On eof the local LYS’s had a field trip to an alpaca farm today. Being me, I was gung ho about going ANYWHere I could pet fuzzy animals and fondle fiber at the same time. The alpaca farm we went to was Finney’s Fiber Farm. I had a good time, got to pet some alpacas and watch the sheep, which were awesome because they were bigger around than they were tall.
The alpacas were not as sociable as I had hoped and generally would ignore me or walk away. The ground was pretty soggy and I was wearing sandals, so traipsing through the paddock to pet the animals was not really an option today.
The farm isn’t really set-up for visitors, but they did pretty well. A little booth was set up where kids could felt roving into bags, some gourd baskets were placed out, offering classes on how to make them (I thought about it, but didn’t sign up). Yarn from the alpacas was for sale at $7 a ounce, which was painful since it was $28 for 220 yards. But I am happy that I can tell you which alpaca my yarn is from and that it was raised locally, which is a big improvement over flying in yarn from Peru.
After scaring the sheep, petting the alpacas, fondling the roving and visiting with the farm dogs I went to Borders to relax and read about knitting for a while. I do not yet have a pattern picked out for my fancy new chocolate brown, natural, undyed alpaca yarn but I was thinking some sort of lacy tam or a little scarflet. Hurrah! The most adorable baby alpaca was “Teddy Bear” who I did get to pet. Love!
autumnblossomknits 
