A Good Yarn

Yarn is the base of all textiles. As a breeder of fiber producing animals, alpaca breeders need to understand how what you do affects this basic building block.

A Good Yarn walks you through how yarns are constructed, why they are constructed the way they are and the affect fiber health and fiber condition has on the yarns produced.

This three hour seminar will be presented by Carrie Hull from Coarse Broads at Alpacas at Tucker Creek in Astoria, OR on Saturday, June 27th as part of our three day shearing event. The cost of the seminar is $50 which includes course materials, continental breakfast and lunch. The cost of the course is included in the mentoring package for any clients of Alpacas at Tucker Creek.

As many of you may recall, 2008 was our first year to include fiber sorting in our shearing process. To say it was a success would be an understatement. In the big scope of things this service is worth so much more than the charge per fleece. Just knowing that by the end of shearing day all of the fiber is ready to go with recommendations for its highest and best use along with details we can use for future breeding decisions--makes us wish we had known about this years ago.

Another sorting event will find Peggy helping Hailey Parker at Snowy River Alpacas on May 18th in Colfax, CA, where Robyn Kuhl will be sorting her fiber. Find an event near you (be it a seminar or shearing event) and see what a huge benefit fiber sorting provides for your farm. A list of events is being compiled and will be posted soon. To learn more about the Certifed Sorted process go to www.naafp.us.