Meet the Maker - Hebb’s Alpaca’s
We have been loving getting to know Hebb's Alpacas over the past month or so and have been pleased to have a beautiful selection of their products for sale in our Scrap Store. Bev was excited to tell us more about her family of Alpacas and her growing local business as we continue to work together on all things fleecy in and around Langholm.
We are Hebbs Alpacas, a family who love Alpacas and over the last 13 years have become more and more involved in everything Alpaca. We started with 3 Hucaya’s on 4 acres of land to keep the grass down as our 2 horses were not eating enough of it! Little did we know then what a journey we would go on.
The gentle and inquisitive nature of Alpacas draws you in, the children in particular got hooked on having cria’s (baby alpaca) each year and then ventured into the show ring. Winning the odd one or two rosettes was just the icing on the cake.
We are now based in Canonbie with quite a few more acres of land and the herd has expanded to 70 Alpacas both Hucaya and Suri. We are now one of the top breeders of Suri Alpacas in the UK and have some of the world’s best genetics in our herd. We continue to improve our herd but sadly can’t keep every animal, so each year we do sell a selection of our Alpacas.
We are not just a breeding enterprise, Alpacas produce an exquisite fleece that is like cashmere, 4 times warmer than sheep’s wool and is hypoallergenic. We like to find a use for all this fabulous fibre and continue to offer new products to our customers. I love being outdoors and also love animals. As a child my mum taught me to knit but as I grew up I very rarely picked up my knitting needles. Despite this I loved anything crafty, often having a project on the go. Getting the Alpacas was a great excuse to have our fibre made into yarn and to use that yarn to get back into knitting. It is very satisfying knowing exactly which animal's fleece has gone into a garment you are wearing. The joy of using Alpaca yarn has resulted in me being inspired to learn new skills and I now crochet items and have ambitions to spin some yarn myself at home.
We have gained a wealth of knowledge about Alpacas over the years and love to share this with anybody who will listen. What better way to do this than by offering people the opportunity to come and visit on a meet and greet experience or on a walk through our lovely landscape.
I would describe what we offer at Hebbs as everything Alpaca. From selling the Alpacas themselves, offering meet and greets and trekking to using all the fleece that comes from the animals.
No fibre is wasted, however not all the fibre can be used to produce clothing. The leg and belly fibre tends to be too coarse to use in garments next to the skin but we use it for nesting material and are looking into other options to ensure that it goes to good use. The fibre that is good enough quality for garments is spun at a few mini mills in England. We have processed yarn from both our Suris and Hucayas and some of the fibre we have had core spun. This makes fantastic super chunky yarn.
Our yarns can be bought for crafting or we have a selection of knitted and crocheted garments ready made if you don’t fancy picking up the knitting needles yourself. We have also had socks made, both cushioned walking socks and everyday socks. These are wonderful to wear keeping your feet feeling fresh but warm all day no matter the temperature. For the keen crafters we have bags of fibre in different colours that can then be used in a customer's own creative endeavours. As a nod to the native home of the Alpaca, we like to offer a selection of hats and gloves made in Peru and for those people who come to visit us we also have a range of toys made with real Alpaca fibre. It’s a fantastic memento of the time spent at the Farm.
There are always new things happening on the Farm. We love the spring and summer when we have new Cria’s (baby alpacas) born, what colour will they be? Will they be male or female? Watching them run, jump and play in the field’s is just joyful.
Show season starts for us in March with the UK Alpaca National Show in Telford. This is the biggest show of the year where we take the best of our animals and pit them against the most impressive Alpacas from around the country. Show season is also a great opportunity to catch up with friends and other breeders. The children still love the shows and always have a favourite that they hope will do well.
This coming year we would like to focus on the development of our paddocks, transforming a few of our larger paddocks into smaller sections and adding field shelters to keep the Alpaca’s nice and cosy. We are always working on new product development and ideas which are kindly tested by keen and willing volunteers from our family. We will be sure to update our followers with new products and ideas as soon as they launch.
We still have some lovely examples of Bev’s products in both our online and Scrap Stores if anyone has a special project in mind do have a look.
You can find out more about Hebb's Alpacas on their social media page or on their website.
