Faina's Scarf Prep

La wants some yarn porn (isn't that Baby Alpaca Silk enough, honey?), so here's the yarn I'm intending to use for Faina's Scarf.

It's Blue Sky Alpaca's Royal Alpaca and it's baby's buttcheek soft. Yes, from the stash; what, you think I have no self control? Well, I didn't when I was buying this, but that's what you get when you give me a gift certificate and say "limited edition" and "alpaca" in the same sentence.

I bought it in color Pewter from an online store, and I thought that the color would be a sophisticated soft olive green. It arrived and was much more brown than I expected. Now, I love me a good brown, but deep in the gray winter, brown isn't really turning my crank, so I set it aside until I had a better idea of what to do with it.

Last weekend I dyed it up. Jacquard acid dyes, 1 tsp each of blue and yellow (I forget which blues and yellows I purchased: probably sapphire blue and sun yellow).

It's now this lovely shade of vibrant green that I ADORE. I could hardly wait until it dried so I could ball it up. Every time I walk in that room I have to pet it. It'sa deep grass green but sophisticated-deep, not dark-deep. This picture is crap but it kind of reflects what I feel about this yarn: it GLOWS

Does alpaca stick to itself after dyeing? Because if it doesn't I may have felted it a teeny tiny bit. Not much but I had to tug a little strands to get them to separate when I was converting it to a center-pull yarn mass. I was very, very careful about the temperature differentials and agitation while it was hot. Maybe I am too much of an agressive rinser? It doesn't look any more or less hairy than before, and I've got no dreadlocks, so I'm not worried.

Gratuitous pictures because I feel like it:
Dedicated to today's break in the Winter greyness:a view from my office window during a pretty sunset last week. I love how the quality of light changes during the day, and especially how it colors things at sunset and dawn.

And for my Bob Esponja fans: