Another round of cuteness: Great Midwest Alpaca Festival, take 2.

Last year's trip to the Great Midwest Alpaca Festival was a day full of furry cuteness, so when I saw that the event was back in town this year, I knew I had to give it another go.

Accompanied by fellow knitters, Kat and Caitlin, we bonded with a variety of Midwestern alpacas and checked out a lovely assortment of yarn.

We had a feeling that we'd run into Mindy and Linda from Galpaca Farms, and sure enough, they brought a few adorable friends to the event, like this guy:

Meet Tsunami! He was happy to pose for a photo with me.

Snacking on some hay for the camera. Total diva.

The cuteness was everywhere! Kat and Caitlin also made some new friends:

Kat experienced some first class fluff.

Caitlin found her soulmate.

A few more alpaca shots (double click any of these images for a larger view):

And just in case alpacas weren't enough to draw us to the event, there were many yarn vendors for us to see, too:

Diving into some freshly sheared alpaca wool. SO soft!

Lovely blues.

Great colors!

Oh, and then there was this alpaca who really enjoyed dinner to the fullest:

All in all, it was a great day, and I think I'll make this an annual thing. We ended the day with a delicious dinner at Pasqual's, complete with refreshing sangria:

Cheers to alpacas!

To read about my visit to the 2012 Great Midwest Alpaca Festival, click here.
To read about my trip to Galpaca Farms, click here.

Alpaca Farm Trip: Fun. Fluffy. Fabulous.

As it has already been said on this blog, I'm an animal lover. And what can I say? Barnyard animals are the best. I was born and raised in the suburbs, so spending time with animals other than cats and dogs is a novelty to me. I never miss an opportunity to pet a furry friend. After visiting the Great Midwest Alpaca Festival in April (blog coverage here), I fell in love with alpacas. There really isn't a more profound way for me to describe them: THEY'RE SO FLUFFY!

When my friend Andrea proposed a group trip to Galpaca Farms, I immediately said yes. Today, a group of 11 knitters from Stitch 'N Bitch Madison went on a trip to Mt. Horeb and visited Mindy Huitt and Linda Kosovac's gorgeous farm home. They have 25 alpacas at their farm, and each is named to honor a deceased relative (names include Harriet, Aileen, and Aunt Helen). They spin yarn from their alpacas and each skein has the name and photo of the source alpaca.

As an extroverted animal lover, it didn't take me long to make a few friends, and Andrea took a quick video of me bonding with my new gal pal:

Alpacas are incredibly photogenic, so I took quite a few photos. It was tough to narrow it down, but here are my favorites (as always, I recommend clicking the photos for larger views, as these animals are ridiculously cute):

Posing with my 3 new friends.

Mother and son. He's 1 day old!

Alpacas love sunbathing!

An alpaca says hi to a crowd of knitters.

Meet Betty, the Great Pyrenees. She's a skilled herder!

Anne pets a 1-day-old alpaca.

Snack time! Kristen feeds an alpaca a carrot.

Snacks!

More snacks!

Multi-tasking.

Group shot of the knitters at Galpaca Farms.
Top row: Caitlin, Larissa, Kat, Elysha, Polly, Cherie, Anne
Bottom row: Andrea, Yours Truly, Bronwen, Kristen

We certainly experienced a large dose of cuteness today. Thank you so much to Mindy and Linda for letting us visit the farm!

For more information about Galpaca Farms, please visit: www.galpacafarm.com or email Mindy and Linda at galpacafarm@tds.net

Good hair day: my visit to the Great Midwest Alpaca Festival.

While driving by the Alliant Energy Center last week, I saw a sign for the Great Midwest Alpaca Festival this weekend. Yarn vendors and adorable alpacas in an air conditioned environment? I just couldn't miss this!

At the Alpaca Festival, farmers show their prized alpacas in a setting similar to a dog show. The most beautiful alpacas win ribbons and top honors.

The main arena for the alpaca show.

I wandered around and met hundreds of precious alpacas (many of which were quite willing to pose for photos). At the festival I learned that there are two types of alpacas: Huacaya (fluffy, teddy bear-like fur) and Suri (silky, hair-like fur). I then met Jess Fredericks from Whistling Pines Ranch in Clayton, WI. She introduced me to her two Suri alpacas, Bocephus and Dorothy.

Hanging out with Bocephus, a male Suri alpaca.

Getting friendly with Dorothy, a female Suri alpaca.

After my meet-and-greet with these furry cuties, I decided it was time to document exactly how adorable these creatures are. Here are my favorite photos:

"I'm having a bad hair day. I don't want to talk about it."

"Hay should be part of the food pyramid." 

"I'm smiling! Cheesin' it!"

"This is our 'just got outta bed' look."

"It's exhausting being this fluffy."

"I cook and I clean for you. And all you give me is straw?"

"Colorblocking is hot this season. That's why my face doesn't match my coat."

"We've been together for 50 years and she still insists on blowdrying her hair for me."

"I'm smiling with my eyes, just like Tyra Banks told me to."

"Hairy ears? No YOU have hairy ears."

After visiting the lovely alpacas, I made my way to the yarn vendors. After much deliberation, I opted to buy a small wool skein from Sugar River Fiber and a large wool skein from Hearthside Fibers:

Gorgeous colors!

I'm not sure what I'm going to make with these yarns yet, but I just couldn't resist. The alpacas really put me in the mood to knit!