If I can see it coming I’ll instinctively try to stop it, and I’m too cowardly to do it myself. Can someone just surprise kill me? Jesus, are you there?
“Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.”
— Robert H. Schuller
Actually the *best* time to cut and haul trees is in winter with cold frozen ground, minimum brush, and the tree has withdrawn lots of moisture from its limbs so the lumber will age nicely and be ready to work in the spring. Dumbass.
Spoiler alert: The fiber from their fleece is flame-resistant!
Alpacas may just be the cutest of all the Camelidae family,
which includes llamas, guanacos and vicunas from South America, and
Bactrian and Dromedary camels from Asia and Africa. With their floppy
furry tufts, slender necks, ingénue eyes and coy Clara Bow grins, they
are the “it” girls and boys of the ungulate world.
But beyond their charming, quirky good looks, these creatures are
responsible for bearing some of the silkiest, most versatile fiber found
in nature, for which they are shorn annually. Alpaca is a specialty
fiber that has been described as stronger than mohair, finer than
cashmere, smoother than silk, softer than cotton, warmer than goose down
and better-breathing than thermal knits. Along with that, alpacas
themselves possess some pretty remarkable personality traits.
1. They’re ancient
Alpacas were domesticated by the Incas more than 6,000 years ago
and raised for their exquisite fleece. Due to its quality and all of
its superhero characteristics, alpaca fiber was reserved exclusively for
the elite and nobility.
Alpaca fiber is much like sheep’s wool, but warmer and not itchy. It is
lacking in lanolin, which makes it hypoallergenic and also allows it to
be processed without the need for high temperatures or harsh chemicals
in washing.
4. They’re flame-resistant!
Well, technically their fiber is flame-resistant, meeting the standards of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s rigid testing specifications as a Class 1 fiber for use in clothing and furnishings.
5. They’re water-resistant
Like wool, alpaca fiber is water-resistant, but it can wick away
moisture because of its unique ability to mimic cotton in moisture
regain. These attributes are what make alpaca feel lighter than wool but
warmer than cotton in cool and damp climates.
6. They come in a rainbow of hues
Alpaca fiber comes in 22 colors and hundreds of shades,
from white to light rose gray to dark fawn, in addition to the blends
that can be made from those, thus minimizing the need for
pollution-intensive dying.
7. There are two types of alpacas in this world…
Alpacas come in two types: Suri and the huacaya. The suri has fiber that
grows long and forms silky dreadlocks. The huacaya has a wooly, dense,
crimped fleece — like a teddy bear — giving it a very wooly appearance.
About 90 percent of all alpacas in the North America are huacayas.
8. They can mix and match
Alpacas and llamas can successfully cross-breed. The offspring they
create are known as huarizo, which are valued for their longer fleece.
9. They share a bathroom
Alpacas use a communal dung pile (where they do not graze, thankfully).
Because of their predisposition for using a dung pile, some alpacas have
been successfully house-trained.
10. They hum and haw … and orgle
Humming is the most common sound that alpacas make.
Alpacas hum when they are curious, content, worried, bored, fearful,
distressed or cautious. When startled or in danger, a staccato braying
is started by one animal, then followed by the rest of the herd in the
direction of the potential threat. During breeding, the male alpaca
Romeo emits a unique throaty vocalization called “orgling.”
This was sitting unfinished in my sketchbook for a couple of months because I had initially lost interest in it early on.
Dotwork
can be extremely repetitive/tedious, however, I learned so much in
finishing this about efficiencies, effects, and balance. Really glad I
went back for this one because of what it taught me, not to mention the
fact that I think it turned out beautifully!
