So as Adeline’s birthday treat we visited Surico – an alpaca farm nestled in the gently bubbling hills just shy of Lake Rotorua. As one of the nearest alpaca farms to us, we couldn’t resist a visit. And we’re rather glad we did.

Within minutes of arriving our host Hermione took us through to a pen and we watched the very miracle of creation unfold a few feet in front of us. Yep, it was breeding time alpaca style – and this meant one very happy male whose orgling sounds were bouncing around the hills.

Update – and here’s one I found on YouTube:

In the pen next door were the new born crias and their mums, all humming reassuringly to each other. Beautiful little things. One female who had given birth a week ago was already lying down next to the fence – this being typical female behaviour indicating that one whole week was long enough to be footloose and fancy free. She wanted in on the action.

Hermione took us around her farm and introduced us to some of her 150 alpacas living on just about 32 acres. The majority are white suris (see this post about suri alpacas) and that’s the real focus of their breeding programme.  It’s all about genetics, and Surico have some great credentials – have a look at their show results. Just standing in the paddocks chatting to Hermione whilst the alpacas approached inquisitively made it well worth the trip. There’s such curiosity in those big doe eyes and they radiate an appreciably calm energy.

As we left, I made a suggestion to Adeline: we don’t HAVE to get married next year. We could buy a starter herd instead.

“Er, no.”

Ah well, everything in good time…

Anyway – back to the title. We do love fleece. Especially rare fleeces of a, shall we say, international variety.

So we’re delighted to have worked on a project all about the very best wools, fibers and blends from around the world. Here is the result: www.internationalfleeces.com. More on how we approached the project.

Based in the US, International Fleeces is an importer and retailer of fibers for hand spinners from around the globe. They are eco-friendly, animal friendly, practice fair trade, and have unique fibers. So they fit perfectly into our desire to only work with ethical companies. If you’re a spinner yourself, visit the site, sign up for the newsletter or say hello to the owner (she’s lovely).