Meet Cocoa Bean and Licorice Whip

The time has come . . .

We have purchased our first two Alpacas.  Please meet:

Cocoa Bean

&

Licorice Whip

These two gals were purchased from Crooked Fence Alpacas in Mona, Utah  http://crookedfencealpacas.com/, where Steve has been learning about the alpaca business, and how to care for these cuties.  They both look a little naked, as these pictures were taken on shearing day.  The fleece from both is currently being milled into our first 100% alpaca yarn.  I can't wait!  Cocoa Bean is expecting, and will deliver in August.  Licorice Whip is Cocoa Bean's daughter, and is currently being bred, for her first cria (baby alpaca).

This is a hank of alpaca yarn from the Crooked Fence Mill, which was given to Steve for me to try out.  It is 100% natural in color, and is the softest yarn I have every used.  It has no itch, as unlike wool, there is no lanolin in alpaca fleece.

Once the hanks were wound into balls, all of the fun began.  I designed two separate Button Headbands.

The first is knit up in a continuous, lace leaf pattern.

This headband was given to Linda, at Crooked Fence, for her generosity in giving me the yarn to try, and for her patience in helping Steve to start learning the business.  Although I'm sure she could have knit it better than me, I know that knitters never receive handknit gifts.

The second headband, was designed in braided cable pattern.

This one is for YOU.  It is my next knitting "Give Away".  A drawing will be held from all of the "Followers" of this blog, on June 30, 2011.  Get signed up, as I would love to ship this little "softy" to you.

The knitting pattern for these two Button Bands is available at:  http://ravelry.com/, along with some FREE knitting patterns from past blog posts.

I am currently on the fourth knitting of my newest design (I gave you a peek at it in the last post), and as soon as I have all of the bugs worked out of the pattern, it too will be available on http://ravelry.com/.  I should soon have my Ravelry Store all set up.  If you decide to give one of my knitting patterns a try, I would love to hear from you about the content and understandability of the same.  Happy Knitting!