This beautiful girl is the first baby born at Alpaca Acres this year! And they’ve named her… Shireena :) I couldn’t be more thrilled, and I can’t wait til we can drive up to see the baby! Annie – you’re amazing! xoxox.
Posts Tagged 'alpaca'
Introducing “Shireena”
Published May 25, 2012 Uncategorized 5 CommentsTags: alpaca, alpaca acres, yarn
Photo-Take-Outter Friday #13 – Have you ever wondered where yarn comes from? A photo essay at Alpaca Acres
Published May 18, 2012 Photo-Take-Outter Friday! , Photography 4 CommentsTags: alpaca, alpaca acres, fleece, shearing, wool, yarn
Last Saturday Tito and I had the opportunity to be part of the annual shearing day at Alpaca Acres. Our friends, Anne and Dan, invited us and a bunch of their friends to come help out on this busy day, taking their herd from this:
To this:
We were so impressed by this process. The alpaca stand against a table which rotates so they’re lying down – and instantly the alpaca ‘pit crew’ gets to work. Not one second is wasted while the alpaca is being worked on. The actual shearing is done by Dan. Dan is careful, methodical and gentle with his shearing.
The others are trimming the legs, carting away the fleece for sorting and even trimming the toenails. Throughout the process other people always have their hands on the alpacas body, supporting them, petting them, comforting them, even talking to them. Everything we saw was marked by their consideration and love for their herd.
Many hands take part in sorting the enormous amount of fleece per animal. The strands that are coarse, knotted or too short are removed. The ‘first’ and ‘second’ shearings are separated by length and quality. Being newbies at this, the sorting table was where Tito and I started out.
Afterwards you have a handsome alpaca, straight from the spa!
Look at this handsome fellow, I was wondering what his fleece looked like so Annie brought it out -
Beautiful fluffy grey and white. He comes variegated!
This is Sandy, the alpaca that I bought a sweaters worth from once. Some of her fleece went to my pen-pal in Boston :) This is her before picture.
The thickness of Sandy’s fleece.
Another view of the thickness, mid shear.
Her fleece being carted off for sorting
Annie and Paula – sorting fleece is so awesome – you just want to bury your face in it!
And Sandy’s after photo – half the size she was :)
Isn’t that crazy? Here she is again:
Thank you Annie and Dan for letting us be part your shearing day! We have a whole new appreciation for where yarn comes from :)
Speaking of where yarn comes from, next weekend I’ll be taking my first spinning class at the Purple Purl – stay tuned!
Alpaca Acres
Published October 11, 2011 Photography , Travels 31 CommentsTags: alpaca, alpaca acres, farm, Freshly Pressed, yarn
What a busy weekend! It was the perfect weekend – full of family, friends and crafty pursuits. I couldn’t have asked for a better thanksgiving.
On Saturday Tito and I drove to a an alpaca farm that he found online - Alpaca Acres in Stratford Ontario. Yes, he sleuthed out an alpaca farm for me and drove me there as a treat. I tell ya, the man is a keeper ;)
While there we were treated to a tour by the owners Ann and Dan. They are amazing, friendly folk who really love their animals and have raised award winning Alpacas. After speaking with them I had a whole new appreciation for what it takes to raise healthy, happy alpacas.
We learned lots of interesting things about how to care for Alpacas, and got to feed them some treats. They are friendly, inquisitive animals with the softest wool.
This gossipy looking Alpaca with the white stripe on her head is named Sandy. Ann sells her yarn with the name of the animal it came from (how cool is that?) so instead of matching up dye lots you match up who the wool came from. I treated myself to a sweaters worth of ‘Sandy’.
This beautiful design by Erin Harper (Ravelry ID, Project Page) is called the New York Cardigan, and I think it’s the perfect pattern for all this gorgeous Alpaca. I already swatched for it and I think it’ll be a perfect match!
We enjoyed ourselves immensely and will definitely be coming back for more yarn. I love that I can get high quality yarn that’s soft as anything, from amazing people, while supporting an Ontario farm and knowing that I’m buying sustainable yarn with a low carbon footprint. I foresee many visits to Stratford in our future :)



































