Oh, oh, there goes my wardrobe...

The fleece fairy is at it again. Kerrry is busy sorting alpaca fleece for the mill again. Unfortunately for me it looks like my ski jacket went west at the same time. Will it ever recover? I doubt it. Will. I ever ski again? Unlikely. Looks like I've made another wardrobe donation to the Toft Alpaca Shop.

Big girl in the shed...

We are so busy at Toft that it is all hands to the pump. Shirley is now doing regular stints in the sorting shed knee deep in alpaca fleece for eight hours at a stretch. We've got to keep that luxury alpaca yarn coming through the TOFT studio somehow, come rain or shine.

Here we are on a mission getting some fleece out of the shed pretty smartish to be burnt. This load came in from a breeder infested with moths which is a strict no no in the sorting shed or in fact anywhere on the farm so it's off to the bonfire with that lot.

Look at my soulmate up there on the back of the truck like a teenager. Like my mother in law the big girl has the heart of a lion and knows no fear in her determination to get the job done. Feed her regular, let her watch Strictly, The Paradise and Downton and she keeps on running like a Duracell bunny!

Intern in the shed

Bless her, Sally the Toft Alpaca Shop Intern joined Shirley and I in the fleece sorting shed on Wednesday.

The whole of the TOFT Alpaca shop has decamped to Alexandra Palace in London for the big Knit & Stitch show this week. So it's all happening at Ally Pally this week but it's real quiet in the Toft Alpaca Studio. Undaunted by the empty studio Sally decided use the hiatus to get back to the basics in the paddock and barn.

Sally a textile student at Birmingham University spent the morning working with our herds woman Linda and the alpacas and the afternoon helping Shirley and I grade alpaca fleece. She's determined to follow the fibre all the way from the field to the Fashion Show. She too is off to Ally Pally to join the Toft Alpaca Stand. Thanks for the help Sal!