First day of the Alapca shawl! I am super excited to be working with my alpaca yarn, because even though it's not what I expected it's beautiful and soft and I love it. So, first off the pattern is by Gail Tanquary of Crystal Palace Yarns (which is why the pattern calls for Crystal Palace Yarns brand yarn)
http://www.straw.com/

Anyways, it's a beautiful pattern, and so far I've put in about an hour and I've gotten one row done... yup. But each row is smaller than the last, so each row will take a less amount of time than the previous one.

Working with alpaca isn't all that different than working with other yarns. What I got is a thin, lighter weight, so it's a little tricky keeping it in place some times but I have the same problem with baby 100% acrylic. One thing that I've noticed that I find really interesting is even though it's not as "smooth" as the acrylic, it moves easier on the hook. It doesn't catch the same way acrylic sometimes does and it doesn't "stick". It's got a great texture that I quite enjoy.