June 15, 2010

Holy Camel Toe!

The beauty of the MindTrap is that people will flock and bend over backward to hook you up with some sweet shit, even your own mother. At least that's how it went in my mind, though I must confess that I really don't posses any tangible superpower. It's more of a pipe dream really. Regardless of how it really played out, I nonetheless ended up with a couple of baggies of some fine-ass Alpaca fiber to play around with. Camelidae.

Suri Alpaca
Huacaya Alpaca
Ma Roughfisher hooked me up with some Alpaca fiber from a fellow co-worker who also raises Alpacas at the Fossum Family Farm. I didn't even have to beg, she just handed it over from the goodness of her heart. I wish I could be that nice. I received a variety of colors from two breeds of Alpaca, Suri and Huacaya. The Suri contains a bunch of fine strands of silky hair, much like mohair or angora. This is similar to the llama fibers I have, but much finer. The Huacaya contains a dense lot of fine crimped hairs. This holds the real appeal to me. Much like the advantages of crimped Angelina, the Huacaya fibers will add body to any nymph dubbing, as well as add a bit of depth and dimension to a spectral blend. The fibers almost remind me of Enrico Puglisi fibers, so I bet they could also be put to great use for baitfish patterns.

Huacaya brown
Huacaya gray
Huacaya white
Huacaya cream
Alpaca fiber contains no lanolin, thus does not repel water; a feature great for nymph bodies. The lack of lanolin will easily allow the fiber to take a dye. I would like to experiment with some reds, blues and yellows for constructing spectral dubbing blends. Perhaps this could make a good seal substitute. Only time will tell. Too many ideas, not enough time.

Thanks Ma.

2 comments: