Have you ever fallen for a young man with deep dark eyes, long dark lashes and a habit of.. well.. moaning?
Last weekend I was swept off my feet by a serious dose of llama love.
Regular readers will know that a while back I took up knitting as a hobby – so while touring upstate New York, I dropped in at The Little York Fall Fibre Arts Festival.
It was quite something…
First thing I did was meet the Llamas.
As well as providing wool for people like me, these lovely boys spend their summers going Llama-trekking with visitors from all over the world. I kinda like the idea of wandering through the beautiful Catskill Mountains, with my trusty Llama beside me, carrying food and wine. (If I was packing, that’s what they would be carrying – but perhaps they are able to carry other things as well.)
I was surprised to discover they are quite loquacious. These were chatting away, a sort of low moaning noise that the owner said was their way of getting noticed. Hhmmm… that sounds familiar…
Inside the hall, I got almost lost in a kaleidoscope of fabulous colours and amazing textures of yarn. The sellers were all independent manufacturers, hand spinning and dyeing their own wools and fibres into the most amazing yarns. There was sheep and goat and llama and alpaca and rabbit yarn to be had.
I was really impressed by the whole festival. The stall holders were so friendly and obviously passionate about what they do. And where else would you meet a lady who owns 75 angora rabbits – each one with it’s own name? I learned how to pluck a rabbit – while holding it upside down and effectively hypnotised on one’s knee (seriously!). The quality of the wool was so good – and while it wasn’t cheap – it was reasonably priced for hand spun, hand plied and dyed yarn.
I brought home quite a haul… that should keep me going for a day or two.
For those who have never been there, upstate New York and the Catskills are just lovely…
Particularly in the Fall…
… all I need now is a loaf of bread, a jug of wine and a llama.
Comments
4 responses to “A Little Llama llove…”
Llama replacing the ‘thou’? It’s ok, I won’t tell John 😉
What a fantastic place to spend the day, and your selection is gorgeous!
As soon as I got home I pulled out some needles to knit up a couple of test swatches just to see how the yarn looks when worked. It’s lovely.
The angora rabbit wool is the two pale pastel skeins at the front of the photo – that is going to be soft fingerless mitts – to keep my hands warm while I write…
And the dark blue wool is going to be my first attempt at cables – in a scarf….
Or maybe a hat…
Or maybe….. sigh!
Wow, Janet. What a fabulous place to visit – and I love your haul of wool they all look gorgeous. Thanks for sharing this trip with us, and don’t forget to tell us what you make from the wool.
It’s really hard not to start playing with these lovely yarns right now – but I am in the middle of something else. I am trying to be good and finish one project before starting the next. I think the angora rabbit yarn is going to be hard to resist….