A day off the farm....

I spend a lot of time at Purple Fleece. As a matter of fact, I've been known to tremble with excitement if I go to Searsport or Belfast. So imagine how I felt yesterday climbing into my friend Colleen's car armed with a GPS and appointments to visit 3 fiber businesses in Waldoboro, Maine.

Our first stop was Cloud Hollow Farm. Owned and run by Bob and Erin Weintraub, this sustainable practice farm has geese, ducks, horses, and 40 alpacas. We had an incredible tour of the farm, a delicious lunch prepared by Erin, and an education about breeding alpaca for fiber with fineness and crimp comparable only to the vicuna.

Who wouldn't love this face?

Mom stands still as her baby nurses....

Three baby cria...

Bob and Erin Weintraub of Cloud Hollow Farm

Next on our list of fiber places to visit in Waldoboro was Rite-Way Scouring, owned and operation by Mike and Tina Fairfield. What began as an oriental rug cleaning business has now expanded into a fiber washing business as well. They have the amazing capacity to wash 200 to 300 pounds of fiber a day with the help of a beast called "the train".

Welcome to Rite-Way...

Mike explaining how the train works...

This gives you a better idea of how massive the train is.

Mike and Tina Fairfield of Rite-Way Scouring

By now we're running a bit behind schedule but a quick call from NEWAIM Fiber Mill gets us right back on track. Off we go to see how the fiber gets turned into roving and yarn.

Our hosts for this part of our adventure are Al Maloney and Nancy Williams.

Washing 9 pounds of alpaca fiber. Alpaca likes to float so the plunger is used to submerge the fiber.

Once dry, the fiber can go through many machines: the picker, the de-hairer, the carder, the roving machine, and perhaps the yarn spinner, plyer, and skeiner or coner.

This is "007", a rare breed CVM/Romeldale ram, saying goodbye to us...

Thank you to all these wonderful people who gave up a Sunday to share their experience and wisdom and hopes and dreams with us. We loved every minute!

More geekiness...

There's a teeny-weeny part of me that loves new technology. This month I purchased a new "smart" phone as opposed to my old "stupid" phone. So now I'm the owner of new iPhone 4G in white. Apparently a white iPhone is really a coveted thing so I had to get one along with a purple rubber protection thingy.

 

I had a very good reason for justifying the expense of a smart phone. I had seen the Square in action at a fiber festival a few weeks ago. The Square is a little gadget that plugs into your phone and allows you to swipe a credit card for a purchase on the spot. You know right away if a card is good. I can also accept cards that I haven't been able to in the past such as American Express.  I've been using it in the shop and it is really cool.

I'm also assisting on a fiber event taking place this fall. I've been working on the website and making it possible for people to sign up for classes online and pay by credit card. This has been fun and has gone relatively smoothly.

Now back to our regularly scheduled fiber-y things!