This was my first time knitting with alpaca yarn... well, 50% alpaca. It is so soft. I had been saving this yarn for something special. I had plenty of yarn so I knew it could be something big. I finally settled on the speckled shrug. It knit up fast on size 9 needles. It's knit as a big rectangle and then folded in half and partially seamed to create the shrug. I washed and blocked the rectangle before seaming to make blocking a lot easier. I added a garter stitch border along the sides so the "sleeves" wouldn't roll.
I used two full skeins (each ~500 yards) of Corino from "The Purled Llama Co.". It's a blend of 50% superfine alpaca and 50% wool. This yarn really "grows". The shrug stretches like crazy and I probably should have gone down a needle size if I wanted it to stay waist/hip length.
I used this shrug a good bit during the second half of winter this year. I like that it stays on my shoulders better then a shawl but it's more like a wearable blanket then a cardigan.
