Alpacalooza

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Splitrock Farms up in Ridgeway, Ontario. For the last several years the owners, Glenn and Lynda, have run a bed and breakfast and built up their herd of alpacas. Now that they've got around 48 alpacas (with 11 more on the way!) they're planning to cease running the b and b and focus solely on the animals. Many of their animals have won high honors across Canada and they are starting to see some real results of a careful breeding program.

My friend Katherine is a longtime friend of Lynda and Glenn and when she realized I'd heard of alpacas she set up a private tour with Lynda (thank you again!!!) We headed up a little after noon and about 20 minutes later arrived at the farm. The b and b is gorgeous, I'm sure it's hosted many satisfied guests over the years. And the alpacas ... omg, they are so cute! They were sheared just last month so you can really see what lean animals they are. It was so much fun to watch them play and interact. It was also fascinating how Lynda described their individual personalities and the specific "roles" different animals play in the herd.

The capstone to the day, of course, was looking through the yarn that's been spun from these beautiful alpacas. I just love the idea of knitting with the yarn of an animal you've actually met. I had about $20 Canadian burning a hole in my pocket (living 5 minutes from the border I've kept a Canadian change jar for the last couple years ... it won't do me much good in Indiana) so I picked up some gorgeous silvery-grey yarn in a lace/sport weight.

So, how can a less well-connected individual share in the Splitrock Farms experience? Lucky for you they host an Open House in the fall, September 27-28 between the hours of 10am-4pm. For more info you can visit their website. I think the yarn I saw yesterday will be available for sale at the open house ... believe me, you want to go check it out!!!