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WIP – Lollypop Scarf

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:41:19 +0000

Despite all the “issues” I have working with wool the fiber lover in me still can’t help but play with it.

As I’ve been skeinning and dyeing all the Lollypop Yarn I’ve been using the mini skeins to work on some projects that I will also be putting up for sale to raise $$ for [...]

FAF: Lollypop Yarn for a Cause

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:40:41 +0000

Hello Fiber Arts Friday Fans!

Last spring I had helped our local humane society re-home an alpaca. While I was there they were kind enough to give me several bags of wool sheared from their sheep the weekend before. I made the promise then that I would process the wool and sell the yarn and [...]

WIP: Secret Santa

admin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:09:11 +0000

I’m participating in several Secret Santa exchanges this year. Of course I’m going to give something hand made and from our alpacas!

Project #1 has already been completed and I’ll share that on Friday but #2 I just put on the hook. The yarn is a lot thicker than I expected so what I thought was going [...]

New look. Same Great Site

admin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:36 +0000

Confused? Don’t be. We just had a face lift.

Our new site helps draw focus to our farm, loads faster, and has less “stuff” to clutter your view.

AlpacaBytes.com and DutchHollowAcres.com now has the same homepage. If you navigated to AlpacaBytes.com and were expecting to find our posts you’ll now have to click on “Blog” [...]

Herd Management Practices to Promote a US Alpaca Meat Industry

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:33:33 +0000

When alpacas were first brought to the US they were marketed as a huggable no kill investment. Unfortunately with the down economy prices are plummeting and costs are rising, the “unwanted alpaca” is becoming a big problem that no one wants to talk about.

As a responsible breeder my goal is to breed for our emerging fiber [...]

Tip: EZ way to stuff a hay net

admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:57:22 +0000

Sometimes I like to “fork out” hay from my round bale instead of letting the animals free graze on it. Unfortunately if I just fork off some hay and toss it on the ground surely a lot of it will go to waste which is where a hay net comes in handy. If you’ve [...]

FAF: Why is Alpaca Fiber So Warm?

admin — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:13:59 +0000

Hello Fiber Arts Friday Fans! It’s been a while since I’ve done a science behind alpaca fiber so here we go. Today’s question, why is alpaca warmer than wool?

What is Alpaca Fiber?

Well all know that fiber from a sheep is called wool and the stuff that we wash and comb on our [...]

FAF – How to thread beads to spin into yarn

admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 06:04:31 +0000

Welcome back Fiber Arts Friday followers.

As many of you blog hoppers know this month is Tour de Fleece and with that comes challenge days where spinners try something new or a method they have been struggling with. I was inspired by a post written by Wind Rose Fiber Studio and decided to learn how [...]

Fiber Wordless Wednesday

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:34:37 +0000

Poolside Share your fiber animal photos! Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets — Easy-Linky widget will appear right here! This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site. For best results, use HTML mode to edit this section of the post.

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Understanding Cost to Sell Alpaca Fiber at a Profit

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:13:30 +0000

Whether you’re thinking starting an alpaca farm or are a seasoned rancher the question is always the same. What do you do with all that fleece?! I’m surprised to find that many folks shear it, bag it, and store it without doing anything at all. (FYI Fiber does have a shelf life).

Since many folks [...]

WIP: Alpaca Fan Shawl

admin — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:00:07 +0000

Hi everyone. So I finally finished the green shawl (for sale and is now up on Etsy) and loved the pattern so much I wanted to make one for myself. I started one in heather gray but for the life of me I don’t remember where I put it! So I started yet another one this [...]

Fiber Wordless Wednesday

admin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:45:08 +0000

Daisy and Crystal

Fiber Wordless Wednesday Share your fiber animal photos with us!

Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets — Easy-Linky widget will appear right here!This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.For best results, use HTML mode to edit this section of the post.

[...]

Fiber Market Monday: Starter Herd

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:06:59 +0000

Welcome back to Fiber Market Mondays!

This is a forum to showcase anything made from natural animal fiber, raw fiber or even the fiber animals themselves!

Spring is here and with it comes Mother’s Day. What better way to celebrate mother’s day than a mommy and me starter herd package?! This package is a [...]

Fiber Market Monday

admin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:02:04 +0000

Welcome to Fiber Market Monday’s!

This is a place where folks can market their fiber goodies be them handmade, raw or processed fiber, or maybe even the fiber animal themselves!

This week I’m offering special pre-shearing price for the raw prime fleece from our alpaca, CoHo. CoHo is small and very fiber mighty. He yields [...]

Fiber Arts Friday: Hog Island Sheep

admin — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:05:38 +0000

I have been slacking in my fiber duties as of late but this past weekend brought me back into the swing of things.

Saturday I got to enjoy a day of fiber fun with my neighbor Stephanie who raises the rare breed of Hog Island Sheep. I’m told there are about 200 head left in [...]

Fiber Wordless Wednesday

admin — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:22:05 +0000

March: In like a lion out like a pregnant angry spitting alpaca dam? Do you raise fiber Animals? Share a link to your farm photos here! Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets — Easy-Linky widget will appear right here! This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed [...]

FAF: The First US Alpaca Industry

admin — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:00:22 +0000

Welcome back to FAF. I hope you have your learning caps on because I’ve been digging into the research again.

This time I wasn’t sure what I was looking for but ended up getting all angry at today’s alpaca industry. Long story short? Why is it in the late 1800′s there was a perfectly sustainable [...]

Fiber Arts Friday: 1st Textile Patent

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 06:18:53 +0000

If you happen to follow me on Twitter or Facebook you’ll know that I usually toss out a “today in history” blurb. I was inspired by one of these for today’s FAF post.

Monday might have been Valentine’s Day but it is also another exciting day in US fiber history. In 1974 the first US Textile Patent went [...]

Fiber Arts Friday – Alpaca Fiber Tensile Strength

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:30:27 +0000

My fiber week was spent back to what I like doing the most. Making ropes for mecate reins, leashes or lead ropes and of course my fiber of choice is alpaca. But why?

When I got into raising alpacas everyone told me how much better alpaca fiber was for one reason or another and I [...]

Fiber Arts Friday – Winterfest Demonstration

admin — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:30:42 +0000

Welcome back to Fiber Arts Friday! Link association buttons are now at the end of the post if you were wondering.

This week for the first time ever I got to spend it with other fiber folks! I was asked by the Genesee Valley Sock Machine Club to come do a spinning demonstration with them [...]