Our four alpacas Yogi, Booboo, Ranger & D’Jango are sheared annually,  usually around the beginning of June when the weather is warmer and a good few months before the cold weather returns, giving time for their fleece to grow back.  We have a shearer called Scott and with his small team, the four boys are all sheared within the hour, along with a bit of pampering including nail trimming and a general check over.

​

The fleece is graded into two groups, 1st and 2nd and bagged accordingly.  After we remove the straw and other larger bits of vegetation, the next step is off to Lilipop Mill, a small family run mill in Staffordshire, for processing.

​

Once the process at the Lilipop Mill begins, it takes about 3 or 4 months for the fleece to be made into yarn and a little longer for the items to be made.  Well worth the wait! 

​

1st grade fleece, from around the alpacas body is the softest and is used for hats, scarfs, shawls, snoods.  2nd grade fleece is from their legs, neck and heads and tends to be courser and shorter and is used for rug making, stuffing cushions and pillows and also making dryer balls.

​

Any part of their beautiful warm fleece that doesn’t make the grade  does not go to waste, we like to make it into nesting material for our garden birds. 

​

We have had some lovely items made by Lilipop Mill, all hand knitted and this year have gone with the boys fleece combined together. 

Alpaca fleece  is hypoallergenic no lanolin which makes it a perfect product to use.