On December 26, we had a fun with fiber day.  I think a good time was had by all.  I know I enjoyed visiting with everyone.  Kristin, an avid spinner and knitter, came with her Ashford traditional wheel.  I gave it a try and just loved it.  I can see one of these in my future.  Pat, my good friend and constant supporter, came with some delicious pumpkin cheese cake.  Geisla, Charlotte, and Helga, family friends who visit frequently and always like to know what is the latest with the herd came.  Charlotte even found a knitting machine under the Christmas tree with her name on it.  I am working on turning her into a fiber lover too.    Also Rose, from Dameron Alpacas, came along with a bag of fleece to experiment with.  My husband, Marty, and my two children, Gina and Brandon, popped in and out also.  We ran some fleece through the drum carder and made some felted bars of soap. I also had my new Rigid Heddle loom out for people to try.  Here is a picture of some of our felted soap bars.

 

Since today is the last day of 2006, I am reflecting on things that I have accomplished.  I have completed several knitting projects and won a placement at the fair with a handknit lace alpaca scarf.  We went to a two shows and met new people.   We also attended the type conference and some workshops at shows.   This year we placed 2nd with all our entries.  Next year I hope to go to at least 3 shows and place 1st in something.  We had our fiber analyzed using the ODA2000.  The ODA2000 analyzes the fiber and gives you a report for each animal.  It also shows how the fiber changes in micron throughout the year.  Ours showed significant jumps mid year through the growth.  I attribute that to my feeding the gang extra thoughout the winter so they wouldn't feel cold.  I probably did not need to do this and this year I am resisting the urge to feed extra.  Because the winter has been very mild, so far, I have been able to stick to my plan.  Hopefully I will continue this and see an overall decrease in our herds average micron count for 2007.   Our herd has grown from 3 alpacas at the end of 2005 to our current number of 8 alpacas.  Our breeding animals are all haucaya and our goal is to breed fine fibered black and gray haucaya alpacas.  I believe our present animals will help us reach this goal.  Below I have some of the projects completed in 2006.  The white sweater and brown scarf our knit from our alpaca yarn from our animals.  The fuzzy scarf is lavender alpaca and fun fur.  The felted bag is made from wool with an acrylic trim.


Below are my unfinished works in progress.  I have way too many unfinished projects and have vowed not to start anything new until at least one or two of these are complete.  Below is a red alpaca cardigan which is done being knitted except the collar and needs to be put together.  I have the cuff of one white alpaca fingerless glove.  I have a mitered square bag that is about half done.  I also have half of a mohair lace scarf that will be a gift for a friend that is celebrating being cancer free this year.  Hopefully, next time you see these projects they will be complete. 



So I am thankful to the fine friends and support I have had this year.  I feel blessed every time I look out at our quality herd that is a joy to work with.  I am looking forward to this year's crias and hope that they are healthy.  A recap of our goals for 2007 are:
1.  Reduce the herd average micron count.
2.  Have no more than 3 knitting works in progress and complete the 4 unfinished projects.  
3.  Attend 3 or more alpaca events.
4.  I will blog at least once a month in 2007.

                 Happy New Year!