A dear friend’s son and daughter-in-law were expecting a baby in December 2004, and another friend held a shower for them.  The theme of the shower had to do with “learning”.  I found the book Is Your Mama a Llama, written by Deborah Guarino and illustrated by Steven Kellogg (New York:  Scholastic Press, 1997), and decided to knit a “llama” to go with the book.  For inspiration, I turned to Knit a Square & Make a Toy by Norma Campbell (Glen Ellen, CA:  Cole’s Home Library Craftbooks, 1999).  Since llamas are members of the camelid family, I adapted the Camel pattern in the book (leaving out the hump and changing the ears and embroidery) to make an approximation of a llama.  The toy is made of scraps of wool and mohair yarn (not, alas, of llama fiber) and stuffed with polyester.  The black embroidery is done in related fiber—alpaca.