Alpaca and lace vent

wrote in news:13cEh.1538$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr21.news.prodigy.net:

only the South American ones. there's no US market for US grown alpaca fiber. :p

well, that's good. i love my Brittany needles, although i miss the walnut ones & i don't see why they can't turn the fancy top on the birch ones. just a slight aesthetic gripe :) lee

Probably not because as Lee said there's no North American market for North American-grown alpaca. The things are "designer livestock". When they first started getting popular people were buying them as investments, of all things.

Some people just can't take criticism. I mean really, she was probably up in her hotel room until 3am whittling and sanding - surely you don't expect PERFECTION from something that's handmade???

That's because the groundswell of knitting's popularity has produced so many mediocre knitters that anything not the product of their own collective needles must surely be competent. On the bright side: those very knitters recognize they have not yet reached the apex of the art and perhaps you've inspired a few to do more than trendy knitting using nasty nylon eyelash yarn on #17 needles.

So who was it? Inquiring minds who didn't make it to Stitches really want to know...

Yep, they are. I carried a Brittany dealership for a while, never had anything but positive interaction with anybody there.

So will the birch needles. So far no moisture issues with my rosewoods...

WoolyGooly wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

sadly, they *still* are. i wish there was more truth in advertising about that pyramid scam :p that said, i saw a couple gelded males for sale for $500, for both. at least one local breeder has some sense. me? i have llamas. the younger 3 have very fine fiber & the 2 "old ladies" are soft but have guard hairs, but it all needle felts beautifully. i haven't tried spinning any yet because i've been felting it, but i think Perl at least will make a fine yarn. a friend of mine spun up a couple pounds of Sally (one of the old ladies) & she said it was lovely. but it was the same color red as her daughter's hair, so i think she was biased ;) lee

A gal near me has llamas and alpacas. She's been crossing them to produce "pocket llamas", and people are buying THOSE too, including people who live in town and want their own fiber animal.

I mean really, if I want a fiber animal small enough to keep in my back yard I'll get a Sheltie or go back to keeping angora bunnies.

WoolyGooly wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

that's just wrong on so many levels... she's breeding unregisterable animals. do her buyers know they're getting animals that shouldn't be bred? the other issue is that llamas & alpacas are herd animals & just keeping one in a suburban backyard is cruel to the animal, & also has the possibility of it getting Berserk syndrome, where they become aggressive towards humans. even something as small as an alpaca can kill a person...

i agree. i'm still boggling over suburban 'pocket llamas'... lee

You all have had me in "stitches" with this conversation. Was it the one in Santa Clara, CA? I will get the scoop from someone in my knitting group who went. She has been helping me along on my 'odd-ball' sweater. I think it is because there isn't an actual 'pattern' for it. I've made some other more complicated sweaters in the past. I am about half finished with a scarf--first experience with lace work--made of cashmere and silk. The thread is so thin, I thought I would never get it wound up into a ball. But it is really beautiful, and has a pattern to it (with a chart). The unfortunate thing is, the colors of the yarn (green and purple) take away from the actual knitted pattern, but it will still be lovely.

Merri

They were elaboratly turned - the most elabroate >wooden< needles that I have ever seen. Very suitable for tucking into a fancy basket of alpaca yarn as a decorator piece in the living room.

I expect excellence for the intended use from handmade. If they were just decorator objects then they were excellent. But, if there was a bin of Bendigo waiting for them at home, then they need someone staying up till 3 am sanding and polishing.

Michri Barnes and I chatted for 3 or 4 minutes. Her husband and I talked for a a few seconds but I did not catch his name. Turns out that they live just up the coast and have a very close relationship with the Mendocino Yarn Shop in Mendocino, CA.Brittany is looking at diversifying its product line. For example, they are testing other woods.

There were several other kinds of wood and bamboo needles in the case. Only the Clover molded.

Yes, the BIG Santa Clara convention Center, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Knittinguniverse.com

They had "Sheep shearing " demos by having someone in sheep costume get sheared by someone running a clipper over them and making a noise with their lips. All very clean, with no lamby smell, and no actual wool clipped. The nearest sheep or alpaca was miles away.

Okay, now that's pathetic. If anyone hasn't seen a real sheep shearing any summertime county fair has demos. Heck, even here in OC we have sheep shearing done at the OC Fair.

I considered going to Stitches West this year for the first time but opted not to. One of these years I will if there are classes and instructors that interest me.

