Busy Weekends

This weekend we attended a Breeding for Champions seminar at Vermont Alpaca Company which focused on breeding your female alpacas to improve their cria and ultimately win championships. There are many factors to consider and it truly broadened our perspective and what to look for in our future herdsires. The seminar instructor was Cheryl Gehly, a well known alpaca fiber judge.

Briefly, some of the things we learned from Cheryl included how to analyze your female's fiber and ascertain what factors you need to look for in your future herdsire for each female. Some of the things to look for are histograms and fiber samples from the males. Also, we learned to never single trait breed or single trait eliminate. Overall analysis is very important in the decision making process. We also learned a bit about the different follicle types, alpaca fiber characteristics and the most advanced fleece type (ELITE) characteristics.

One important tip we pulled from the seminar is to keep very detailed records which need to include samples of the fiber being recorded. This is my next adventure! I sense a binder and a spreadsheeting coming into picture very soon. Cheryl recommended we keep a Reference Micron Library and a Reference Crimp Library. Obviously our first complete one will be from Tempe. Her cria fleece will be shorn off in the next week or two - we won't have a histogram for this but it's a good example of her base.

After the seminar our female, Alcy, was delivered to Vermont Alpaca Company for her breeding to their herdsire, Amicus. The seminar showed us we had chosen a herdsire who would take Alcy's cria in the right direction. As a gray alpaca, Alcy's fiber needs increased uniformity of micron, increased staple length and increased density.

Sunday0, June 27th, we spent at Snowshoe Farm meeting our new cria, Tempe, and learning some new alpaca things. We got to observe a couple breedings and learn what to watch for in cria to make sure they are healthy.

Here are some pictures of Tempe for your enjoyment! She's super cute and we're very happy with her. She is a beautiful rose gray and has some nice silver gray markings on her neck and legs.

Temperance & Fiber

Twilight Ridge Farm has its first cria! Tempest gave birth on June 22nd at approximately 10:30 AM. Temperance (Tempe for short) weighed in at a healthy 20.4 pounds. We are traveling to Snowshow Farm this weekend to see her. Already she's playing with the other cria on the farm. Here are some pictures from her first day - I'm sure many more will be posted after the weekend!

Also, we delivered our first fiber order to Annabel's Fibre Studio in Oneonta, NY. 8 batts of 100% alpaca fiber and 14 batts of Color Kissed Alpaca Fiber. Most of the batts were combined with dyed merino fiber and a couple had other fiber types mixed in. I washed all the fiber in my kitchen sink, combed it and carded it (twice)! I was very proud of my end product and hope the spinners at Annabel's enjoy them too! Larry designed the labels and I worked out the best way to package the fiber. In the end our joint efforts looked amazing! I will post some photos of the batts we delivered at a later date.

Stash Closet Exposed!

My wonderful husband is updating my stash closet for me so I can be more organized! However, this meant I had to clean out the closet first... Not such an exciting prospect, but I did get it done! Now it's all up to him for the sanding, painting and putting in the new shelving! I can't wait! Then I can keep the fibery stuff separate from the yarn of the matter! *sigh* Organization is grand!

The above is my exposed stash. I did manage to bag up some random yarn and unfinished projects that I decided I no longer need. It's a start.

Here are is a pic of the newly vacant closet! The closet looks small but it actually goes to the left and right once you are through the doorway. Not a walk in exactly but ample enough for now!

I can't wait until the closet it finished! I'll post more pictures once it is complete and back together again!

Carding Like Crazy!

Today I am carding fiber into batts! I call these my color kissed batts. It's mostly white alpaca fiber with a touch of other dyed fiber carded in. Very beautiful and soft! My cats are excited I'm home and so am I! I'll post pictures later today once I have made some progress. I LOVE my new drum carder and will post pictures of that as well.