You know I love animal fiber. Whether it's merino, cashmere, angora, camel, bison, possum or qiviut, I love them all but one of my favorite fibers is alpaca.
Now that I have your attention! The English language is just so intriguing. Silent "K's" to just name one anomaly make the language extremely difficult for non-English speaking individuals to learn. But that's really not why we're here. Let's get back to Naked Knitting. You know I love animal fiber. Whether it's merino, cashmere, angora, camel, bison, possum or qiviut, I love them all but one of my favorite fibers is alpaca. I see them every year at the Spring and Fall Fiber Expos near Ann Arbor. They are so sweet. I love to see an alpaca farm with all of the adorable animals of all sizes in the field. They are just so fluffy and soft and, well, adorable. I remember the first alpaca I ever knit with and my instant infatuation. One year for Christmas my Dad gave me the first spinning from an alpaca farm in Addison, Michigan, the town where I grew up. I loved it and searched and searched until I found the perfect pattern. Unfortunately, the pattern was part of a kit, not to be sold separately. Even I realized it would be silly to buy a very expensive kit just for the pattern, so I called the designer. I explained my predicament and she graciously sold me the pattern. I was on my way. Sometimes when I knit, the fiber will kind of drain my hands of moisture. They will feel scaley and dry. The first things I noticed about this alpaca was how smooth and soft my hands felt. The more I knit, the better they felt. I loved it. My Dad was so proud. It was one of my best Christmas gifts ever. Here's what it ended up to look like. The pattern had three corners but I decided I liked the look of two. Later I made the three corner variety. Lydia looks great in alpaca. I just love the way it drapes. It is warm and cuddly and just about perfect. I'm sure you remember this from the 2016 Fall Fiber Expo. In between my first alpaca and this, I have knit plenty of beautiful things using this yummy fiber. Each more beautiful than the last. But none of this addresses Naked Knitting. Here we go! Look at those marvelously naked alpacas. Linda sent the pictures to me. It's like she stumbled across an alpaca nudist camp. Are you ready for this? Look at that tiny little body. Who would have ever guessed that the plump, furry alpaca was really a giant head with a tiny little body! I keep wondering how that little neck holds up that big head!?!?! If you were expecting some other kind of Naked Knitting, sorry to disappoint you. I almost never do anything naked when something sharp is involved. You just never know when you are going to drop a needle, if it will be point down and if it will stick. Ouch!
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jan parsonThis blog is dedicated to Mary Helen Growt my first knitting teacher and the woman who changed my life. The mission of Knitting: A Love Story is to preserve, share and promote the love of knitting. Archives
April 2021
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