My trip to TOFT Alpacas

Last weekend, I got to do something I've wanted to do for ages: head up to TOFT Alpacas! I've been eyeing up their crochet forever - Kerry Lord has a great classic style for her amigurumi, and the collection is vast! - but this was all about the alpaca (well, at least until the end when I popped into the shop). Wanting to get a better idea of actually owning my own alpaca, I thought attending the husbandry workshop would be a great idea, and it was such a good experience!

The workshop was run by the owners of TOFT Alpacas (separate from the yarncraft business), Rob and Shirley Bettinson, who are lovely and approachable - in fact, I'm pretty sure I tried to ask every single question that came into my head, but I'm sure they're used to it after 20 years!
We came in a little late (bus, train, bus, walk...) but thankfully Rob and Shirley held the start for us so it wasn't too bad. They talked about the background of alpaca and the difference between camelids (alpaca, vicuna, etc.), and then we went out and took a look at the maternity paddock and some lovely little cria. After that, a wee walk, some tea and cakes, then another walk but this time with the boys (stud males) who were up in a separate paddock.

Of course by then it was raining (welcome to England), but even still, it was such an awesome day. All the alpaca were pretty calm and easy to handle (aside from one girl who'd lost an eye, but that's understandable - if you can't see on one side of your body, it definitely makes you nervous!), and even their kicks weren't too hard to deal with.

The area was gorgeous as well, and it was so nice to spend a few hours strolling around with alpaca in that countryside, even if it did take us ages to get there and back. We also nipped into a local pub, the Dun Cow, for lunch on Shirley's recommendation, and it was excellent!
And of course, I did buy some yarn - DK wool in Mushroom, and laceweight alpaca in Mushroom as well - and I've already cracked into it for a test knit for Kalurah at While They Play Designs, so stay tuned for that FO; it's going to be gorgeous, I can tell already! If you're keen to check out my progress, you can find me on Instagram at thereandbackyarn :)

Mancrush Monday

Bernice:

Well, after a weekend of camping in beautiful - but HOT - weather, I know I am in need of a Monday pick-me-up!

While cranking some tunes to prevent a "case of the Mondays" I got to thinking about all the good times I've had this summer. Of course the biggest highlight of the season for me was getting to take a very special road trip out to Calgary with Kaeleigh so that we could see the Tesla, Poison, and Def Leppard tour together. These are three of my absolute favourite bands and I was actually lucky enough to catch this tour twice this year! It's been a summer of great music, and to be able to see my fave guitar player do his thing twice is not something I manage to do every year...although I have managed the feat twice, once in 2015 as well as this year. :)

So, who is he then? None other than Vivian Campbell from Def Lep. When he's not performing with them, he's also keeping busy with his two other bands; Last in Line and Riverdogs. These three bands all have very different sounds - a testament to his versatility as a musician, to be sure. Prior to joining Def Leppard in 1992, he was also an instrumental member of Dio. He's also done a lot of good work with other bands and musicians through his career. His habit of keeping busy means a lot of great music for me to enjoy - thanks Viv!

I've caught a few nice pics of the man in action over the years over the six or so times I've seen Def Leppard. They vary in quality depending on where I managed to snag a seat haha. I thought I'd share a few :)

At Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB June 3, 2017. It doesn't get better than this!

Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, SD April 22, 2017

At the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, MB April 29, 2015

I'd also like to share a few recommendations if you wanna check out what this guy can do on the guitar as well - Euphoria by Def Leppard, the Riverdogs self titled debut album, and Heavy Crown by Last in Line. EXTRA nerd points if you track down the tracks he performed on Lou Gramm's Long Hard Look album. I heard that tape a lot in my sister's car as a child, and I'm fairly certain it's the first time I ever heard him play! I'm still quite partial to that album to this day. That's a good start, and you'll be wise to keep listening from there haha. 

