Summer Fiber

One of the inevitable signs of summer around here is the dog hair. With three hairy dogs, there's always a lot of "free fiber" floating around. We don't have dust bunnies; we have dust buffaloes. But at this time of year, it gets a little crazy.

This is the result of ten minutes of brushing one dog. Bear in mind, that's a 110 pound dog, so you can imagine the size of the pile.

Good thing she's such a patient girl!

Now what shall I do with all this?

Llamas in Cyberspace

The internet is a funny place. I don't mean the Google results you get if you put in a search term like "dirty sheep." I mean, funny in the way it creates such unexpected connections between people. How many of us have become friends with people we've met on line? People who live so far away and in such different circles that we would never have met in real life? I, for one, have traveled to another city to meet up with a knitter I had never laid eyes on, and I'm sure (really sure, because I read your blogs) that I am not the only one.

And what about all our on line relationships? I've never met Becky, or Romi, or Melissa, or Kristin, or Heather, or any of you for real, but I know a lot about you and your families and your lives. More, actually, than I know about most of my neighbors. I genuinely care about my blog friends. I worry about you when you're sick, or having financial troubles, or moving house. I celebrate with you when you get a pattern published, or start a new etsy shop, or have an anniversary. Doesn't that count for something? Doesn't that make for friendship, of an unorthodox sort?

The internet is a funny place. In one way, spending a lot of time on the computer makes you kind of a recluse. In another, though, it opens the door to a whole world of friendship.

The other day, I got an email from someone I've never met. Normally I don't open unfamiliar email (it's taken several hard drive reformattings to teach me that particular lesson). But the subject line of this one read "mini llamas" and there was no way I could resist. This is what it said:

Hi,

I was actually doing a search for a bloodline for a llama stud that I thought was in CA when I came across a blog from a woman who has or had llamas and someone (you) mentioned mini llamas –which is why this blog was in the search. Anyway you commented how you wished someone would “make a backyard mini llama” and I do. I’ve raised them for 9 years now.

Thought you’d like to know is all.

Sincerely,
Julie Chapman

www.minnesotaminis.com

when inches count, count on us

Well, yeah. I would like to know. Because, really, who'd have thought? I certainly didn't! Check this out:

How can you not love a face like that?

Or this. Don't they look happy, enjoying their hay al fresco?

Julie and I corresponded by email a little. She sent me the pictures above, and some others, and I visited her website and browsed around for a while. Sadly, even a mini llama is too big for my tiny Southern California backyard (apparently, they're not big swimmers). But yesterday I got the next best thing in the mail:

Llama fiber! In red and chocolate and tan and white--some 100% llama, some blended with mohair (also from Julie's farm), and some blended with wool. It's marvelous stuff, soft and colorful and calling my name loudly from the yarn closet, where I had to put it in time out until I finished this post. (If you want some of your own, you can order it from her website.)

Yes, the internet is a funny place. Aren't we lucky?