….the alpacas are the stars of the show for your tour…..

Arriving at Mourne Alpacas as a knitter will give you the opportunity to literally meet the sources of all of the gorgeous Mourne Alpaca yarns – standing in the pastures and waiting to greet you! This is a family run herd, with all  4 children in this family experienced herd handlers and halter trainers, and they will be on hand for your tour to introduce you to their favourites out of the herd.

Mourne Alpacas have the largest all pedigree alpaca herd in Ireland, with a herd of the most stunning elite alpacas you could hope to meet. The herd is exclusively huacaya (wah-ki-yah) alpacas, which have a fluffy, crimped fleece that grows perpendicular to the skin.
Alpacas come in 24 registered colours, but in reality in the pastures there are about 50 different shades in between, running from brilliant white through shades of fawn, cream, light and darker browns, through to blue black and true black, with some incredible seductive cinnamon, toffee shades and silver and rose greys on the colour spectrum as well. Depending on the time of year, you can see them all here in the pastures! Depending on the time of year, you can even get to see new born cria, and might even be lucky enough to witness a birth, which all happens as naturally as possible out in the pasture, just as Nature intends.

….the alpaca fleeces are the stunning centrepiece for study and skirting….

Once you have been up close and cosy with the alpacas, and had a chance for plenty of photos and questions, you will move onto the fleece. Alpaca fleece is lanolin free and therefore hypoallergenic, so anyone allergic to sheep wool can work with and wear alpaca yarns. During your tour, you will see fleeces matching the alpacas you have met, as they will be their fleeces! – you will get to feel, analyse and skirt some fleece (depending on month of tour) and you will have the opportunity to purchase full and partial fleece as well in a variety of colours and crimp.

…the alpaca yarns are the quality product of the alpaca farm….

While enjoying a cuppa after all your hands on with the alpacas and the fleece, you can get a chance to see, feel and purchase quality alpaca yarns and some blend yarns, in many natural colours of the alpaca and some stunning seasonal colour ranges created from natural dyes as well. They have all their fleeces processed professionally at a dedicated mill, not on the farm as they have a large quantity to work with, although raw fleeces are also available for purchase for anyone who is keen to take some for home spinning. Depending on the month of your tour, there may also be a variety of home knit products created from our alpaca yarn range, and a range of alpaca merchandise for fun and gifts!