MFC Fiber Farm Feature: Hollyhock Farm Alpacas in Becker Minnesota

Teresa & Darryl Kukowski
Hollyhock Farm Alpacas
Becker, MN 55308

Email: teredarl[at!]sherbtel.net
Web-site: hollyhockalpacas.com



Other places online: Blog, new online store (coming soon), Facebook, Etsy-Holly Hock Alpacas, & Etsy-Alpaca Felting Kits.

About the farm...
My husband and I brought our first alpacas home in 2002 - 2 pregnant females. Since then we have had many babies (called crias) born on our little farm in central Minnesota. We own un-related males, but all our other alpacas are the offspring of those first 2 females. You can see our alpaca family tree on our website.


In 2006, I left the corporate world to work full time in the alpaca business. Besides breeding and raising the animals, I work with their wonderful fiber. We shear the alpacas every spring - even in Minnesota, they would be way too hot in the summer if they were not shorn annually.


I enjoy spinning yarn for sale and for knitting. With the yarn, I knit and weave. I make hats, mittens, scarves, wrist warmers, shawls, baby blankets, socks and hats. I felt the fiber into cat toys, around handmade soap and felt hats and mittens for extra warmth. I also dye much of the white yarn myself using natural dyestuff. I grow my own indigo, I gather black walnut husks, goldenrod , marigold flowers and more for dyeing. Nature provides a wonderful variety of plants that will dye yarn in beautiful hues. The art and science of dyeing is very fascinating and satisfying to me. The completed items are very warm, beautiful, itch resistant, and will last many years.

We try to create a small carbon footprint by using a local mini-mill, purchasing extra fiber locally, and picking or growing my own dye plants. We have a large veggie garden that we fertilize with the manure from the alpacas. Very little goes to waste on our little farm. I've even put together nesting material for birds from alpaca fiber and alpaca yarn leftovers.

WoolFest Fiber and Art Festival 2010 June 26 & 27 at Lake Metroparks Farmpark in Kirtland Ohio

WoolFest
Fiber and Art Festival
June 26 - 27, 2010
Lake Metroparks Farmpark
Kirtland, OH 44094

Web-site: http://www.lakemetroparks.com/programs/woolfest.shtml

Discover how hand-spun products are created from the fleece of farm animals. Get an up-close look at fiber-producing animals and a marketplace featuring fiber art vendors from across the Midwest. Demonstrations of herding, animal shearing, and fiber processing are highlighted throughout the weekend... Please see the link above for more information on this event.

Submit an Event to Midwest Fiber Crafts

Do you know of a great fiber related show, event, meeting, or other activity happening in the Midwestern United States? Please submit it to the Midwest Fiber Crafts blog. All submissions will be reviewed for posting and must meet the following criteria.

Submission Guidelines:
1) The event must take place in one of the Midwestern United States including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
2) The event must be fiber related.
3) The information submitted must include the event's website.

Submission Form:
When submitting event information, please include the following...
1) Name, Location, and Date(s)
2) Organization Affiliation (if applicable)
3) A brief description
4) An event website link for more information

Submissions MUST be made at least two weeks prior to an event.

Examples of Acceptable Event Submissions:
(This is not all possible, but just some examples for reference.)
fiber festivals, fiber focused craft shows, fiber guild and other fiber group meetings, fiber seminars and classes, fiber farm open houses and other fiber farm public activities, fiber organization meetings and events, etc.

Please search the blog to make sure your event is not already posted. We will be searching for events, etc., to post about so there is the chance that your event may already have been posted. On the rare occasion your submission is not accepted for posting, you will be notified. Please allow up to two weeks for the posting of your event. All event posting services are free!

If you'd like to submit an event, please do! Simply email MFC ( mfc [!at] thefunkyfelter.com ) the above information. And, if you have any questions or comments, please email MFC. We are happy to respond. Our intention is to be a good source of information for all Midwestern fiber enthusiasts. Thank you!