Yesterday marked the first official day of our Maine vacation. The guy and I flew in late Monday night and met with my Dad and step-mom at the airport. We awoke yesterday to a beautiful, crisp Maine morning. I have been wanting to visit Good Karma Farms for about a year now, since I first felt their fiber at a Knitty Yarn Tasting at the Purple Purl in Toronto. When I read the label and found out they were located in Belfast, Maine, about two hours away from my Dad's, I knew I needed to go.
And go we did. The small family owned farm was in full operation, and Josh and owner Jim were more than happy to give us a tour and lesson in how their yarn goes from fluff to fantastic fibre. After seeing the machines in action, Jim took us out to the fields to meet the animals: chickens, alpacas, 2 llamas and a one-eyed cat. It was freezing cold, but the time flew by as Jim answered all of our questions and the alpacas put on a show for us. Below are some of my photos, be warned there are a gratuitous number of alpaca photos. They are so cute, I couldn't help myself! After the tour I bought a bunch of their awesome hand dyed and spun yarns and a needle felting kit to take home. It was truly an experience I won't soon forget!
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| Loved the vintage look of the signs out front. Taken with Vintage Cam. |
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| First stop on the tour was seeing the raw fibre. After it is washed it is put through a machine that removes all of the burrs and other vegetation. Then it goes through the drum carder which removes the shorter fibres and aligns the fibres nicely. |
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| After running through the drum carder, the result is undyed roving. |
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| Good Karma Farms does and additional step and runs their roving through this machine which further removes short fibres so it will be less likely to pill and felt. |
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| Yarn is then spun by this machine. We saw it in action making yarn for a blanket company. |
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| This little guy was very curious about what we were up to. |
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| Out in the alpaca fields with the female alpacas and the babies. This sweetie was Phillipe, born in May this year. He was no so interested in a kiss from this other alpaca because he was very curious about the lady approaching him with the camera. |
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| Phillipe is unsure about me. |
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| But he warmed up eventually. |
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| The girls were aloof at first but as I got closer they were more curious about my presence. |
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| This is Dolly, one of the two llamas. She galloped over to say hello. |
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| After visiting the girls we went to the next field to visit the boys. They were much more curious, friendly and boisterous. |
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| These two brothers put on quite the show, jumping and wrestling in the late afternoon light. |
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| Being stared at by alpacas. |
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| I love their fuzzy, sweet faces. |
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I may have bought some yarn. So gorgeous!
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msi.
