Tofty bobbles

Hello, WoollyDaze Too here…

WoollyDaze promised you wool, and wool you shall have. More specifically, you shall have alpaca.

Cast your minds back to last summer, when Woollydaze suggested that we visit Toft Alpacas. (What do you mean you don’t remember … oh, wait … you weren’t there.) She didn’t need to suggest twice and so one sunny afternoon we bundled Little Woolly and our Mum into a car and drove to Dunchurch to admire the alpacas and stroke the wool. It transpired that Woollydaze had an ulterior motive as she and Mr Woollydaze visited the Alpaca Centre in Penrith while on holiday, and had been fortunate enough to have a good chat about keeping alpacas. They can be kept alongside sheep, where the young males will guard the flock, protecting it against predators such as foxes. If there’s one thing Woollydaze and Mr Woolydaze are not short of, that’s sheep. Our visit to Toft Alpacas culminated in my purchasing a lightweight felt beret kit (garments are available in kit form, or knitted up for those who prefer their garments less nascent) and a seconds bulb bag in fully felted form.

The beret pattern was simple to follow, and the yarn was a joy to use – so soft and smooth. The felting was accomplished in my front-loading washing machine (always a nervous moment), and I was pleased that the hat turned out exactly the right size (a tad on the small side for me = would fit my mum perfectly. Christmas present sorted!).

Version two [Ravelry link] of the beret, with added stripes, was embarked upon while still reeling from the success of version one. This second version used stash alpaca purchased from eBay about 5 years ago (green), and a complementary colour purchased for the occasion (cream). The intention was to present this to a work colleague as a Secret Santa gift, therefore the yarn had to cost less than £5 to satisfy the conditions of the swap. I did pay slightly more, but used less than a full ball on the project so reasoned that I wouldn’t get hauled off to account to Secret Santa for overspending! While knitting version two it became clear that the yarn, although allegedly DK-weight as the Toft Alpaca original, was thinner and once felted it was evident that the hat would best fit a child, and a young one at that (it has since found a good home with a four-year-old girl of my acquaintance, and a replacement Secret Santa gift was hurriedly procured).

When the photos were taken, shortly before Christmas 2010, daylight was in short supply (the oft-heard complaint of the knit blogger). I was fortunate to procure the services of a hat model at very reasonable rates (payment in honey), though the styling does rather remind me of Citizen Smith…

 

 

Hello, Woollydaze Too here…

Woollydaze promised you wool, and wool you shall have. More specifically, you shall have alpaca.

Cast your minds back to last summer, when Woollydaze suggested that we visit Toft Alpacas. (What do you mean you don’t remember … oh, wait, you weren’t there.) She didn’t need to suggest twice and so one sunny afternoon we bundled little Woolly and our Mum into a car and drove to Dunchurch to admire the alpacas and stroke the wool. It transpired that Woollydaze had an ulterior motive as she and Mr Woollydaze visited the Alpaca Centre in Penrith on a recent holiday, and had been fortunate enough to have a good chat about keeping alpacas. They can be kept alongside sheep, where the young males will guard the flock, protecting it against predators such as foxes. If there’s one thing Woollydaze and her husband are not short of, that’s sheep. Our visit to Toft Alpacas culminated in the purchase of a bobble beret kit (garments are available in kit form, or knitted up for those who prefer their garments less nascent) and a seconds onion bag in fully felted form.

The beret pattern was simple to follow, and the yarn was a joy to use – so soft and smooth. Once the felting was complete I was pleased that the hat turned out exactly the right size (a tad on the small side for me = would fit my mum perfectly). Version two, with added stripes, was embarked upon while still reeling from the success of version one. This second version used stash alpaca purchased from eBay about 5 years ago (green), and a complementary colour purchased for the occasion (cream). The intention was to present this to a work colleague as a Secret Santa gift, therefore the yarn had to cost less than £5 to satisfy the conditions of the swap. I did pay slightly more, but used less than a full ball on the project so reasoned that I wouldn’t get hauled off to account to Secret Santa for overspending! While knitting version two it became clear that the yarn, although DK-weight as the Toft Alpaca original, was thinner and once felted it was evident that the hat would best fit a child, and a young one at that (it has since found a good home with a four-year-old girl of my acquaintance, and a replacement Secret Santa gift was hurriedly procured).

When the photos were taken, shortly before Christmas 2010, daylight was in short supply (the oft-heard complaint of the knit blogger). I was fortunate to procure the services of a hat model at very reasonable rates (payment in honey), though the resulting styling does rather remind me of Citizen Smith.

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