Week 14: Alpaca Fumes

As an avid reader of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, I am well versed in the hazards wool fumes pose to knitters (heaven knows I've even gone a little crazy in a yarn shop myself once or twice)

I was unprepared, however, to learn that alpaca can have the same effect on dogs.

When I washed my alpaca skirt, Stella was obsessed. She couldn't stop smelling it when it was outside, and when it came in, she even hopped up on my bed to get a whiff.

Mum was not pleased, particularly not when Stella wanted to inspect the next load of (non-wool) laundry in hopes of finding the skirt.

When I had made the skirt, I lengthened the waistband to help it stay up, only to discover that a strand of beading elastic did a better job. This was finally my impetus to snip the extra piece off (no worries, it was knitted separately) and unravel it.


I was intrigued by the sproingyness of unraveled alpaca.


Stella was (and is) intrigued by the finished product.


Specs--
Ollie the Octopus catnip toy (Ridiculous name; Stella's is called Hubert) from The Knitter's Book of Yarn
Less than 1/2 skein Blue Sky Alpaca Sportweight (color unknown), held double
Size 6 dpns
An excellent pattern--my only modification was to make the legs shorter than called for, so there was no danger of Stella choking if she attempted to eat one.