Out of the Bag & Beyond

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What You’ll Learn

Have fun while you learn how to get your fiber out of the bag and put money into the bank!

The information you’ll gain from this hands-on seminar is invaluable to your alpaca business.  Even if you don’t want to learn how to spin, knowing the process will help you to create better yarn, become more knowledgeable about fiber arts and the uses of alpaca fiber.

Hands On Learning

No Experience Necessary

2-Day Seminar

This seminar offers:

· Mill Prep

· Spinning

· Weaving

· Marketing

This is the perfect seminar for those that have:

· Bags of fiber waiting to be prepared

      OR  a fear of opening the bag

· A desire to learn the terms and techniques to become informed breeders

      OR are intimidated by fiber artists

· A burning desire to learn one of all of the topics

      OR a fear of any or all of the topics

· A need to socialize with others while learning

· The need for a “Hall Pass” to leave the farm 

Stacy in Missouri                       OR                           Lisa in Tennessee

Mill Prep

Hands On Learning

What You’ll Learn

 

You will actually OPEN the BAG, learn how to skirt and sort the fleece to create better yarn.  It’s a different process than preparing a fleece for the show.

 

Do you want to combine your fleeces?

 

Or keep the fleece as individual alpacas? 

 

All fleeces serve a purpose, but they are not created equally.  We’ll show you how to decide how to prepare each fleece and which ones are compatible. 

 

The reasons for doing so are covered in the Marketing Section of this class. 

 

How do you want your yarn to come back?  It all depends on the micron count and your plans on it’s uses.

Spinning

Hands On Learning

What You’ll Learn

It’s more than just learning how to spin yarn. You will learn the carding process.  

Use a drum carder for blending colors or fibers to prepare and entire fleece. 

This process is also used in making batts for felting. We’ll also have hand carders—the smaller, more affordable method of preparing fibers.   For some, this is the most exciting section.

After the fleece is prepared, you are ready to try your hand at creating yarn.  This is where we tend to get a little rowdy.  It’s fun and frustrating but in the end, you’ll have yarn.  We won’t tell all of our secrets here, but word is rapidly spreading that this is how you’ll want to learn how to spin. 

 

As an Ashford dealer, we’ll have several styles of wheel that you can try.  You’ll learn how each wheel works and find the one that fits your needs.  This process is similar to the “Chinese Fire Drill” or “Musical Chairs”.  Yep, we’ll keep you hopping!

Weaving

What You’ll Learn

Hands On Learning

You will learn how to:

· Calculate yardage for individual projects

· Which yarns are suitable for different products

· Warp

· Weave

· Finish your project

We’ve met so many people who are intrigued with the idea of weaving.  Don’t be intimated.

You’ll learn on one of the easiest, yet most versatile looms made; the rigid heddle loom. 

It’s easy to warp and fun to weave.  You will learn how to calculate how much yarn you’ll need for a project,  the warping method and finally you’ll weave a scarf!  Whether you want to highlight hand spun yarn, weave a sample with the yarn you carry in your farm store or create your own line of 100% MADE IN THE USA finished goods.

Your friends and family will be amazed.  And so will you—at how easy is really is to create dramatic results. 

Learn Even MORE about weaving

Marketing

Hands On Learning

What You’ll Learn

Get ready to get your fiber out of the bag and into the bank.

Now that you’ve create finished goods from your own alpacas, how do you go from bag to bank?  We’re not telling our secrets here.  But you’ll get lots of advice and marketing techniques as we close our seminar.  Stacy has many years experience in the advertising/marketing world. 

We’ll brainstorm together and you’ll be inspired.