SORTING WITH FRIENDS - 31 October 2011

ALPACAZONIA FIBER COLLECTION PROJECT update...

Happy Halloween, bloggers!

We held a Pizza Sort Party in the Fiber Barn Saturday, 29 October, and enjoyed the help from several friends. We invite you to hold your own sorting parties...it's way more fun than sorting alone!

Barb Bray with Dorie (her pal) and Charis Campbell with Ginni (her fave), from Alpacas at Porterbray Pines in Fowler, CA, near Fresno.  

Our two smallest new friends reminded us to share our latest idea...we're gathering old pet beds from thrift shops, emptying the contents (usually bad for pets to ingest, if accessed), washing & repairing them, removing brand labels, then refilling with alpaca "stuffing"....the left over alpaca from our sort on neck/leg bags. These are pieces that are too short, or too fine and spider webby, etc...yet clean and free of debris. We're then donating the beds to our local dog/cat rescue shelters.

We're also contacting pet bed manufacturers for future Alpacazonia purchase orders!

Two more good friends joined Dave and I for several hours of sorting our recently collected alpaca fiber.

  Barbara Zachary of New Age Alpacas in Atascadero, CA

Daphne Capaldi of Alpacas at Capaldi Ranch in Paso Robles, CA

We stopped midway for Pizza and libations, then back to sorting...

Here's our result....we're now at 90% mark in our quest to bale 2,000 lbs.

Thanks everyone! The day's added 23 lbs really helped!

Check back next week....we're baling the last of the fiber for this purchase order. How close will we get to 2,000? We've still got 200 more lbs to sort here, before we head to Cal Poly next Friday! Wish us God speed.    Sandra

SOCALPACA MEETING – 15 OCT 2011

The Alpacazonia Fiber Collection Project made huge gains in reaching our 2,000 lb goal this past weekend.  We took delivery of clean/sorted-short/coarse fiber, purchased from the Alpaca Blanket Project in Oregon, and also collected fiber from SoCalpaca members.  We've reached 1757 lbs and only have 243 lbs to go! Our final deadline to ship to Bollmans in Texas for scouring is in two weeks on Nov 1.

 

I attended the SoCalpaca meeting at Mariposa Gardens Alpacas in Riverside, hosted by Mike and Allison Fairfield. I did a presentation on the project during educational part of the meeting, plus gave a demonstration on sorting, in tandem with additional skirting demonstration by Julie Roy, of Alpacas of Anza Valley. We collected a truck bed full of fiber bags afterwards, totalling 94 lbs sold to the project by several SoCal members.  Much of it, however, still requires sorting.

So, we're going to have a Pizza & Sort Party here at Alpacas at Crossroads Ranch on Saturday, October 29, between noon and 4 to meet our final goal. Just RSVP if you can come help us sort the last of the collected fiber. We're paying $1.00/lb for sorting fiber stored here for the Alpacazonia project. Those who bring their own fiber, already clean and sorted to specs and ready to bale and ship will be paid the usual $1.50 lb.

The following photos, taken during the meeting, are courtesy of Christine Zacho, of Grasshopper Springs Ranch.

 

Discussion on various grading systems in use in USA. An “analysis” sample guide I use to determine fiber’s micron/grade....includes sample fiber, grade, micron range, word definitions...lots of ways to describe the same thing. System includes one black and one white plate for each grade, one to six, to compare with sample locks being evaluated. Other factors to consider are length, strength, health, % guard hairs, handle and lustre, depending on end use requirements.  My grade 1-6 samples were provided in course taught here this Spring by Ruth Elvestad of the Natural Fibre Testing Laboratory at Olds College, Canada. http://www.oldscollege.ca/ocsi/NFC/index.htm

Idea from Angus McColl of Yocum-Mcoll Wool Testing Lab in Denver, CO - when taking side blanket samples for fiber analysis, remove a little extra in the same spot and save it. When your histograms come back, you can then make your own grading charts, based on the results from your own herd! www.ymccoll.com/

Next, I showcased two bolts of fabric, showing what can also be made from short coarse alpaca fiber. These were prototype examples of needle

felt and knit felt made via WCAN project last year by a commercial non-woven mill in NY. 

Julie Roy, demonstrating skirting of large intact alpaca blanket fleece. Outside edges (short/coarse) are skirted off, then sorted again later to specs for the Alpacazonia Fiber Collection Project.

We had two Weaver Leather alpaca cinches on hand, courtesy of Daphne Capaldi and Carol-Ann Lonson, who purchased them at local equine tack store, then loaned to me to display at the meeting and at the upcoming next SoCalpaca Event: Sunday, Nov 6: SoCalpaca Informational Booth, Southern California Hand Weavers Guild-Annual Weaving and Fiber Festival-Recreation Center, Torrance Civic Complex, Torrance, California, 10 am to 4 pm - $5.00 www.schg.org/festival                  www.torranceca.gov/9065.htm    The direct link for directions.

The quality and hand craftsmanship of Weaver Leather equine tack is superb.  We can point with pride to the fact that our USA alpaca fiber is included in this product line.

Sandra

Sandra & Dave Wallace    Alpacas at Crossroads Ranch, Paso Robles, CA    swallace@rain.org

A VISIT BY TRINITY LUTHERAN SCHOOL

Today we hosted a visit by Paso's Trinity Lutheran School 5th & 6th grade classes of Mrs Kratz and Mrs. Gaudi. The students are studying the Incans, so they came to Alpacas at Crossroads Ranch to see alpacas up close. Photos taken by student, Grace F, unless otherwise noted. Enjoy the day with us:

INTRODUCING ALPACAS:


 Sandra explaining shearing day - and wearing alpaca red felt cowboy hat.

