But then Tito pulled down a skein of this. Pink Grapefruit. I was appalled at his choice, but then he held it against the shawl and it was…. perfect. Totally, unexpectedly perfect. To seal the deal he said ‘It reminds me of neopolitan ice-cream.’

So there you go. A colour I have never bought and would never choose has just become my new favourite. I loved it so much I caved in and bought a skein of it in Tanis’ new Red Label Cashmere Silk yarn. It’s soft and squishy and the colours seem somehow more saturated than the blue label (it’s the one on the bottom right). I bought the pattern for the Fairview scarf right away and cast on.

Because donating all that yarn meant I had space for more, right?

To this:

We were so impressed by this process. The alpaca stand against a table which rotates so they’re lying down – and instantly the alpaca ‘pit crew’ gets to work. Not one second is wasted while the alpaca is being worked on. The actual shearing is done by Dan. Dan is careful, methodical and gentle with his shearing.

The others are trimming the legs, carting away the fleece for sorting and even trimming the toenails. Throughout the process other people always have their hands on the alpacas body, supporting them, petting them, comforting them, even talking to them. Everything we saw was marked by their consideration and love for their herd.

Many hands take part in sorting the enormous amount of fleece per animal. The strands that are coarse, knotted or too short are removed. The ‘first’ and ‘second’ shearings are separated by length and quality. Being newbies at this, the sorting table was where Tito and I started out.

Afterwards you have a handsome alpaca, straight from the spa!

Look at this handsome fellow, I was wondering what his fleece looked like so Annie brought it out -

Beautiful fluffy grey and white. He comes variegated!

This is Sandy, the alpaca that I bought a sweaters worth from once. Some of her fleece went to my pen-pal in Boston :) This is her before picture.

The thickness of Sandy’s fleece.

Another view of the thickness, mid shear.

Her fleece being carted off for sorting

Annie and Paula – sorting fleece is so awesome – you just want to bury your face in it!

And Sandy’s after photo – half the size she was :)

Isn’t that crazy? Here she is again:

Thank you Annie and Dan for letting us be part your shearing day! We have a whole new appreciation for where yarn comes from :)

Speaking of where yarn comes from, next weekend I’ll be taking my first spinning class at the Purple Purl – stay tuned!

…and Stash Part 2.

It is now only 1/3 the size of it’s former glory.

I kept the yarns I love to work with, the precious yarns that were handspun or gifted to me by friends and the yarn that Tito liked even if I didn’t. It takes up only 1 drawer and one large box now, and what that means to me is that I have lots of space to fill with new yarn :)

Here is what I’ve ended up with, and where they’re going. By ‘bag’ I mean 12″x12″ ziplock bags.

• 3 bags that I’m sure have animal content – these are going to a church group who knit blankets which are donated to the Mississauga Humane Society. I figure this is a good mix because animals are presumably not horribly allergic to each other.

• 8 bags that I’m sure are 100% acrylic – this is going to the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton – I believe they make things for cancer patients and also keep yarn on hand in the waiting rooms for patients who like to knit. The Juravinski Cancer Centre is also getting my spare needles, dpns and crochet hooks.

• 9 bags where I’m unsure of the fibre content but could certainly include wool. Novelty yarns are in this pile as well. – 3 bags of this are being added to the animal content bags that are going to the Humane Society Knitters. The other 6 are going to the Purple Purl here in Toronto who have lots of connections, such as streetknit, for the yarn to go to :)

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

To end… here is the start on my Colour Affection shawl, knit in 2 TFA one of a kind skeins as part of Tanis’ TFA Colour KAL. Looks like mint chocolate – yummy!

I’m doing it. I’m Purging the Stash. There is a ton of yarn here that predates my discovery of my one true love – hand dyed merino and alpaca blends. Lots of acrylic, wool, novelty yarns and other things I know I’ll never use. Lots of them are full skeins. I’m looking for a worthy home to donate the yarn to – if you’ve heard of something really worthwhile please post it in the comments!

My only criteria: Lots of folks accept knitted items, but I’m looking for a place that accepts yarn and needles. Toronto area would be nice but I’m not picky ;) Other than that I’m open to ideas!

In December, the Yarn Harlot very kindly featured my yarn bowls on her blog, which resulted in my being inundated with requests from the US. I don’t ship pottery any more, but decided to fill just one order which had caught my eye – a yarn bowl for the Mother Superior of the Holy Nativity Convent in Boston. How could I say no?

The person who contacted me, Mother Pelagia, became a wonderful pen pal over the weeks that followed. By the time the bowl was ready I made the totally random decision to travel to Boston to meet her, and to give her Mother Superior the bowl as a gift. As a gift for Mother Pelagia herself I took the most Canadian thing I could think of – yarn from Alpaca Acres here in Ontario.

The story begins with me flying to Boston cradling (and occasionally using) the yarn bowl. The next day I took a taxi to a yarn store called ‘A Good Yarn’ which, according to google, is only  a 15 minute walk from the convent, so I thought I’d show up early and do some shopping. This is Paula and Maria.

I shared the story of why I was there with them. They were delighted.

Paula said ‘Do you mean Mother Seraphima?’.

‘Yes!’ I said.

‘They’re friends of mine, let me call them for you!’ she said – what a small world! They called and a few minutes later Paula informed me with a grin that the ‘nun-mobile’ was on its way ;) The next day Paula added me as a friend on Ravely with the simple, touching note “Thank you for yesterday”.

An SUV pulled up a few minutes later and 2 nuns came into the yarn store – I was greeted and hugged like an old friend (and not a slightly insane potter) by these beautiful women. They took met to the convent where I enjoyed dinner and a wonderful tour. The convent is a remarkable place – the sisters are industrious, talented and incredibly busy women. This is Mother Seraphima and Mother Pelagia holding their gifts from Toronto.

This is their chapel.

These bells are made from old oxygen tanks, and they sound lovely!

This is the Stash. Before I left I experienced every knitters dream – they gave me yarn of my choice as a parting gift. Imagine standing in a room of stash, and the owner of said stash is begging you to avail yourself of it and won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Wow!

This was a great story: While on their annual pilgrimage to the Holy Land they asked the kids selling souvenirs for a drop spindle. The kid ran home and came back with a stick that had a nail through it. Apparently the Bedouins in the desert have done it this way for hundreds of years. It had a skein of camel hair wound around it. They gave me one of them, and also a more conventional drop spindle – inspiring me to learn spinning next.

They also produce beautiful mosaics…

…murals…

…robes…

…and their own beeswax candles. Did I mention that the convent smells heavenly? There is a wood working studio, a library, a laser etching machine, a book bindery a weaving studio and even a mini photo studio.

This is Max. He’s under the impression that all the fuss in this house is for him.

This was another good story – they asked one of the children in the Holy Land for roving, and this is what they brought back.

Speaking of roving – how lovely is this stuff? Created by one of the sisters there and another reason to learn to spin.

This is my beautiful new family – Mother Pelagia on the left and Mother Seraphima on the right.

I made out like a bandit – they also gifted me with home made beeswax candles which I plan to distribute among my closest friends. The women there are loving, warm, funny and sweet. They didn’t care one whit that I wasn’t much of a religious person. They were also talented, dedicated and light hearted. They loved the alpaca yarn – it turns out they enjoy making prayer ropes from yarn :)

To the Yarn Harlot – if you’re reading this, Stephanie, thank you so much for your little feature last Christmas. Who could know what would come of it? This is the beauty of craft and the love that we put into our handmade things, and the connection that those handmade things can create across distance, and between strangers. Really, thank you.