Fiber Frolic 2012

It's been a busy couple of months at White Violet Center and White Violet Farm Alpacas! We have enjoyed having so many awesome people attend our workshops.

Here are some photos from our Fiber Frolic 2012 on Jan. 29 — felters made vases, weavers made scarves and spinners made yarn.

 

Join us this Sunday

There are plenty of reasons to spend the day at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods this Sunday and experience the spirit of Christmas. We’ll have our Christmas open house from 1 to 3 p.m. in the center.

Enjoy weaving, spinning and needle felting demonstrations and delicious homemade treats. Handmade items such as alpaca scarves, hats, gloves, socks, ornaments, pins and teddy bears are available for purchase. An alpaca afghan ($300 value) and a teddy bear will be raffled on Dec. 12. Tickets may be purchased at the open house for $2 each or six for $10.

Please ask us about alpaca and bee hive adoption opportunities as Christmas gifts. And, the two youngest alpacas will make an appearance at the open house.

Christmas concert
At 3 p.m. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Chorale and Madrigals will offer their Christmas Concert in the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

Brunch and Gift Shop
Sunday Brunch also is available in O’Shaughnessy Dining Room from 10:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. And just steps from O’Shaughnessy will be the “Light Up for Christmas” sale in The Gift Shop at Providence Center. Pull a Christmas bulb from the bag to see what percentage is taken off your purchase. Sunday’s Gift Shop hours are 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Advent
Some may be interested in Advent Vespers at 4:30 p.m. in St. Joseph Chapel in Owens Hall. The vesper service is the evening prayer of the Church. It is an opportunity to pray the psalms in song in an ecumenical spirit and to reflect on the Advent season’s scripture readings.

And don’t forget the Eucharistic Liturgy for the Second Sunday of Advent will be offered at 11 a.m. in the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

Alpaca shearing 2010

We’ve had a busy week of shearing more than 60 alpacas at White Violet Farm Alpacas.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were long days as the shearing crew began early in the morning and worked well into the evenings. At our place, this happens once a year in May and usually takes three days to complete.

As each alpaca is sheared, the fiber is gathered and labeled with the name of the alpaca and the level of the fiber, such as “blanket,” “seconds” and “thirds.”

The shearing takes place at the barn, but the fiber room back at White Violet Center for Eco-Justice was also busy with staff members and volunteers skirting the raw fiber.

Skirting is a process that involves picking out all the bits of straw, hay and other materials from nature from the fleece before the fiber is sent off to be cleaned and carded. After it is cleaned and carded the fiber is ready for the fiber artists to spin into yarn and make fabulous hats, scarves and shawls.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who came out to help! The staff is ready for a weekend!

Click here to see lots of shearing photos from this week.