After emailing everyone in a 20 mile radius, I found a farm that needed help shearing their alpaca. I went out for the day to Indian Chimney Farm (click) and the showed me how to tie down and shear their three alpaca.
The dark guy in this photo is Paco - even though shearing doesn't hurt the animals one bit (in fact, it keeps them from overheating!) he insisted on screaming and spitting the whole time. The other two just laid there calmly, but Paco was crazy!
The way it works, is the alpaca's front and back feet are tied to a long pole on the ground while they lay on their side stretched out. My job was to keep a hand on their heads so they couldn't thrash their heads around trying to see what was going on, for fear of them hurting their necks. I also got to try shaving some of the wool, and learned to clip toenails!
Kim and Chris at the farm let me take home some fiber to play with.
Which I then took on my next mission: learning to spin!
My mom's friend Jean, her friend Kathy and I got together and learned how to wash the wool, card it so all the fibers are going in one direction, and to start spinning the fiber on a wheel!
It took me a little while to catch on, but by the time I went home, I was able to make some pretty yarn (without too many lumpies :)
Next up, I'm heading out to Kathy's house to learn to dye wool before spinning it.
Aside from my alpaca adventures, I've been horseback riding with my friend Alicia. Here are her pretty (goofy) horses from the winter:
Also I just got back from visiting a few friends in Maine:
which was lovely and woodsy.
and finally, I've been playing a lot of mandolin, finding people and places around town to make tunes. Monday nights on the commons is a free and open contra dance and jam, so if you're in the area, swing by!
I know that was a long post! I'll let you know when some art making takes place :)
xoxo
Cady
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