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It’s not as bad as you think. This lovely fellow is an alpaca. To be precise, he’s an alpaca from a farm that was selling a bit of yarn. No, I don’t know what kind of alpaca he is! It’s the YARN that matters… and his eyelashes, maybe. I know, I know… however, in my own defense you should know by now that I have a Yarn Problem. I’m okay with it – so should you be. The 4th Annual Sunshine State Alpaca Expo and Alpaca Auction was last weekend. I’ve never seen an alpaca up close before – not close enough to hear the bizarrely cute cooing sounds they make, anyway. They are really strange looking – but so sweet – animals. And I brought home some alpaca fur, as well. Actually, it’s called a “blanket” – and it’s meant to be spun up. I started the spinning, but it’s going to need a bit of carding first. I think as carded bats it’ll be more controllable. It’s a dark, dark brown – black, really. And it looks like the alpaca it came from, “Zhivago,” liked to sun himself, b/c it’s got highlights!

It was fantastic to meet several alpaca breeders – what a friendly bunch they are. Very open and informative. We were invited to visit several farms. If you’d like to go on an alpaca crawl round about April, please let me know! Evidently they’ll be shearing then, and it’s something to see if you’re a fiber enthusiast. Here is another guy, who was quite flirtatious for an alpaca.  Check out his eyelashes!