Llamas, and Camels, and Alpacas, Oh My!

Camelids are a special kind of mammal, mainly because they have great fiber! There are only a few species in this family, namely camels, then llamas and alpacas, and finally the more endangered Paco-Vicuna and Guanaco.
Alpaca seams to be the most abundant in the fiber world. It is very warm and very soft. It has a beautiful drape and a good staple length. Huacaya Alpaca is a shorter staple length and is most common, from my experience. The Suri Alpaca is much longer, comparable to a longwool, I have not worked with this variety however.
Bactrian Camels, as opposed to the single hump Dromedary Camel, has a decent amount of usable fiber. Both of these breeds are domesticated. Bactrian Camels have a short, cotton like length staple, but it is very soft and considered a luxury fiber.
Llama is a wonderful fiber to spin and knit. It is highly insulating and has a decent drape to it. I have spun to samples of llama, the first one was beautiful with a great staple length and the second, was clumpy and, what I believe, was second cuts. Take it from me, second cuts are not worth it!
Paco-Vicuna is a luxury fiber, it is rather expensive per ounce, but if you can find some, try it, you won't be sorry. It is very similar to camel, but it has a much longer staple length. It would be great blended with other fibers!
Lastly, the Guanaco, is one fiber that I have not been able to get my hand on, but I understand it is wonderful just like the Paco-Vicuna.
Now let's look at some spinning, shall we?
First to examine is baby alpaca. This light grey fiber was a real dream to spin! I spun 8 ounces total, the one on the left is worsted spun and the one on the left is spun semi-woolen, 2-ply. Note the difference in the two. While the worsted spun is spun fine it still has a lot of drape to it.

With the two next to each other, you can really see the difference.

Next, we'll look at the llama. The first sample was bought from a local heard in New York. It was beautiful fiber, very easy to spin, with really wonderful drape. It was spun from roving. The photo doesn't give it justice in terms of color. The fiber is a red brown color with some white thrown in. This was from one llama, I do remember.

The second sample is the not so nice llama.

Note the halo around the ball. You can also see some of the VM that was in the fiber.

This is the single. The lumps are small clumps of short hair, this is why I say it is seconds. There was none of this in the first batch. This was from a different vendor.

This is the plied yarn. Again you can see the lumps and VM throughout the ball. This is a good example as to why you should always take a good look at the fiber you buy. This wasn't expensive, first warning sign, and I was so drawn to the black llama. Very disappointed.

On my spindle below, I have Paco-Vicuna. What a dream it was to spin. This was just a sample of the fiber. It is super soft, with a very fine micron count, and such a warm color.

 In this, I wanted to show how fine it spun. This is next to a regular pencil. I highly recommend this fiber if you can find it!

Finally, we have camel. This is a very short fiber and difficult to spin on it's own. I have had the most success with it spinning on either my quill, or my charka. The fiber is very loft and is that wonderful camel color.

 

   Again, note the size next to a pencil.

This is a camel and silk blend that I recently got at the Interweave Yarn Fest in Loveland, Colorado. It spun up very well!

I hope you enjoyed this quick introduction on the Camel family. Happy spinning!

The Food Journey

Since moving out here, to Laramie, I've been cooking a lot. I've been making breads and soups, chili, stews, you name it. I only brought a couple of my cook books out here. I brought my two volumes of Julia Child, although Joe can't eat much out of it, but I have been working on making dairy free substitutes. Another book I brought was The Complete Book of Breads. I love this book, there are so many recipes of every imaginable bread.
Today I am making stock. When I had cable I was always watching The Food Network, that is when I wasn't watching The Golden Girls. One of my favorite programs to watch was The Barefoot Contessa. She always said to use homemade stock. I thought it was a lot of work for not much pay off. Well, I was wrong.
My sister recently came to visit. She is not much of a cook, although I think she wishes she was. When I first started cooking, I couldn't make brownies out of a box. Then, my cliche moment, I watched Julie and Julia. This inspired me and I got the cook books. This was when I was in high school when I got the first volume. When I cooked a Julia Child recipe I had confidence, like she was there with me telling me that every step, or misstep, was absolutely perfect. It was great. I think my sister has some apprehensions to cooking, although some of her trials have been perfect and making our grandmother extremely pleased. So, it is with both of them that I am writing this post.
Stock!
I love making stock, it is about as easy as toast. First you'll need a stock pot if you're making a big batch (which I suggest) or something smaller for a smaller batch. You can freeze it and use it as needed. I usually go two months between making it.
Currently, I have a vegetable stock brewing on the stove.
For a lot of recipes, stock is a base, so it is important to make it as quietly tasting, yet still full bodied as possible. To do this you do not want to add some vegetables, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, hot peppers, rancid vegetables, etc.
Vegetables that are a must are onions, garlic, celery, carrots, mushroom stalks. With these vegetables, I use the parts I don't use in cooking regular dishes, like the skins, the bulb and root parts, the tops, etc. When I'm fixing a meal with any of these things I put the discards in a produce bag and put it in the freezer until I make the stock. The hunks are very roughly chopped, skins and all. The liquid will be strained in the end.
Here is a hint that comes from my fiber experiences, if you use darker skinned onions in your stock you'll get a darker color stock.
So you put all these hunks of vegetables in the stock pot and you cover them with water. Turn your burner on high and get it to a boil. While it's heating up you add the spices and herbs. Salt and pepper are the first things. Make sure to add a good amount of salt, it will help draw out the flavors of the vegetables. Then you add your herbs. Bay leaves are very important in getting a full bodied tasting stock. Then, as Simon and Garfunkle say, "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme". Go sparingly on the sage and rosemary as these are potent herbs. If you tend to make more Mediterranean dishes, add oregano.
Once your stock is boiling, turn it down to a simmer and let it simmer for a few hours. Taste it, making sure to not burn your mouth, and check for seasonings. Ask yourself, is it missing something? Does it need more salt? But, remember, this should be a mildly tasting stock. When it's good and ready, you can fish out some of the bigger pieces with a strainer.
Then, being careful if it's still hot, get your freezing containers and a mesh strainer. Place the strainer over the container and spoon the stock over it, this is going to save you from all the impurities from getting in your dish. once you fill the container about 3/4 of it's capacity let it cool, and then put the lid on and put it in the freezer.
Voila, you have stock.
Now, you can make meat stocks and fish stock. I have not made fish stock, as it can get stinky, and I'm a little scared of the fish heads. But beef and chicken stocks are easy as well. Use all the same ingredients in these as your vegetable stock. In beef stock add bones and trimmings. If you want to be fancy, cook the bones on a sheet tray in the oven for about 40 minutes or until they get a little golden brown coloring. Shin bones are good, you can usually buy packages at your butcher's that say stock bones, or just ask them for help. You can also use scraps from whatever beef dishes you're making.
For chicken or turkey stock the process is nearly the same. If you cook a whole chicken, or buy a cooked chicken from your grocery store, save the carcass, all the bones, and whatever meat you don't eat. Put all this in the pot with your vegetables and cover with water. Add the herbs and let boil for a few hours.
In the meat stocks you will have to skim the top of the stock during the cooking process. You'll get some grey-ish colored foam on the top. Just skoop it off with a spoon. You will also have fat in it. This can give an unpleasant texture in your mouth. Let the stock cool off and then put in the refrigerator. The next day take it out, and skim the congealed fat off the top. Now freeze.
Stock is really quite simple and it is really worth the time to make it. Just save your scraps and add water and herbs. I have faith you can make a delicious stock!