In regard to your initial post, lace seems to be the "in" thing right now. Doesn't surprise me, since it seems to get the most "ooh, ahh" reaction, and done well it is rather impressive looking. With more and more beginner knitters around it looks even more impressive in a "See, I'm way better than you" way (although that's not why I knit lace, and it's not what I think when someone compliments me on it: I think I'm good but not *that* good). I did buy the book you mention, but I'm not going to spent hundreds of dollars on yarn to make one of the patterns. I am planning on springing for enough Helen's Lace by Lorna's Laces for a nice shawl for me, but I'll wait until next month; two of my not-so-local yarn shops give a 10% discount in your birthday month. Time to increase the stash

And $70 for needles?!?!?!?! Sheesh, no way. Maybe there are enough beginning knitters out there who think that expensive means better, but I'll stick with my Addi Naturas and Crystal Palace bamboo DPs for now. I also like the Brittany birch DPs but tend to break them when knitting socks; maybe if I didn't knit socks on 2-mm needles this wouldn't happen as often, ya think?

The Other Kim kimagreenfieldatyahoodotcom

it's not what I think when someone compliments me on it: I think I'm good but not *that* good). I did buy the book you mention, but I'm not going to spent hundreds of dollars on yarn to make one of the patterns. I am planning on springing for enough Helen's Lace by Lorna's Laces for a nice shawl for me, but I'll wait until next month; two of my not-so-local yarn shops give a

That's not why I knit lace either. I read somewhere that as you knit more and more, and increase your experience that lace knitting becomes more of something to try. That applies to me.

That gorgeous Candle Flame shawl I made from Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud at $4.29 U.S. per hank. I used 2 hanks although the free pattern called for 3 hanks. So, there's no need to spend a pile of money. The yarn was beautifully soft and comes in great colours NAYY.

I still want to make the Peacock Feathers shawl, (3rd try) and instead of Jaggerspun Zephyr at $15.50 a hank, I'm going to use Knit Picks "Shimmer" (alpaca and silk) at 5.49 a hank.

Me either. I have enough Bryspun circs in most sizes that I usually use those, and I have a ton of aluminum needles from a million years ago in Canadian sizes that are still in perfect condition. A U.S. friend also gave me a small set of bamboo circs that I have used now and then, and they are lovely.

For socks, I have 4 or 5 sets of aluminum needles, and one set of bamboo (which bend horribly). I use more than one set because I knit both socks alternately on each set of needles. That way I don't end up with one sock syndrome. ;>D

Shelagh

Shelagh

I like wood needles for cable needles and for picking up stitches when I have been frogging, and I keep a couple in the needle case that follows me around, but I have come to prefer steel needles for actual knitting at sizes below 3.5 mm. (held in a knitting sheath.)

I thought the whole idea of lace was to use such a little bit of yarn that you could pull the whole shawl through a wedding ring. I thought lace was the ultimate in cheap knitting thrills. ; D

Aar>

I drop too many stitches using metal. Bamboo and wood give me the control I need.

I do hope you mean "cheap" as in inexpensive as opposed to shoddy. It can be inexpensive and give one more bang for one's buck, but yarn quality is variable. I want to make a proper wedding-ring shawl one of these years, but I want to actually see and feel the cobweb to give it a good yank before buying. I bought some via mail order years ago for my first try, but the yarn fell apart on me too many times that I just tossed the whole lot. The yarn has to be strong enough to work with but fine enough to make that gossamer fabric.

The Other Kim kimagreenfieldatyahoodotcom

Yes, I think the J&S lace yarn is about twice as expensive as the other J&S yarns on a per gram basis. The old Shetland shawls seem to have been as much about showing off spinning ability as showing off knitting ability. A society where competence in domestic chores brings great social status. What a concept!.

So, a Shetland Shawl and Aran sweater are both 200-plus hour projects. The sweater will take 6 times the weight of wool as the shawl, but the shawl yarn is twice as expensive per gram. Therefore, the shawl is 3 times cheaper per hour. Therefore, in 200 hours you can save enough to buy a round at the pub when you finish : ) If we all did a few shawls, we could save enough to get together at a good pub and have a blowout, stagger home in no condition to knit, celebration. ; D

Aaron

Count me in on the staggering!!!!!!

JJMolvik

Me too..... just tell me where and when (grin).

Shelagh

Shillelagh spun a FINE 'yarn':

splort, wondering if one could be charged with DUI or DWI on our brooms???? Noreen

No, FUI or FWI.

Speaking of brooms ,,,, i am told , that if you rub some Good will oil on it they fly better ,,, mirjam

Mirjam Bruck-Cohen spun a FINE 'yarn':

Or a very good canuba wax??? :D Noreen