alpaca wool | rickandkathy.com

Five things I have learned so far while crocheting my Bobbled Bilodeau:

1. Alpaca wool is very easy to rip out.

2. One or two extra stitches (but who’s counting? eh?) at the crown of a circular crocheted item means you’re gonna end up with one mother-huge hat when you’re done.

3. Watching the women’s China / Finland hockey game in Vancouver can easily make one lose track of what’s happening with your crocheting in your lap. Who knew China had a woman’s hockey program? Those girls really kick it!

4. Ripping out several inches worth of a Bilodeau is not nearly as painful as one might suspect.

Bobbled Bilodea

5. Rick is a very patient hat model.

Can’t wait to see what I learn by the time I’m actually finished.

P.S. I forgot… I also learned that the aforementioned “beauty” is not an alpaca. She’s a llama. The gold medal for “camelid identification” goes to our familial wool expert, Janice Lever, of Windblest Farm. in lovely Lanark County, Ontario, Canada. Thanks, Jan!

I changed sports. Athletes do it all the time: Snow boarders become ski jumpers, figure skaters become baseball players. etc.

I have retired from Olympic knitting, and have moved on to Olympic crocheting.

I’m going to use this kind of wool. I think it comes from one of theses beauties, or at least a close second cousin.

We rode past her (I’m assuming female: pink collar) on our bike ride to Mavericks on Saturday.

She has spectacular wool, which compensates adequately for those funky knees. Apparently, alpaca wool has no lanolin and is hypoallergenic, making it a good choice for those easy-to-itch among us.

I want to make one of these. I’m going to call it my “Bobbled Bilodeau,” in honour of the Quebecois cutie-pie who won Canada’s first gold on Canadian soil in the Men’s Freestyle Mogul competition.

GO CANADA!!! My blood is running thick maple syrup as we speak.

I want my Bilodeau to look like the ones Ann at Fengari Fiber Arts made, back when they were still called “cloches.”

It takes two balls of wool, and some mystery “marker” dealy-bobs I’m told I’ll need. This initially made me a bit nervous, as I have no idea how one might utilize said DBs.

However, I shelled out for the high end “Soft Touch” crochet hook since it came with the guarantee that it would make my project easy to crochet. I love a good tool.