Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Inauguration and Other Animals

Well, what can I say, what I did yesterday is probably what most people did yesterday: I watched the 44th President of the United States take office. I was amazed by the masses of people gathered in front of the White House, 1-2 million they say (I was just a little jealous that I was sitting in front of a TV--four hours away). I especially loved Rev. Joseph Lowery's speech: "...when black will not be asked to give back, brown can stick around, yella will be mella, the red man can get ahead man, and white will embrace what is right..." I hope I'm quoting it right. I believe many other people were more eloquent last night than I can hope to be, but I do feel very warm and fuzzy. Which brings me back to my blog.

I finished my husband's cap!

The cap matches his scarf rather nicely, I think. :-) (I made that for Christmas.) So far the alpaca has held up well. It's not losing shape, and its not fuzzing, either--and all of Adam's curls fit into it--amazing!

But lets move on to more animals:

Camel (Camel):

Camel is very similar to alpaca, although not as soft. It is not hugely common in knitting stores. Camel is often spun in its natural color, which is rather pretty. I would use camel for most of the same things as alpaca, but since alpaca is so much softer, I prefer it. Camel is not a good beginner’s yarn.

Buffalo:

Buffalo is not unlike camel yarn, in that it is taken off the animal in warm, fuzzy bushels. The natural color is darker, so it does not lend itself to much dyeing. I would not use it as my first yarn, because it is rather expensive compared to easier to use kinds.

the site to go for for buffalo yarn is


A nice camel yarn is:


I think that wraps up most of the natural yarns I know. Next I'll dedicate one whole day to Etsy spinners, then one more blog about synthetics, and then I'll move on to New York yarn shops!

10 comments:

L.G. said...

I loved the Reverends speech too ! So nice to be able to laugh and feel open while listening to the president's inauguration !!
Great hat and scarf !!

DreamON said...

Interesting. I had no idea you could make yarn from a buffalo. I once knew a guy who had a sweater made from his dog's hair though, so why am I amazed?

April said...

I love the scarf! the hat coordinates very well with it.

My Inspired Reality said...

Love the scarf and hat - lucky husband to have special handmade goodies:):)

Kim Caro said...

nice cap!

Anonymous said...

Love the yarn tutorials!

Lina said...

What a great hat! I love the scarf a lot too. :)

cici said...

Oooo you know we love yarn!!!. I sure want some buffalo and camel is nice too. I am happy to say I was at the inauguration. It was awesome. I will remember it forever!Love your blog. want to see what you say about NY yarn shops.. I hope to be visiting in May.

lizzzknits said...

Thanks for the yarn descriptions and the photos of the contributing animals. It is hard to know the difference when you only see the final product wound in a ball and labeled. Glad I discovered your blog! It is also helpful to me as a fairly new spinner as well.

Creative Coquette said...

I had no idea there was yarn from buffalo!

Very neat-o!