Wandering Thread

This hat falls into a category of really simple knits. Just knit to relax! I love it! This project let me rest from my big lace work. For this project I used: Circular needles US 4 - 3.5 mm and 1 set of sock square needles US 5 - 3.75 mm. It turns out that square needle sizing is always one size thinner than they are marked. 0.5 skein of Chroma Fingering from Knit Picks. My color was 106 Misty Morn. I like this yarn very much for 2 important reasons: 1) it is the softest wool considering that it is not merino; 2) color transitions are impressive and perfect for a hat or pair of socks.

I have heard many times that alpacas are intelligent, cute and graceful animals... which spit when they are nervous. So, recently my husband and I decided to visit an alpaca farm. Google Maps showed a lot of them around Seattle, and luckily, we chose the right one to visit: America's Choice Alpacas. It was my first experience with alpacas. The friendly owners of the farm, Jeff and Yumi,  were very informative, and introduced us to all of their alpacas. From level zero, I learned a lot in one day! They had two types of alpacas: Suris (or rastafarians, as Jeff called them) - with silky pencil-like locks resembling dreadlocks but without matted fibers. Suris are prized for their longer and silkier fibers. And Huacayas (or teddy bears, as Jeff called them) - which produce a dense, soft, crimpy, sheep-like fiber. I didn't know that alpacas have only bottom teeth and also 3 stomachs! They are very curious animals. They also have weird nails (almost like talons!) which are ...