Hello world!

When I first contemplated this whole blogging adventure, I didn't think I had very much to write about or why anyone would want to read about my life, struggles or musings.  After much consideration and encouragement from my beloved family and friends, I've decided to give it a shot, nothing ventured nothing gained, right?....

So for the past 8 years I have been raising alpacas, both suri and huacaya breeds.  I initially began with breeding stock only, and for the past 4 years I have been adding fiber production animals to my herd.   After this years cria (baby) crop I now total 58 animals, a far cry from the original 6 I started with.  My husband and I currently live on 115 acres of rolling pasture land in south central Oklahoma with our alpacas, small herd of mother cows, great pyranees livestock guardian dogs, a host of barn cats and one very spoiled miniature schnauzer named Otis.

Alpacas are strictly fiber producers in the U.S.  They are very hardy easy to keep animals and extremely easy on the land.  No kicking, digging, rooting or any other nasty habits other than spitting at one another as well as the occasional unfortunate human, a very unpleasant experience I might add.  Alpaca fiber can be as soft and fine as cashmere, is 3 times warmer than wool and has water resistant properties.  The alpaca's fleece does not have grease or lanolin in it which makes it delightful to handle and work with.

Over the past 4 years I have been developing my own line of luxury yarns and alpaca accessories.  These consist of natural colored and hand dyed 100% alpaca, as well as a number of wonderful blends including fibers such as silk, merino wool, bamboo, cashmere, mohair and many others.  This project has taken me on such an exciting journey of ups and downs, Ah Ha! moments and failures, sometimes I don't know whether I'm coming or going!  Thankfully the Ah Ha!'s far out weigh the failures at this point.

I absolutely love being creative, from the designing of the yarn blends and accessories to color theory, hand dyeing/painting as well as the sewing/crafting of my finished products.  I have an extensive background in art and fashion sewing, and as for the rest of it, well I just wing it!  Most of the ideas I get for my colorways come from nature and places I've visited.  To me its just very satisfying to create something from raw materials into a beautiful finished product.

Currently my product line includes commercial and hand-spun yarn, roving, quilting batts, as well as felted totebags, mini dog clothes, felted flower barrettes, baby booties and brooches.  You can find me on Etsy, Facebook, my Legacy Alpacas website, The Alpaca Legacy website (my fiber products), Ravelry and good old email.  Check me out there or drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you!

Until we meet again.

Cheers!