Textile Courses
ENJOY LEARNING
IN THE COMPANY OF OUR LOVELY ALPACAS
Work with the natural fibres from our beautiful herd in the peace & quiet of the Norfolk countryside
Working with Alpaca Fibre
Alpaca is a soft, luxurious, warm, hypoallergenic natural fiber.
ALPACA FLEECE
I spin, weaver, dye and knit and have always loved working with the fleeces from our herd. Alpaca fibre is extremely versatile and a beautiful fibre to work with. Sorting and grading the fleeces is an essential part of preparation; usually the fleeces need little work,but just like any babies the crias love messy play and will take half a hedge with them if they can!
Natural Colours
Alpaca fibre has a beautiful lustre and comes in many colours. We have alpacas from pure white to the deepest black, with numerous creams, fawns & browns in between - not to mention all the gorgeous greys, which are my personal favourite.
HAND SPINNING
Learning to hand spin is a gentle process and a great way to be mindful and focus on the moment. Making your own yarn is extremely rewarding. The process of taking a project from the animal - be it an alpaca, sheep or your pet dog - to a finished garment has a marvellous sense of achievement.
WEAVING
Alpaca makes a wonderful woven fabric that is soft, warm and has an elegant drape. I prefer to use a simple weave that allows the natural beauty of the yarn to characterise the pieces. Working with handspun yarn gives fantastic texture and blends beautifully with our mill spun yarn. As Alpaca is such a strong natural fibre I use our yarn for the warp and weft to create a truly luxurious finish. Please visit our Store for details of current our current stock of handwoven alpaca scarves and shawls.
ALPACA YARN
Alpaca yarn can be knitted to make the finest cobweb lace shawl or a super warm winter jumper. The natural insulating properties of alpaca make the yarn an especially good choice for people with poor circulation. Our alpaca yarn is 100% alpaca and shows off the herds many natural colours. We usually have a limited amount of yarn for sale Please visit our Store for our current stock.
DYEING
Natural dyes create lovely soft tones which perfectly compliment the alpacas natural palette. There is a world of colour in our hedgerows and gardens! I grow many of my own dye plants, including Woad and Madder but there are many plants, roots and barks readily available to explore.
FELTING
Alpaca makes fantastic strong, soft felt. It can be used to make the lightest Nuno felted silk shawl or a sturdy felt hat that will keep the coldest wind at bay! I prefer working with raw fleece as the fibre has an inherent memory that produces wonderful textured effects. For my Nuno Felt silk scarves I use the very soft blanket area of the fleeces to create an extremely lightweight felt combined with silk.
KNITTING
Alpaca is soft and silky, once you've knitted with alpaca yarn you may never go back! You can substitute alpaca for most patterns but it is helpful to know the meterage of yarn needed (not just the weight) to help work out the substitution.a
Alpaca yarn is a great choice for people who are allergic to sheep wool. We usually have a limited amount of yarn for sale. Please visit our Store for our current stock.
