Thursday, January 22, 2015

Alpaca Love

On January 13th the Deep Cove Weavers and Spinners had Tracy Brennan of INCA DINCA DO Alpaca Farm give a presentation about  Huacaya Alpaca.

For Tracy, what began as a sheep farm in order to maintain farm status of their property, turned into a love affair with Alpacas.  Tracy was drawn to the animals during a visit to the Equestrian Centre in Parksville, where she noticed the quiet, gentle nature of the Alpaca and immediately fell in love.

The move to raising Alpaca involved a big learning curve, not only about the care of the animals, but also attaining knowledge of the fibre.  Tracy has taken courses on grading fibre as well as preparation and use of the fleece.  Now, not only does she have12 Alpaca to care for, but also an assortment of carding, spinning, weaving and knitting paraphernalia.  Her beautiful animals have names such as:  Shades; Cowgirl Blues; Velvet; Kokopelli and Earl Grey.  The animals are well loved and treated with care and respect during their annual shearing.

Alpaca fleece is eight times warmer than wool; although it is not water proof because of the lack of lanolin which is present in sheep fleece; nor does it have the 'memory' of wool fibres.  It can be spun with other fibres to enhance the end product.

Tracy presented the Guild members with a handout of what to look for when purchasing Alpaca fleece.  Fineness, uniformity and length of micron, brightness of colour, density, cleanliness, tensile strength and keeping in mind the finished product before purchasing your  fibre.  At the end of the presentation, we were invited to dip our hands into these lovely mounds of Alpaca Fleece:



For information about Alpaca contact Tracy Brennan at:  incadincado@gmail.com

Sunday, January 11, 2015

January 2015

Welcome to 2015.  The first meeting of the year for the DCWS Guild was held on January 6th.  We are off to a good start for the New Year with our Library back up and running.  Members were cheerfully chatting and getting caught up with each after the break.   Everyone seemed happy to be getting  back to normal routines and their projects.

Show & Tell was a mix of articles finished up over the holidays and fibre related gifts received past & present.  Some pictures of our Show & Tell
Mountain of Mohair -Blankets by Jan Korteweg

Dave Caddell and his Denim Rug



Sandra's first weaving project completed!
Helen's Amazing Handspun Yarn
Judy's Tea Towels
A Christmas Angel with Handwoven Dress
Cathy's Cable Knit Sweater


We are looking forward to a great year of sharing and learning at the Guild.