We recently popped over to visit the boys and girls (human, feline and camelid!) of County Alpacas.  Julie asked me a while ago to give a box of her alpaca yarn the Sylvan Tiger dye treatment and it was time to deliver the goods!

The boys seemed please to see us, though that might have been the bag of carrots we were carrying!

Feeding the alpacas is not without it’s dangers to future knitting efficiency.  Alpacas only have teeth on their bottom jaws so in order to get a chunk of carrot they grip and then tug to snap off a section. Once they get a bit nearer your fingers with their distinctive dentistry it’s a bit hair raising.  A final digit count didn’t reveal any losses!

When we saw them a couple of weeks ago the alpacas had their full coats on and are due for a date with the alpaca barber in about a month now. Often when an alpaca has been shorn you’ll see a skinny looking beast with a big fluffy head.  They are left with this unique hair cut to act as a sun shade with their gorgeous big eyes. You learn something new everyday!

Here are the five lovely colours I dyed, all dyed with natural dyes; cochineal, fustic, pomegranate, saxon blue and lac.

Julie will have the yarn for sale at Wonderwool this weekend, so do pop by and say hello.

Finally, one more photo, this time of the girls, looking superior as the boys were rough housing down the hill!

PS, whilst I won’t be at Wonderwool this weekend, there are two upcoming outings for Sylvan Tiger Yarn:
Wharfe Wool Fair – 9 May at Otley Courthouse just outside Leeds
Leeds Wool Festival – 6 June at Armley Mills, Leeds Industrial Museum