From Shearing to Shawl!
A while ago, (in another life) I was the proud owner of three Alpacas. Before I brought them home, I helped out with their shearing at Bird Farm Alpacas, and had great fun getting hands on with them. To top it all I came away with their fleeces to process.
I started with Daphne's fleece, and when I began to sort it, I found a fair amount of a lovely peachy beige fleece amongst the white - when she came to live with me I realised she had a golden patch on her back which had given me this lovely colour. So I picked it out and processed it separately, and ended up with a lovely big batt of honey coloured soft fluffy cloud.
Once it was washed, dried and carded I spun it up as finely as I could (not easy for me!) but I ended up with 430 metres of almost 4 ply with a few bits of added texture. Enough for a fairly big shawl, not enough for a garment. I wanted something simple to show off the yarn and spent days searching for the right pattern but couldn't find anything that I felt was correct, or that I had enough meterage for. There was plenty of smaller patterns but I wanted to use every last bit of Daphne and not waste any!
So in the end I just cast on three stitches and started to increase, then added some sections of yarn over knit two together followed by stocking stitch, and knitted until I ran out of yarn. And I am so pleased with the result - my Daphne Shawl. Simple but pretty, you can see the texture and colour of the yarn - and its so so soft. Daphne was a pleasure to work with and I'm sure she will be a pleasure to wear although I'm not trying it now with the little warm spell we are having! I am sure she will be worn a lot in the winter though....
I hope you are all enjoying the warmth at the moment, and are keeping healthy and well in these difficult times
Happy making, and thanks for reading
Tina xx
I started with Daphne's fleece, and when I began to sort it, I found a fair amount of a lovely peachy beige fleece amongst the white - when she came to live with me I realised she had a golden patch on her back which had given me this lovely colour. So I picked it out and processed it separately, and ended up with a lovely big batt of honey coloured soft fluffy cloud.
Once it was washed, dried and carded I spun it up as finely as I could (not easy for me!) but I ended up with 430 metres of almost 4 ply with a few bits of added texture. Enough for a fairly big shawl, not enough for a garment. I wanted something simple to show off the yarn and spent days searching for the right pattern but couldn't find anything that I felt was correct, or that I had enough meterage for. There was plenty of smaller patterns but I wanted to use every last bit of Daphne and not waste any!
So in the end I just cast on three stitches and started to increase, then added some sections of yarn over knit two together followed by stocking stitch, and knitted until I ran out of yarn. And I am so pleased with the result - my Daphne Shawl. Simple but pretty, you can see the texture and colour of the yarn - and its so so soft. Daphne was a pleasure to work with and I'm sure she will be a pleasure to wear although I'm not trying it now with the little warm spell we are having! I am sure she will be worn a lot in the winter though....
I hope you are all enjoying the warmth at the moment, and are keeping healthy and well in these difficult times
Happy making, and thanks for reading
Tina xx
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