What to Wear Whilst a-Frolic in a Wild Alpaca Dreamscape?
‘errm… is that OUR jumper you are wearing?’
For those who ask why I don’t appear in my knitwear photos and prefer to be behind the camera instead, I think these pictures pretty much say it all!
To put it gently: I have neither the temperament, nor the poise of a model. Being unfashionably excitable makes it challenging to hold those ‘stare into the distance’ poses at the best of times. Now imagine adding alpacas to the mix.
I mean, am I really expected to remain calm around cute baby alpacas??
And so instead of decent publicity photos befitting of a so-called Designer, I’m afraid you will have to contend with these.
Last year, I wrote about my involvement in a local farm to skein project with Wild Alpaca Wool.
It was an utterly grassroots, collaborative effort between a group of passionate people. I played a small role in helping develop the yarn, which blended the fleeces of Malin Head alpacas with some Blue Faced Leicester sheepswool.
But my main interest was in designing and knitting with the yarn. After testing some early production samples and providing feedback, I waited impatiently for the finished product. Which finally arrived over the summer, and has now been transformed into -among other things - the sweater I am wearing here.
I’ll be honest with you, Dear Readers: I was hoping that by now, I would be at the stage where I could describe the yarn with scientific detachment, detailing its benefits and drawbacks and discussing optimal use-case scenarios.
Unfortunately, I am just not there yet. It is too personal, and I love this yarn so much that I can’t get past that bias. It is dreamy. One of my favourite yarns to have ever knitted with.
Once I get over all that, I will post something factual and painstakingly detailed.
But for now this is just a long-winded equivalent of the cat-with-hearts-in-her-eyes emoji.
Basically this is my feedback: 😻
That being said, later this week I plan to publish the Treilís Pullover pattern, which was designed with this yarn. So please consider this a preview, or a soft introduction.
The Wild Alpaca Wool is available here (and to be clear, I am not the manufacturer or the seller - I am just happy to design with it). I do not think the yarn will sell out straight away. But just in case you want to get it in advance, etc.
At 170m per 100g ball, the yarn is technically Aran-weight. But it ‘behaves’ more like a DK.
It is undyed. The lovely taupe melange being a blend of the differently coloured fleeces of the actual alpacas you see in these photos.
You would need 500g for a child’s size Treilís and between 600g and 900g for an adult’s size.
And if you prefer to try a smaller quantity, you will need just one 100g ball for my recently-published hat pattern, the LC Beanie.
As you can see, even the normally ethereal Isabel couldn’t quite manage to gaze aloofly when alpacas were involved! Modelling with these lovely creatures will take some practice.
In the meantime, stay tuned for the Treilís Pullover pattern release, and more feedback on this yarn still to come. Thank you for following along!
