My first yarn pr0n friday!

I haven't ever posted any yarn pictures on Friday because, frankly, I haven't had anything worth photographing. Well, that, and I'm a pretty bad photographer. And today is no different. (I'm really trying to work on the bad pictures thing.)

While at the alpaca market in Estes, I decided to buy some yarn. With 15-odd vendors, the challenge was going to be narrowing down the choices to something that wouldn't break the bank. I spied some Misti Alpaca laceweight in a lovely shade of true red that I was going to get if I couldn't find anything else I liked. I have this thing about going to this sort of event: there are plenty of small alpaca farms represented who spin, dye, and sell their yarn. I like to patronize these businesses as opposed to buying yarn from a vendor that sells yarn that I could find at my LYS. As we walked around, I saw a number of handpainted yarns that were lovely, but nothing that really struck me. When we got to the booth for Switzer Land Farms, I saw that they are offering more handpainted yarn this year than in past years. Some really nice skeins of a reddish colorway were calling to me. But since I had bought a couple of skeins of a red/tan blend from this farm last year, I pressed on hoping I would find some different colors elsewhere.

Then I saw this hanging from a display.



It's 200 yds of worsted weight. I couldn't keep my hands off it. I stood there stroking it and this other one for a while.


is my couch really that hairy?

So long, in fact, that Wendy pointed out to me that it was a bit embarrassing the way I was fondling the yarn. "Buy it already!" she said. I complied. I mean, I wouldn't want to go against the command of big sis, right?

Both yarns are from Xanadu Farm Alpacas in Platteville, Colorado. I love the loose spin on the yarn (not that I know what the hell I'm talking about, as I do not spin myself - I just know that I like that you can see the individual plies so well).

The dyeing was done by Pax Knits. The interesting thing about this yarn is that the woman who does the dyeing only has 6 color choices: red, blue, purple, green, yellow, and black. I bought red and blue. Now, this is definitely blue.



But this? This is most definitely NOT red.



I can see where she used red dye of some sort. There are a few small blobs of dye that are bit more on the red side. Both yarns are semi-solid, so there are light and dark values of the colors within each skein.


yes. yes, my couch is that hairy. damn cat.

Oh, I'm not complaining. One of the reasons I had to have the yarn was how bright the pink is. I was instantly drawn to it. I just think it's funny that the dyer calls it "red."



Now, what the hell am I going to make with these?