALApaca | Category: Fiber Arts Friday, Lifestyle, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (4)

photo by Ivar Vong of Oregon Daily Emerald

Participating in Wordless Wednesday

Read the Oregon Daily Emerald article about Audacious Alpacas at the Alpaca Festival of Oregon.

June 22nd, 2010 | Tags: Alpaca Festival of Oregon, alpaca show, Alpacas, Audacious Alpacas, obstacle course, obstacles, Oregon Daily Emerald, performance, Wordless Wednesdays | Category: Alpacas, Showing Off!, The Alpaca Lifestyle, Wordless Wednesdays | Comments (8)

This picture was shared with us by Pam Pullins of Sweet Home ALApaca. Thank you Pam!

This alpaca was not so sure about riding in the van – until she had the chance to play with these children. Apparently Loretta loves children.

They all wore each other out!

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

April 28th, 2010 | Tags: alpaca, Alpacas, Pam Pullins, sleep, sleepy, Sweet Home ALApaca, Wordless Wednesdays | Category: Alpacas, Lifestyle, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (10)

Alpaca Farmgirl Neopolitan Hand Spun Yarn

This is my favorite yarn! It was inspired by some yummy yarn that the incomparable Spazzyarn spun out of merino that was very similar. I fell in love with her hand spun merino Neopolitan and bought it last year.

I had not picked up knitting needles since I was in 7th grade. But her yarn inspired me to get fiber-y again. That and the fields of alpacas in the backyard…

I have to admit though, when I got the merino in my hands I was shocked at how un-soft it was. Let’s face it – I only knew alpaca. That was all I ever felt. And alpaca is just SO soft. I’m spoiled. So I said, “Spazzy, my love…let’s do this in alpaca…” and a project was born.

(above) The merino Neopolitan knitted up in a scarf for my baby.

Here is what the lovely Spazzy has spun. You can purchase it in the Alpaca Farmgirl Shop.

April 23rd, 2010 | Tags: alpaca, Alpaca Farmgirl Shop, alpaca fiber, Etsy, fiber, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday, hand spun, hand spun yarn, merino, neopolitan, Spazzy, Spazzyyarn | Category: Alpacas, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (11)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

April 13th, 2010 | Tags: Alpacas, alpacas on Today Show, baby boomers, retirement | Category: Alpacas, Farm Business, Notes from a Newbie, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (15)

Alpaca is High Fashion

People are often asking me, “What is “royal alpaca?” and “What is superfine?” How do you know? There are a few different charts and ways to determine. I will be posting a few in the coming weeks. Here is one used by the company Inca Tops:

• Royal Alpaca 19-20 Fiber Length 56-60 mm 2″-2.2″
• Baby Alpaca 22-23 Fiber Length >64mm 2.5″
• Superfine Alpaca 25-26.5 Fiber Length > 65mm 2.6″
• Vicuna 11-14 micron 30-50 mm1-2″

April 6th, 2010 | Tags: alpaca, alpaca fashion, alpaca fiber, baby alpaca, inca tops, micron, micron count, royal alpaca, superfine alpaca, vicuna | Category: Alpacas, Fiber Arts, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (1)

Everyone Loves Alpacas!

This is Daniel with little tyke Charlie.

Daniel loves alpacas. He only recently realized this when he came to work on our alpaca farm for a brief stint before heading off to the army. (Seems so many great guys are heading off to the military these days, doesn’t it? Strange times we are living in.)

Daniel admitted to me before he left that his favorite alpaca was Bella (that’s her in the background above). She is curious and has a super soft muzzle and let him pet her.

Admiring the Fleece

While waiting for the shearer to come over to shear Gingerbread Man, Daniel got to see some real alpaca enthusiasm from my friend Carmie.

Carmie is one of the most delightful people I have ever met. And she LOVES alpacas! Always willing to help and be around anything to do with the alpacas, Carmie brought her sister and niece to shearing day to help. She cannot wait to have her own alpaca farm. In the meantime she visits ours and gets her alpaca “fix” any way she can.