WHERE DO ALPACAS COME FROM?

 

A little alpaca history and geography

                                                             

FIBER art TECHNIQUES:

Spin with spindle 

 Knit I-cord to felt into leashes and lead ropes

Yarn for alpaca horse cinches - 8 ply worsted, mixed colors.

  Wet felt bag 

THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH ALPACA:  Spin, Knit, Crochet, weave, felt- wet, needle and knit felt, sew fabric, latch and locker hook rugs, embroider, weave, use for stuffing....wear it, use it, touch it!

PREPPING FIBER: 

  

Combing washed fiber - "hackling"

KOOL-AID DYEING:

  

We felted soap next and everyone took turns felting the fiber onto the bar of soap, adding bright dyed pieces for decoration.

The student's finished felted soap bar with orange Kool-Aid dyed fiber-wet & madder dyed fiber-dry. Photo by Sandra.

DYEING WITH PLANTS IN SAN LUIS OBISPO: 

Fiber mordanted, then dyed with fennel flowers...grows wild in San Luis Obispo. Photos by Sandra.

Madder can grow in our region...it takes a few years growth, then roots are dug up, cut, ground to small bits and used for vat dye...fiber is mordanted first, to set the dye.

Correopsis is a common garden flower and the species with the most petals is the best for dyeing. We briefly talked about dying with natural dyes, as well as doing our simpler Kool-Aid dyeing.

FUN WITH ALPACAS:  Introducing Calypso

 Calypso is our newest young P.R. alpaca - he's about one year old, was bottle fed, so he halter trained easily and enjoy's meeting people.

Thanks, Gracie, for taking the field trip photos for us!

LUNCH TIME FOR CLASS & HERD:

Zipper & Freedom's new friend. Photos by Sandra...

Feeding the alpacas grape leaves.

A little water spray to cool down & more grape leaves.

Teachers & Moms lunching with students in the Visitor's Garden....Thanks for a wonderful time, Trinity Lutheran School!

Dave & Sandra Wallace

Alpacazonia Fiber Collection Update - 17 Sept 2011

FIBEROMETER:  We’re over 1/3 of the way to reaching our first 2,000 lb goal!

OUR PROJECT IN THE LOCAL NEWS:  Jandy Jones, of North County Life, has written an article about our ranch and our project. The Link: http://www.digital.yournorthcountylife.com/publication/?m=16099&l=1  Jandy taking notes and shooting photos at Alpacas at Crossroads Ranch in Paso Robles, CA

We can now publicly announce the name of the company we're working with....Weaver Leather in Ohio!  www.weaverleather.com. Take the tour on their home page and find cinches under Equine link. Currently they’re on back order for alpaca cinches! They also sell alpaca halters! Enjoy!

FIBER SORTING:   We’ve set up several sorting stations in our fiber barn to sort our own herd’s fiber. Dave and friend, Greg Cox, sorted up to the last minute for baling the following day. All told, there were 17 people throughout CA and AZ sorting for this initial collection, including 12 initial sellers.

  We’ve paid out over $600 to producers so far, at $1.50/lb, after inspecting and recording weights.  Not bad, since we started at zero just three months ago! The alpaca fiber for this project, to be made into horse cinches by Weaver Leather, can be any color, strong grades, including some guard hair, so sorting is not as exact as sorting for fine yarns to be used for garments worn next to the skin. Shorter length and clean is our consistent factor here. 

FIBER BALING:  14 September, Wednesday,  San Luis Obispo Cal Poly, Sheep Unit

Dave, with friends Greg and Altheo Cox, loading trailer the evening before baling. We waited until the sun went down, so fiber bags didn’t “perspire”. Moisture from condensation of air in the bag in direct sun could damage the collection. Each bag weighs between 20 to 25 lbs on average. Each contains tumbled and hand sorted fiber staples from between 1 ½ - 2 inches in length, coarse grade.

We took off in the morning to drive a half hour to the Sheep Unit at SLO Cal Poly, which houses the Dominator wool baler. With 32 large bags of fiber covered with a tarp, we had to stop a few times to readjust things, since wind got underneath and turned our open trailer into a sail boat. We arrived with all bags still intact, but it was an adventure.

                   Dave Wallace, Daphne Capaldi, Rob Rutherford, Professor, Sheep Specialist, Cal Poly's Animal Science Department, and student shepherd, Kathryn, getting started in the SLO Cal Poly shearing shed. The baler behind group is an electric model Dominator.  Our mentors soon had to leave for new student orientation activities.

Our first bale took us over three hours to fill with random assorted colors…

       The second bale only took one hour to fill; because Rob returned to show us what we were doing wrong…there’s an art to tamping down the fiber and loading enough in to get the hydraulics to work properly. We discovered that alpaca packs differently than wool and 360 or so lbs was the max we could fit into a single baling bag. We added a small percent of short Suri fibers into each bale, which is denser and heavier than Huacaya by volume.

Before – trailer partially unloaded prior to baling.

After – 711 lbs of fiber compressed into two bales – 3’x3’x5’, 350 lbs + 361 lbs, ready to ship – well, almost…

 

Daphne tucking loose alpaca fiber down into corners.

We purchased the used nylon wool baling bags from Peter and Carol Lundberg of The Blanket Project in Oregon, in order to recycle.  Sewing up prior holes did the trick to make them strong enough to reuse again.

Back to sorting and collecting, plus buying “U-Sort For Dollars” from other alpaca owner/producers, for our final goal of 1,290 lbs by mid November! The fiber is shipped next to Bollmans in Texas for scouring (washing).

Sandra Wallace

Alpacas at Crossroads Ranch

Paso Robles, CA       805-237-9640    swallace@rain.org      http://www.crossroadsranch.openherd.com/