Yarns with Alpaca Fiber While yarns made with 100% alpaca fiber are luxuriously soft and warm, yarns made with a blend of fibers, including alpaca, are also wonderful and – in some cases – better suited for specific projects. Other fibers can add elasticity, durability, luster, etc. It’s important to … Read More
Core-Spun Yarn for Rugs Last week we picked up a new batch of yarn for weaving rugs. The yarn is core-spun, meaning that it’s made from alpaca fiber (from our herd) spun around a wool core yarn. The yarn was spun at Vermont’s newest mill, Aurora Spinnery in nearby Berlin. … Read More
Festival Schedule Fall 2023 We’re busy getting ready for the two big fall fiber festivals that are coming up soon! Skeining, dyeing and labeling yarn and packing up everything we need to set up our booth. First up is Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival on Sept 30-Oct 1. We will … Read More
Managing Alpacas in the Heat Temps here are in the high 80’s today and it’s humid. I know that’s not bad compared to some parts of the country, but it’s hot for northern Vermont. The alpacas are not comfortable with the heat and, especially, the humidity. Keep in mind, these … Read More
A Look at One Line in our Breeding Program This mild non-wintry weather must be good for something, so we went out and took a few new photos of our alpacas. We’d like to show off several related females in our herd who are carrying beautiful, fine fleeces. Snowshoe Pleione … Read More
Snowshoe Farm is Heading to Rhinebeck! After taking two years off due to COVID, we’re headed back to Rhinebeck this year for the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival. We’ll be in our usual spot in Barn 26, right next to the 4-H gate. Come and see us and … Read More
Fiber Skirting, Sorting and Processing At Snowshoe Farm, we try to make use of as much of the fiber produced by our alpacas as possible. We use the highest quality fleeces for our alpaca and alpaca-blend yarns. But there is a lot of fiber that does not meet our standards … Read More
Keeping a Barn Notebook One of the first things we did when we began raising alpacas was to put a notebook in the barn. It’s just a 3-ring binder full of scrap paper. Everything – and I mean EVERYTHING – that happens in the barn is written in the notebook. … Read More
Being a Farmer Includes Multiple Jobs If there’s one thing we’ve learned through our years of farming, it’s that the more you can do on your own, the better off you are. And the more money you’ll save! I’m always thankful that Ron has better-than-average carpentry skills, is good with … Read More
Colorful Small Herd Available The owners of this small herd of six females have asked us to help spread the word. Ideally, they would like to sell these girls as one group. But they are willing to sell individuals as long as you have other alpaca companions. Willow and her … Read More