Our llamas produce soft, silky fiber which we use in various felting, spinning,
and weaving projects.  Our finished products  take time and care to be created.   Special orders are encouraged.   Items are normally one of a kind and colors, yarns etc. cannot always be reproduced as an animal only produces limited fleece a year and the fiber quality and color changes with the animal’s age.  Colors are all natural and vary from llama to llama and from year to year as does the softness and texture.

Prices do not include shipping fees.

Special orders are welcome with a deposit of 50% down with the balance due upon receipt. We can make no guarantees as to exact color, softness or pattern as the fiber availability varies so much. Raw fiber and yarn are also available for sale.

Have  a fleece from a special animal that you just cannot part with?  Talk to us about having a garment custom made from your own fleece!

Contact us at: ljb@graustarkllamas.com

       
Woven Scarves        $75 - $125
8-10” X 65-80”
Choice of 100% llama or 90% llama with
colorful ribbons & yarn accents

Skinny Woven Scarves
$45          4” X 65-80”
Skinny scarves may also be woven with 50% llama and 50% other fiber.

Woven Table runners      $60-$75
(24-36 in. long/ 10 in. wide)

Afghan or Throw$300

45 in. wide  by 45 in. long

Woven Poncho
$400
closed front & back with open sides
approx. 45” length and 44” width

Rolled brim hat

Many folks have admired our needle felted pictures and we have heard many say. "I couldn't do that !" What a challenge! We felt that anyone old enough to hold a sharp felting needle could do needle felting and should not be intimidated. So we set out to create a kit similar to a "paint-by-number" only it is felt-by-color! Using photos from our farm or favorite animals and places, we created pictures on cloth as a pattern. You can then lay the provided dyed llama fiber over the matching color and just needle it into the pattern. When finished, the pattern is completly covered and your felted picture is realy to be framed.

Complete Needle Felting Kits contain instructions, a pattern, acrylic felt backing fabric, 2 felting needles, dyed and natural colored fiber and a foam block to get you started;
Complete Kit $20.00

A Pattern Refill Kit contains only the instructions, pattern, fiber and backing pad
with no needles or foam.
Pattern Refill Kit $15.00

Needles only are 4 for $5.00

Below are several of our pattern designs. Not all are available at all times and we may have others periodically or at different sale venues. Please inquire if you have a favorite photo you would like made into a pattern.

This year Linda finally gave in and acknowledged that there was no way she was going to be able to hand process all our fiber. We selected two mini mills and sent off some for commercial processing into yarn. Both Morning Star Fibers and Georgia Mountain Fibers did a wonderful job turning our llama fiber into luxury yarns.
De-haired and spun as a two ply sport weight, we can now offer a limited number of commercially spun skeins for purchase.

Off White or Black

100 yard skeins - $12

300 yard skeins - $30.00

Camelid Fiber Processing 

After the fiber is sheared from  the animal, it must be processed into yarn. .  Fiber processing by hand is labor intensive.  This could be done by sending the fiber to commercial processing mills, however, part of the joy of working with the fiber is taking it from start to finish. 

 It all begins on shearing day…    Here at the farm, we try to blow much of the debris out of the llama’s coat before shearing.  We sometimes brush the animals as well, but weather and time constraints usually make shearing something to be accomplished as quickly as possible. Remember, the llamas are sheared for their comfort—the fiber is just a by-product.   We hand shear our animals while they stand tied to a fence or on a small enclosed area.  A bag of hay makes the process easier for everyone.  For us, shearing involves cutting the fiber from the animals using Fiskar© spring loaded hand shears. This leaves a nice 1 inch length to help prevent fly bites and sunburn.

 A normal show cut takes about 20 minutes with a full body shear doubling the time.  The fiber is then  bagged and labeled.  
 

When we are ready to use the fiber, it is carded using a  drum hand carder before it is washed.  Llama fiber contains no lanolin like sheep wool so it  is not greasy or sticky to work with.

 It is then hand spun on a spinning wheel and plied.  After plying, the yarn is washed in normal hair shampoo and a cream rinse is sparingly applied. After the yarn is dry it can be used for weaving, knitting or crocheting projects. 

 Finished projects are washed again in shampoo and cream rinse and the excess water is spun out in the washing machine.  The product is then dried in a machine dryer on low heat to  full the fabric.   Llama fiber does not shrink much, but should not be agitated or it will readily felt.

 All of our items are produced  at the farm.  Many of our products are standard, but we occasionally have specialty items available or these can be ordered.  These may include:  Ear Warmers, Purses, Felted pictures or other Felted Items and  Felting Needles and Kits.