Kaeleigh: While I didn't know about Vivian Campbell until Bernice shared him with me, I am very glad she did - and the rest of the band too! (You'll find a lot of my hair metal knowledge starts with Bernice, haha!). I was SO excited to be on his side of the stage for the show this summer, and he's awesome to watch as they perform. As Bernice will testify, I love an Irish accent, and watching the Def Lep home videos with commentary on is one of the best things to do whilst yarncrafting; I love listening to Viv tell a story, and watching the whole band together in some of their candid moments is pretty nice! Of course I can't let this opportunity pass without sharing MY favourite pic from the show - I hope we didn't seem too nutty because we were all-in fangirling so hard he actually made eye contact and directed some guitar pics AT US. Probably to shut us up, which definitely didn't work ;)

In the pot, part 2

The bath has cleared, the water has been rinsed, and the yarn has (finally!) dried - check it out!

Although it's still not quite all the way there, I'm well pleased with how this round of dyeing went :D MUCH better than previously, and I pretty much owe 85% of that to my husband, who got me a PH meter for Christmas. Being able to accurately measure our PH means that I can actually get my acid levels correct, which makes the dye uptake much better. The orange yarn didn't clear the bath completely, so the yarn didn't take up ALL the dye, but the purple/red/pink one pretty much took up every ounce and I was incredibly pleased with that. I tried for a black to red combo and got more of a purple to pink, which isn't awful. I also tried for speckles and didn't really like the way it went when I tried the "dry dye" method. The orange variegation came from having the orange take up really well but then stay a little too vibrant - I threw on some improvised brown and it eased up to more of a "pumpkin pie" than "pumpkin," which I love.

Overall, I have a few lessons learnt here:
- It won't be consistent until I can use hotel pans (those big rectangular pans that allow the yarn to lie flat)
- This yarn still takes up the dye fairly evenly; this is a great characteristic UNLESS you're actually looking for tonal variation, which is then really challenging to achieve
- I should probably try speckles using the ol' "paintbrush" technique like we used to do in art class. I'm a little terrified it'll go all over the walls, but maybe I can be careful...haha!

I have two bare skeins left so maybe I can try my speckles on them. I also have a pile of "tonal" green that's quite bland; I think it wants overdyeing, so we'll see what I can get up to with those ones. So far, so good!

WIP Wednesday: Home Decor Edition

One of the things I love about yarn craft is being able to create things that are way more personalized and custom than you could ever buy in any store! I'm certainly enjoying working on just such a project right now. When we recently purchased a new couch, I became inspired by the throw pillows that came with it! I decided to try to work up some curtains that match. After a nice long trip down the yarn aisle at Michaels, throw pillow in hand, I got to work with the closest colour matches I could find!

I try to get a little work done on it whenever my buddy Floyd here isn't busy using it for lounging purposes, haha. My cats are big fans of my work, and I'm a big fan of them as well. The inspiring pillow is at the top of the pic. I'll be sure to share a photo when I've got them completed and hung :) Happy Hump Day everybody!

In the pot, part 1

Well I finally conquered my (pointless) anxiety about dyeing and got the pot out this afternoon. Why be anxious, you ask? I just hadn't met with much success - the dye bath would never clear properly, the colours weren't coming out the way I wanted, SO MUCH of the dye would rinse out after the dye...it was just very underwhelming, and I was tired of mediocre results.
But.
I have so many colourways in my head, and some big plans coming down the pipe, and I figured it's about time to get over these perceived issues and GET IT RIGHT. Plus Barney got me a PH meter so now I can unlock the secrets to acidity (important because I'm using wool, which needs acidic water, and acid dyes).
So I hauled out my dye equipment and got to it when I got home today. This is why it's so nice to get to work for 8am; I get a full chunk of time at home again after work and it really rounds out the day. Anyway. I dip-dyed four skeins of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes worsted weight in a black-red, which seems so far to have come out purple (but I kind of expected that, reading that blacks take some time and effort to really ring true), and then threw in some more red for variety (accidentally pouring some directly on the part I was going to leave white on one of the skeins, so then I just put the skeins all the way in), and even trying out some speckles...well, we'll see about those, but as long as all the colour doesn't rinse out, I'll be well pleased!
Right now the pot is cooling on the stove - it's strongly recommended you wait til everything is COOL before rinsing - so I'll clean it all up tomorrow and then rinse and dry the skeins. Stay tuned for some "after" shots...and then some more colours! :D