Portage alpacas featured at Fibre Festival

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/08/2018 (2687 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sandra and Clint Brown will soon be grooming four members of their 35-animal alpaca herd to display at the sixth annual Manitoba Fibre Festival.

The festival is scheduled for Fri., Sept. 14 from 5 to 9 p.m. and Sat., Sept. 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Red River Exhibition Park. This year’s festival features about 80 vendors from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and as far away as B.C., along with workshops, demonstrations and a curated fibre art show. Fibre producers, spinners, knitters, weavers, and felters will have booths. Workshops to teach weaving, spinning and dying techniques, among other skills, are offered.

The Browns’ animals are part of their Enchanted Grove Alpacas breeding operation located west of Portage la Prairie, Sandra said they moved to a small acreage in the Portage area about 15 years ago. Neither one of them has a farming background, but they were prompted to invest in their first two alpacas — a mother and baby — to give their large dogs something to protect.

As the years passed, their herd grew and now features a champion male, Enchanted 4 Castiel, who has earned awards at alpaca shows in Canada and the U.S.

Sandra said the judges usually allocate 60 per cent of the total points for the animal’s fibre quality and 40 per cent for confirmation.

“It’s like a dog or horse show,” she said. “But I wasn’t expecting the results we got from him.”

The Browns are now implementing a breeding program designed to pass on Castiel’s superior characteristics and are using another stud male. Sandra said it’s a long-term project as alpacas have an 11.5-month gestation period.

The Browns own the two breeds of alpacas — Huacaya, which have fluffy fleece, and Suri, with straighter, silky fleece. They plan to bring a mother and baby of both breeds to the fibre festival’s Hall of Breeds show. The show will also include a range of sheep breeds.

As well as breeding alpacas, the couple sends the fleece shorn from their animals to an Ontario mill where it’s processed and returned as yarn or roving. Sandra dyes the yarn to sell in skeins.

“That market has taken off because people want to buy local. Our products go from the back of the animal through to the knitting needle.”

Some yarn is sent to an Alberta mill where it’s combined with nylon and bamboo to create a durable sock yarn.

She will be selling some of the knitted and felted items she makes using her alpaca yarn and roving at the fibre festival and plans to attend Scarecrow Day in Oakville on Sat., Sept. 22.

Enchanted Grove Alpacas is one of three local alpaca farms that will have vendor booths at the festival with the others being Penny Lee Alpacas from Cartier and Perimeter Alpacas from Headingley. Bear and Bunny Yarns from Headingley will also be a vendor.

Fibre festival co-ordinator Margaret Brook said one of the biggest additions to this year’s event is a fashion show that will be staged several times during the festival.

“It features items made by our vendors,” she said.

Brook noted that one of this year’s sponsors is the Campaign for Wool, an international organization that promotes the use of wool. “His Royal Highness Prince Charles is the campaign’s patron.”

Weekend admission to the festival is $5 and parking is free.

For more information, see https://manitobafibrefestival.com