I think Daniel was a bit surprised at first when Carmie lay down in the fleece. But most of my readers won’t be. Most of you fiber lovers won’t be.

Who doesn't love a good fleecing?

What do you think? Would you wallow with alpaca fleece? On or off the alpaca? Leave a comment and tell us – how much do you love alpacas and their fleece?

April 1st, 2010 | Tags: alpaca, Alpacas, fleece, fleecing, love alpacas, shearing | Category: Alpacas, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (12)

Felted Easter Eggs

from Ann Merriwether, Nyala Farm Alpacas

This Fun Project really celebrates Spring. In this project you will learn how how to make

Two Kinds of Alpaca Fiber Felted Easter Eggs

Get some of those plastic eggs and get ready to felt around them. With these directions you can make two kinds of Easter eggs.
For the first kind you need:
• Carded dyed fiber
• Plastic Easter eggs
• Soap (Dawn dish washing liquid works well)
• A large dish with warm water
• An old knee high stocking
• A bit of yarn or string to make a hanger.
• An embroidery needle to thread the hanger though the end of the egg

1. Wrap the egg in three or four layers of dyed alpaca (carded fiber works better than un-carded fiber).
2. Stick the wrapped egg in the toe of an old knee-high stocking and loosely knot the stocking behind the egg.
3. Dip the whole thing in warm soapy water (a large bowl with just a dash of Dawn dishwashing liquid works well).
4. Squeeze and pat the egg in the stocking until the fiber seems to be felting around it. Don’t squeeze and pat so
much that the fiber felts right through the stocking.
5. Remove the egg from the stocking and squeeze and pat it some more. If you want to felt the fiber really tightly to
the egg and do it faster, when you take it out of the stocking throw it into your dryer while the egg is still damp.
Let it bang around in there and it will felt really tightly
6. You can make little hangers for them by stringing yarn through one end with an embroidery needle. Repeat with lots of colors and make a nice felted Easter Egg Tree.
7. You can just leave the felted egg on the plastic eggs or you can cut them off (bandage scissors work well) and have hatching eggs! Dye some fiber yellow (I use a mix of orange and lemonade Kool-aid to get a brighter yellow) and needle felt a little hatching chick!

felted easter eggs

Foam felted eggs with needle felted designs
You will need:
• Carded Dyed fiber
• Styrofoam Craft Eggs
• Soap (Dawn Dish washing liquid works well)
• A large dish with warm water
• An old knee high stocking
• A felting needle
• A bit of yarn or string to make a hanger.
• An embroidery needle to string the yarn through the felted egg.
The other way to make felted eggs is to purchase some Styrofoam eggs at the local craft store. They come in a variety of sizes. Any size will work it just depends what size egg you want to make. You felt the fiber to the egg in the same way as you do with the plastic eggs. You are not going to cut the egg off of these but you can needle felt lovely designs on them since there is a foam egg inside. Some ideas are just abstract designs like spots, or rings.
Alternatively, I like to do bunnies, chicks, flowers, even tiny little Easter baskets. You can then put a hanger on them and hang them up on your Easter egg tree. These make lovely presents! Happy Felting!

Thanks so much to Ann Merriwether of Nyala Farm Alpacas for sharing this awesome project with us. Ann lives in New York on a farm with both alpacas and sheep. She admits that she and her family are “fiberholics” and she is happy to teach others the joys of fiber arts.

What fiber or Easter projects are you working on? Leave a comment and share with us.

March 29th, 2010 | Tags: alpaca, alpaca fiber, Ann Merriwether, carded dyed fiber, Easter eggs, felted easter eggs, felted eggs, felting, Fiber Arts, foam felted eggs, needlefelted, Nyala Farm Alpacas | Category: Alpacas, Fiber Arts, Girl Stuff, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (14)