The Queen's hair made from Alpaca Roving from Alma Park

No, not the Queen of England - but this Voodoo Queen is sporting some serious alpaca braids!! This is some wonderful grey roving exclusively from Alma Park. Her name is Mother Brigitte and she is incredibly detailed and ready for her new home! Check her out !! She is truly remarkable as is all of Catt's dolls.

Wade Gease does an overview on skirting - Video

Are you brand new to fleece skirting?  Wondering where to start? Here is Wade Gease (AOBA certified alpaca halter and fleece judge) talking about the basics of skirting a fleece.  Now, this is JUST basics. . . . for sending to a co-op.  If you want to send to a mill to have yarn made, you will need to do more skirting and then sorting and grading.  For show fleeces, there is a more delicate procedure, but for those who have never skirted, this is a great way to start!!

If you are looking to learn how to skirt, sort, grade etc - please contact us for more info.  We also can help with show fleeces. 


Video - Skirting - Part 1

Video - Skirting - Part 2

Alma Park Sponsors Student Design Fashion Winner !!!

Paca Pockets by Yaeji Son of FIT

For the last several years, in the Fall, I have traveled to Manhattan to present to the students of FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology), what alpaca fiber is, where it comes from,  it's fiber characteristics and its benefits and drawbacks as part of the AOBA sponsored SDC (Student Design Competition).   Each year, we (Alma Park) also sponsor the SDC by contributing money and usually I sponsor a student from FIT.  I usually have one assigned to me unless one strikes a particular chord with me while I am visiting.

This year I sponsored YAEJI SON (assigned to me) from FIT and her creation of "Paca Pockets" is pictured above.  Yaeji won FIRST PLACE in the Fashion section of the competition and is awarded a cash scholarship of $1,000 thanks in part to the generous donations from farms across the country in the way of money and materials. 

Her design does strike a chord with me now as I design and sell alpaca purses both knitted, felted and sewed in my store and have won several awards at shows across the country with my designs.  See one of my designs below.   It is an original design.


To read more about the SDC and to get involved visit : www.alpacafashion.com

The Day Purse™©- an original design by Rose Mogerman of Alma Park   

Wooden beaded handle is wrapped around leather string for strength

A drawstring is both useful and attractive

Fully Lines and a wooden dowel attached for strength and to prevent drooping

Fashionable and practical

New AOBA Fashion Spot

I think it is a great twist on the old AOBA commercials.  Post on the old commercial links can be found here.

NEW Fashion Spot by AOBA -  click here

AOBA Old Commericals - a Compilation

AOBA has stepped up it's advertising game (finally) and has produced some videos - now if I would just see them on TV or hear on radio rather than just youtube !! Look at the older 30 second spots and then look at the new Fashion and radio spots - getting a bit better.

Some Old AOBA commercials -
Comm1
Comm2
Comm3
Comm4
Comm5

Newbie corner - Wondering what the Levels mean at an ALPACA SHOW?

I have been asked this question so much that I decided to write a blog post about it in order to help out the breeders out there that are unaware of the "levels" at an alpaca show. Many newbies are confused, but I have also met many experienced breeders who wonder how the levels are determined, so here it is in a nutshell!!

Levels are assigned based on how many alpacas will come to show. In other showing circles (such as dogs), you must qualify for a lower level before moving up. . .but that is not true of the AOBA certified show system. As you can see from the table below, the higher the level, the more competitive the show will be. Many level I and II shows do not have enough alpacas for championships and have color classes combined, like white and beige. At the level V shows, if you place in the ribbons it is what I like to call "A good ribbon" even if it is 6th. At a level 5 show, the white juvi boys could have 15 animals in a single class. . . to place 6th means you STILL beat 9 other animals.

Level I (Halter: 36-99) (Fleece: 36-74)
Level II (Halter: 100-299) (Fleece: 75-174)
Level III (Halter: 300-499) (Fleece: 175-349)
Level IV (Halter: 500-799) (Fleece: 350+)
Level V (Halter: 800+)

I think that there are some changes that would really make showing more meaningful to the alpaca world. I think qualifying like the dog show world does would allow the cream of the crop to come out on top because only the "top dogs" would compete at level 5 shows.

I also think that if an animal takes a championship at a level 5 show, he/she should NOT be allowed to show at a lower level show - like 3 or 4. Some smaller farms go to only the smaller shows and when they are competing with a level 5 champion, the do not have a chance in many cases.

What do you think?

AOBA Video/on CNBC

So here is the CNBC video link I promised to share with you weeks ago.   AOBA touted this as a GREAT promotional piece and a board member WAS available for this one and able to FLY out to California to join, but one was not available for Stossel when it was approx an hour dry away OR an hour dry into the city for the rebuttal piece.  I find it amazing!

Anyway - while "cheerier" and "lighter" than the Stossel piece, it still talks about tax breaks, a "cottage industry" and questions the business plan or sustainability of the industry.  Not much different than the questions Stossel asked in my opinion anyway.

I think the alpaca breeder, Cindy, in the piece did great in continuing to mention it is about the fiber.  But the guests on the show as well as the promo for it was not so positive and not unlike John Stossel and Fox.

Maria Bartiromo  introduced the piece saying this:
"Government wants you in the alpaca business pretty extraordinary tax benefits if you join the herd"
The title for the spot is: 
"The Fleecing of America"
 Other guest on the finance show asked:
 "Is it the best use of the tax code" and are they (meaning alpaca breeders)
"Fleecing tax payers "

So should AOBA have promoted this and not the Stossel piece? Should someone from AOBA been to the Stossel spot (especially) when it was filmed in their own backyards?  YOU DECIDE!  Here is the link to the piece. 

A New Year - A New Phrase

Many folks ask us where our name Alma Park comes from - and it is not a very exciting story - so we decided to make it more fit our business and industry!!  For a new year - we are rolling out our new phrase!!

For our Farm - Alma Park Alpacas™
A - Alpacas and
L  - Llamas
M - Made in
A - America
Alpacas and Llamas Made in America™

For The Yarn Shop at Alma Park™
P - Pure
A - Alpaca
R - Ready to
K  -  Knit
Pure Alpaca Ready to Knit™ or Pure Aymara Ready to Knit™

Learn more about Genuine Aymara™ here

So there you go Alma Park Alpacas ™ --- Alpacas and Llamas Made in America™ and Pure Alpaca Ready to Knit™

I think this says it all !!!

Looking for a green alternative to wood for eternity?

No kidding, sheeps wool is now being used to keep us warn in "the ever after".  Check out this article and maybe we can start something similar in the US with ALPACA???

Back with the daily ALPACA Buzz!!

Hi All - I have been out of touch for a while having a "cria" of my own!  In any event, I am now on a pretty good schedule that will allow me to bring you the almost daily, witty, albeit sometimes controversial commentary that you have to expect and I hope like!!  Stay tuned for an article a day over the next week or so while I get all caught up on the buzz that is happening!!  Lots of interesting stuff has been happening while I was "away".