Tag Archives: alpaca fiber

Follow this Alpaca: Scythia

Posted on February 13, 2013 by aunt_geri

We moved from Denver to Wyoming almost 3 years ago.  One day I called Gordon to see how their move to the ranch was going.  “We have alpacas…” he said, as my brain scanned for “alpaca” – was it a … Continue reading →

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Cliff House Alpaca’s Skirting Super Bowl

Posted on February 8, 2013 by cliffhousealpacas_dad

Last Sunday when everyone in the US was watching the Super Bowl, drinking beer and eating guacamole dip Gordon and I were in our barn participating in Cliff House’s skirting bowl. We had no beer and no guacamole dip. This … Continue reading →

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This year’s roving is in!

Posted on June 20, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Mom, Dad and Grammy drove the new roving up to Fort Collins for me on Friday! I was so excited, I sat down and spun in the middle of a work day, in a completely not posed, spontaneous act of … Continue reading →

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Skirting

Posted on May 30, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

I think I’ve written before about skirting. It’s the one step we have to do before we send our fleeces to the mill. On Sunday, Mom and I skirted another seven fleeces. We start by laying half of the fleece on … Continue reading →

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Spring Too Fibers – our mill

Posted on May 23, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Mom and Dad dropped our fiber off at the mill on Monday! It’s amazing how fast I went through all our roving from last year, so I’m really looking forward to having this year’s fiber. Andrew, at Spring Too Fibers, … Continue reading →

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From start to finish: Part 5 – Carding

Posted on March 28, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Carding is the process of organizing the fibers so that they are all pointing one direction. It’s essentially a really complicated way to brush hair that is no longer attached to an animal. There are three ways to do it: … Continue reading →

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Alpaca bio: Marcello

Posted on March 23, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Marcello is another one of our alpacas that I just don’t “get” (Morocco is the other). No matter how much I interact with the herd, I still can’t pick up on his personality. I’m not entirely convinced he has one.

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Wait, you’re telling me “baby alpaca” yarn isn’t from babies?

Posted on March 9, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Well. Technically, baby alpaca fiber is just the finest (thinnest) grade of alpaca fiber. It has nothing to do with age, only the “micron count”, or width, of the individual hairs. A “micron” is a unit of measurement, actually a micrometer, used … Continue reading →

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To the mill!

Posted on March 2, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Dad and Mom toured one of our local fiber mills this week. We made a family pact that if our next shearing day rolled around and we still hadn’t finished with all the fleeces, we’d take them to the mill … Continue reading →

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Retroactive post: Dye Fail

Posted on February 1, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Have you ever tried to dye? Without going into any mental health discussions, I can tell you I’ve tried to dye once. It did not go so well. I think it’s because you need at least a minor in chemistry to … Continue reading →

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