Perils of not living with my little Cagney Alpaca

Well, I got word from my sister that Cagney is having some problem with his ear.  It seems something punctured it and left a decent sized wound.  Since my sister works in the health field, I totally trust her judgement and let her take care of him.  She cleaned the wound and bandaged him all up.  They have been checking on him and he seems to be improving.  As far as what caused the puncture, we are not sure.  At first we thought Cagney and Ike had a little fight and maybe Ike got a hold of Cagney's ear but on closer inspection, Ike's fighting teeth were not long enough and usually when fighting, they go for other 'more sensitive' spots.  We ruled out the fighting and moved on to other possibilities.  Upon further inspection we think he caught his ear on some part of the fencing, although they checked out the entire fence and found nothing.  Meanwhile, he is healing up well and it doesn't seem to be bothering him at all.

The Winter weather has been a bit drastic this year.  The blizzard that took over the mid west earlier in the week also had an effect at the farm.  My sister and  brother-in-law had to shovel out a path for the alpacas to get to their water source.  The animals were nice and warm due to their wonderful fleece but moving around was a bit of an issue due to snow but now they have a nice path to follow and make their way around the meadow.  I can't wait until spring so I can go work with Cagney again.  My goal is to get him leader trained this summer so that I can easily work with him later and get him better trained handling wise.  Meanwhile, I will keep working with his fleece here at home during the cold months.  Here are some of the items I have made as of late.

3 ply alpaca yarn with clear beads spun into the yarn

New Ideas for the New Year

As January quickly flies by us, I find my self confused about what new project I want to start next.  I stumbled upon a great idea for making wreaths out of plastic bags (which I have already started and made variations of for next year).  As I scan the ideas of other bloggers, I keep getting more and more excited about what I can do to save the Earth, or at least my small part of it :)  As you already know, I try to keep my yarns as eco friendly as possible.  My alpaca fleece is a renewable resource that grows back each year;  wool, and angora follow the same claim.  As far as my bamboo items are concerned, I try to use bamboo processed in a closed chemical manner.  You see, bamboo uses a lot of chemicals in its process to make bamboo fiber.  Some companies dispose of these chemicals after one use, the person I purchase my bamboo through, has done research to find that the company we use reuses its chemicals in a closed process.

Recently I discovered fiber made from recycled plastic bottles.  I was amazed at its softness, way softer than acrylic but not as soft as alpaca.  Its only drawback was it's short staple.  I mixed it with other fiber and it was great.  It's short stature was hidden by the other fibers longer staple but it made a very nice batt that I am hoping to duplicate for myself (the original is on my etsy site).  The only problem is that I the person who supplied me with this wonderful product is having problems finding a new source in the states.   I am amazed at what a great fiber it is and I plan to promote it as much as I can to others to try.  


Raspberry syrup art batt made from alpaca, faux cashmier, eco fi (recycled bottle fiber) and icicles.

Needle felting update

Just a quick note about my needle felted doll.  I finished it up when I was in Michigan visiting my family.  Here is a pic of Eduardo Billy Bob.

Plarn is your friend!

Along with the alpaca, that I just love by the way, I also like to work with plarn.  Plarn is yarn made from plastic grocery bags or any other kind of plastic bags.  There are so many bags that are polluting the world - it makes me feel good when I can do a project that reuses 50 or so bags.  That is 50 or so bags that aren't polluting the ocean or floating through the atmosphere. 

I am always on the search for different things I can do with my plarn.  I have made the traditional bags but now I want to branch out and do more.  I also have made rugs, purses, hats and whatever else I can imagine.  Recently I also started to work with plastic containers.  I took a tomato container and made an adorable little basket out of it.  When you see people attempting to make things from old things, support their endeavor.  They are trying to make a difference and really care about the world.  You can show your support by purchasing their items and helping out in a monetary way.  The world is ours to care for and we each need to do our own part - our children will thank us :)

Art yarn - having fun with bits of this and that

Since it is Thanksgiving Day and hubby and I are both recovering from the flu, I finally got a chance to sit down and spin up some of the Art bat I bought last summer.  Kitty Grrlz has a great kit available for those art yarn newbies, like myself.  I spun up half of the bat today and just loved how it came out.  I plan to use it as an embellishment on an alpaca hat. 


