After taking Miss Clare to the Hi-5 concert last weekend I rewarded myself with a browse at the Southgate Market.  I came across an amazing stall of yarn and fabrics all grown, shorn, spun, dyed, and woven by the one family.  Ixchel Angora Rabbit Stud & Fibre Art is in Gilderoy, and luckily for me (but probably not for the bank account) Charly is at the market every Sunday.  There were so many beautiful yarns to choose from!  I bought some alpaca:

Same yarn, but photo taken with flash – the true colour is somewhere between these two photos:

and some angora/merino sock yarn.

Check out those colours (although the camera really doesn’t do them justice)!

Obviously, I will make socks from the sock yarn (not that I’ve ever made them before – and will I knit them, or crochet them?) and I’m still not certain of what pattern I’ll use for the alpaca – possibly a vest of some sort for myself.

When I emailed Charly for further information about the yarn (my sieve-like brain had already forgotten what she’d told me on the day) not only sent a friendly reply, but some photos of the animals that the yarn comes from!  The alpacas (Daisy & Chacoty)

and Cinderel the angora rabbit.

They don’t have a website yet but can be contacted by email on ixchel at iprimus dot com dot au.  Or you can find them at the Southgate Craft Market on Sundays in Melbourne!

By the way, other than being a happy customer I have no connection to them – but I think that their yarn is worth promoting!