Degenerate Knitters Steal Baby Alpaca!

I spent this weekend on a road trip with the Degenerate Knitters. Lisa and Sherry have already shared their hilarious accounts of the trip here and here, but I'm add my two cents as well.

We went to Connecticut and stayed with Lisa's fabulous mummy and step-father. They baked us apple-crisp, and the best pork tenderloin I've ever had. They spoiled us, and I'm so lucky to have been invited.



Our first stop was to Webs. Webs is basically a warehouse of yarn, with the friendliness and atmosphere of your favorite local yarn store. I went in there with a mission, to find tweed for the Demi Sweater from Rowan Vintage Knits. Without a plan, it would have been overwhelming, instead, it was pure elation!

After finding that perfect yarn, you may experience a "yarn high" as demonstrated below. Key symptoms are crazy eyes, double thumbs up, and similarity in creepiness to Uncle Rico.



After lunch, and cocktails for some of the gals, we visited Northampton Wools. To support their business, I left with this skein of sock yarn. The more I look at it, the more I appreciate it. Just look at the variance in colors!

The highlight of our trip was visiting the Southwind Farm, which houses 52 cherished alpaca. They are phenomenal, friendly and intelligent animals.

I was amazed that they only use "the facilities" in a small single area. The females line up (like humans) to use the facilities, and go one at a time, in the same exact spot.

Penny said that one alpaca loves her young grand-daughter. When she comes over, she plays hide-and-seek with him. She hides in the barn, and he finds her. She starts counting, the alpaca runs outside and hides behind a tree!

It was so touching to see how much Jim and Penny, love their animals. They are the nicest people, and I was so happy to tour and support their farm. By support, I meant by purchasing a few more skeins of yarn.

I really wanted a yarn that would remind me of my day at Southwind Farm. This luxurious yarn is from Declan's 2nd place in the nation, show fleece! I petted it the whole ride home. How cool is it that I got yarn from an alpaca we met? The wood button is from Northampton Wool.



Thank you girls for the great trip. Besides the festivities, they are all so easy to hang out with, side-splitting and super-smart.

P.S. We did not actually steal a baby alpaca, but we wanted to. Damn you, conscience! Mike did say we could possibly get one someday though...