Tuesday, May 6, 2008

fiber-y goodness

This past Sunday we spent the day at the Ohio Expo Center at the fairgrounds perusing lots of furry beasts. That's because this weekend, Columbus hosted both the Ohio State Rabbit Breeders Show and Sale, and the Buckeye Alpaca Show.

Our original plan had been to meet my future mother-in-law at the rabbit show. She raises angoras and would have been there, had a family emergency not mandated that she stay home instead. We did still meet up with one of her friends, who was carting off some rabbits that she had just purchased on behalf of Mr. Z's mum. They were NOT angora, so apparently she's expanding back into having other breeds.

I realllllly wish I hadn't forgotten my camera. There were so many adorable different rabbits! I had no idea there were so many uniquely different breeds. It has renewed my persistence in pestering Mr. Z for a house rabbit. I will not, however, be getting an angora rabbit, despite the fiber potential... that hair is WAY too much work. You can see a few of the rabbits we saw, including a fully fluffed angora, on knittycrafty, as she joined us on the expedition.

After the rabbit show, we moved on to alpacas, by far my favorite part of the day. They are all woolly and funny looking, unless they've been sheared. In which case they look delightfully gangly. Mr. Z and I have been discussing the possibility of having some sort of large-ish animals once we buy a place in Lubbock, and we were both really impressed with the alpacas. Not too big, easily managable, and far cheaper than a horse. I think we both agreed that they are a definite possibility.

Not that any of you are probably interested in getting an alpaca, but I will plug Land of Legends Alpacas. There was a young kid (ok, he was probably like twenty, but still) that was very informative, and friendly without being too pushy. We had a very enjoyable chat with him, and he even gave me some advice as to which type would be best if looking for fiber to spin. Speaking of fiber...



...the best part was the yarn! Unfortunately there was no angora at the rabbit show, though we did get to try some bunny jerky. But the alpaca show didn't let us down. There was lots of yarn and knitted goods. I got a skein similar to j's but in a different color. You can hardly turn down 600 yards (!!) of pure alpaca for thirty dollars. Well a non-knitter could maybe... but not us.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

do you remember the llamas that used to live across from my mom's? do alpaca's spit?

i keep forgetting about lubbock. i guess with ken getting a job there, that means you will be settling there for a while, huh? :) i like texas....good steaks.

i am going to pretend like you didn't say you ate bunny. :) you know me and the bunnies...

Julie said...

Normally, couples get a dog for their first pet. LOL - you go right for the fiber bearing animals. The yarn looks yummy, I love alpaca!

btw - check out my new blogs :)