When I got the kit, I had reservations about trying art yarn.  So many people have specific ideas about what their hand spun yarn should be.  I was still new to spinning and was having trouble accepting the fact that it did not have to be perfect.  I think everyone is their own critic when it comes to their art; always wanting to be better and not accepting that the learning process takes time.  When I talked to the girl at the show she said something that has stuck with me.  She said "It's art yarn, there is no rules" - this inspired me to give it a try and see what happens.  I must say I am very happy with the results.   

One thing to keep in mind when trying art spinning is to be sure to tuck the ends of the fancy yarn into the roving.  This locks the yarn in and won't let it pull out easily.  It was a bit of a trick to get used to plying to thread but I let the roving  ply wind around the thread to give it another added bit of texture.  I love how the eyelash yarn pieces opened like a flower as it spun around the core piece.  I think it is going to look so neat on my hat.  I think I may have to cut this blog short so I can get started on the hat.  I'll post a pic when it is finished.  Meanwhile, keep on spinnin'!

The Etsy Shop

I have been wanting to set up an Etsy shop for over a year now.  After trial and error, I officially opened my shop for business on November 20th, 2010.  I was inspired by many friends who had supported the idea and have their own shops online.  They gave me some good advice and I plan to use all of it.  Thus Booties and Handspun by Babylove was born.  I hope to have my first sale by Christmas.  Before I had things loaded, I already had many views and that is a good sign. 


There is so much to learn about product presentation, pricing and shipping but I plan to learn as I go.  Since I cannot afford a professional photographer at this time, I am making due with my limited photography.  Eventually, I plan to hire a local college student to take some pics and go from there.  Etsy helps out by offering insights for new shop owners and gives advice towards a successful endeavor. 

It would be great if things took off and suddenly I could quit my job and life would be wonderful, but I am jumping ahead of myself.  Honestly, I just want to get my products out there and supplement my hobby by making a few bucks off of it.  I am not delusional enough to think my hobby is going to take the place of my teaching job.  If it did, it would become my job and no longer a hobby. 

So the door is now open for me to step into my future.  As long as Cagney keeps producing wonderful fleece, I will have the opportunity of processing it and sharing it with others.  I must admit, it is exciting to look at the shop and see how many people have seen my items.  It gives me a rush, but I am sure the bigger rush is yet to come as the items start selling.  Wish me luck!!~~~~

Insomnia rants

It's late at night and I can't sleep.  I keep thinking about what I can and cannot control.  Everything seems to be out of my reach and I cannot do anything to make things happen the way I want it to.  I am trying to start my online shop but am being held up by some things I do not understand.   I am trying to find answers but so far they are eluding me.  Home problems are not helping either.  Trying to prepare for the future is ruling my mind right now.  Ideas of what I can do if I lose my full time job.  Yes, I , like so many other teachers in the state, have no idea weather or not I will have a job come August.  Since things have been going well with the alpaca sales, I am hoping to get the etsy shop up and running so I can have some sort of income if the worst case scenario happens.  Meanwhile thoughts of my student loans, car loans and credit cards is haunting me like an ancient ancestor who is holding a grudge.  Then thoughts wander and I start concocting plans to keep my loved ones safe and only I have to bear the brunt of the inevitable financial collapse that could happen.  My late night rantings inflate until my brain refuses to sleep.  I try to relax - remembering the techniques I learned to help prepare me for performances and applying them to try to sleep.  Then I remember I have a concert coming up next week and I start thinking of what I have to do to make it work.  Before I know it another hour has passed and worries of how I will survive the next day at work if I don't have any sleep.  It is an ongoing quest for a few minutes of solitude.  I take cough syrup to help me sleep - the coughing has kicked in and assists the insomnia for a while.  The cough syrup has no effect and the sleeplessness continues.  I pray for comfort and God's will.  Momentarily I feel better - relaxation is almost here but then I start to think that maybe God has me awake to teach me a lesson.  I just can't win so I get up and blog to help clear my mind.  It wakes me up even more.  Hubby is sleeping like a baby in the other room - he doesn't even notice I am not there.  Before I know it, another hour goes by and some stupid infomertial is  on the tv.  Maybe boredom will help me sleep - nope - it doesn't.  The most sleep I can hope for is about 4 hours - certainly not enough to function but if I don't go back in the bed, I won't even have that much to hope for.  Meanwhile, good night to all of you and I wish sweet dreams and long lumberous sleep to you.  If only I could enjoy it . . . . .