A date with an Alpaca

Such a refreshing day out today. It was raining ... very much needed, and yet we were going to be sitting in front of a fire and learning all about Alpacas, a bit about spinning and then actually having a go at felting a scarf. FUN!!

Isn't he beautiful? His owner has been quite taken with this particular alpaca's quieter nature (as they can be very difficult to tame), breeding him to see if the trait will continue down the line; it has! Still needing to be bridled, he very patiently stood and let the children stroke his very soft neck.

We then returned inside (out of the rain) to discuss and feel the difference between sheep's wool and alpaca's fleece. There's no natural lanolin in alpaca fleece. It also doesn't have the obvious 'itch' factor. Some various samples were handed around, then a demonstration on spinning.

Now, this wheel is NOT like a spinning wheel I've ever seen before. It's compact, light-weight, looks so much easier to sit at with both feet pedalling, and was imported from New Zealand. I think I may have found a model of it here, called the Kiwi. Anybody in New Zealand reading this, I'd love some more information if you know anything. This looks like something we could use for textiles, especially since I've enjoyed knitting since the age of eight! Hmm - I think I need to research spinning a bit more. Perhaps a trip to the National Wool Museum again, too.

(OOoooh, I found a few interesting looking sites with regard to spinning and wool creations!

• ESKnitNSpin
• Spin, Knit and Life
• Knitting Naturally
• Horse Hound Knit
• Hello Yarn
• Riin's Rants
• The Wool Shack - Main site, BLOG or Forum

There are a lot out there. Just google 'wool knit spin blog'. )

Okay, now for the highlight of the day (besides petting an alpaca, lol!) was to do some felting. There are various methods of felting, including knitting up first then washing to felt, and needle felting, but I'd not heard or seen this method until today.

To start, you need to place on a table some bubblewrap, with the bubble 'lumpy' side up, covered with a piece of nylon curtaining.

Have ready some coloured fleece for your highlights and patterns in small quantities, plus a decent amount of your main colour. Tease out some of the coloured fleece and place in desired positions. Today we made a scarf, but the size of the project is up to you.

With your main colour, begin pulling and teasing out longer pieces of fleece. Work firstly along in one direction, ie: lengthwise, to cover, then in the opposite, or across the width. Finish off in a third layer. These crossed layers are needed so as the fibres can interlock later and have the strength to not be teased apart; much like the warp and weft of cloth.

Add your final layer of colouring/highlights. NB - any wool can be used for this, creating various effects. Eg: spun wool, mohair, even wool/fleece spun with metalic highlights.

Time to 'wrap it up'. Carefully take one side of the curtaining material and fold it up and over the layed out fleece. Fold up the opposite side. Gently squirt on some premixed hot water and fabric conditioner. Massage this very gently, smoothing it across the area to make sure it's all wet. **All massage work must be done with a light hand, otherwise you'll actually separate the fibres rather than have them mesh together, which is the desired result. Turn and do the other side.

Once thoroughly wet, grab some old plastic bags, scrunch them up, squirt on more of the warm water mix, and again gently massage in a circular motion to mesh the fibres together. Turn over a few times, working thoroughly, but gently. Many hands were helping here!

Time to check if it's 'cooked' yet. Gently test the threads are locking in together by carefully pinching. Neaten up the edges by turning under. Use more of the water mix as needed. We had to give this a few more goes before it was ready.

Almost done! Keeping the scarf enclosed in the curtaining material, roll up and gently agitate, first lengthwise, then widthwise ... even just picking up the scarf in just the curtaining and 'throwing' it against the table a few times.

Time to check again, and now it's done. It has enough strength to not be easily teased apart, and even whilst still damp could be pulled without misshaping.

Isn't it pretty?

Here are a few more examples which we saw today: