ONTARIO, Ohio — Alpaca fiber is a sound indicator of the weather; the colder the air, the thicker their coats.
The alpacas on Julie Myers’ 36-acre Thornapple Hill Alpaca Farm have thin coats this year — but that doesn’t mean Myers is short of premium, handmade alpaca fiber products like socks, mittens and felted ornaments.
Myers has been in the business of owning alpacas for six years. She owns 10 alpacas that provide her with the fiber needed to knit and crochet anything and everything she wants. Then she sells her products out of her home.
Myers grew up on the farm she now owns. Her parents bought it when Myers was a child, but sold it after retiring. When her mother got sick, Myers bought the childhood farm and had her parents move in. Her mom died shortly thereafter.
She now knits and crochets as an homage to her mother.
“My mom taught me how to knit and crochet growing up,” said Myers. “It was a sweet memory and I wish she were here to share it with me. She would have loved it.”
After her mother died, Myers needed something to keep her busy. She first ran into alpacas at the Richland County Fair six years ago.
“I fell in love. They have personalities and they’re loving animals,” Myers said, while kissing Marz, her ‘kissing alpaca.’
According to Myers, alpacas live for 15 to 20 years, making them relatively easy to care for.
“You can feed one horse as much food as 10 alpacas need,” said Myers. “So they’re affordable and they also don’t need as much land to roam.”
She would know — she owns 10 alpacas and one horse. She also owns free-range chickens, barn cats and a labrador dog.
“He’s (Gabe, the labrador) my protector for the alpacas. They’re (the alpacas) prey animals and don’t have many ways of protecting themselves. Other than spitting. But they only spit when it comes to their food.”
Her alpacas are sheered once per year. After she sorts their fiber by name — every alpaca has a name — it is shipped to a fiber mill in North Carolina. The company spins the fiber into yarn and ships it back to Myers, who knits and crochets the yarn into scarves, socks and other winter adornments.
Although biased, Myers said alpaca fiber is better than wool.
“For one thing, it’s much, much warmer. And it’s not itchy,” she said. “Plus, it’s all-American made, fed and raised (alpaca fiber). They’re fed with locally raised grain.”
Myers had an open house sale of her alpaca products Dec. 5 and 6, then again on Dec. 12 and 13. She said the sales went wild, so she will open her house again next weekend, Dec. 19 and 20 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
She has products from Holly Cox, also a local alpaca farmer who spins her own fiber and makes various products.
For more information, visit the farm’s Facebook page.
