Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there’s a whole host of hirsute animals working night and day to grow their lovely coats so that we knitters can make our cosy and fluffy items. Well, we were well and truly reminded at FibreFest in Devon the other week - not only about the beautiful creatures that grow our yarns, but also the dedicated folk who lovingly tend to them and transform their fleeces into things of beauty.
To say the carload of FKC ladies who made the trip to sunny Bicton College near Exeter were excited to come face to face with baby alpacas is an understatement.
When faced with the cute and fluffy fellows we went to pieces and there may even have been a squeal or two of delight. Seeing the nice, burly farmer chap shear a rather anxious alpaca was also a delight, but for very different reasons!
And as if meeting sheep and llamas and alpacas and burly farmers wasn’t enough to set the pulses racing, there was also the joy of three large marquees full of delicious yarns and knitting paraphernalia to get squeally about. Let’s just say we managed to contain our joy long enough to spend a substantial amount of our pocket money on a bootload of squishable yarn. Watch this space for future projects!
