The NIAG and Two Rivers Mill are organising a Community Spin using alpaca fleeces only from small NIAG owners.
We want a group of NI herds who would otherwise struggle individually to meet our minimum batch weight for their own production to have access to our facilities as part of a larger combined fleece lot.
The scheme is available for up to 10 alpaca breeders who each commit for processing 10 – 15kg of alpaca fibre (allowing for sorting waste) prepared to TRM specifications. Training in fleece preparation will be given and we aim to have 100kg of fleece to process.
We will combine all the fleeces into 3 or 4 blended colour batches and turn them into yarn (usually at 75 – 80% yield). A potential extension to the project would be turning some or all of the yarn into products if we can achieve favourable knitting or weaving costs.
A co-ordinator appointed from within the group will liaise with the mill for costs and contacts. Each participating herd will contribute to the processing costs in proportion to their fleece weight and will be credited with their proportion of the finished yarn, products or sales. Ideas and suggestions will be welcome as the project proceeds
We hope this collaboration will raise the profile of Northern Irish alpaca and open the possibility for further projects. If successful the process could become a regular collaborative project.
Project details can be found here