alpacas for sale, alpaca fiber products, roving, custom made wooden looms (round and triangle looms)

Janet and Clark Otterness
Alta Mist Alpacas
2531 North Mountain Glen Road
Pine Canyon, Utah 84074
MAP

phone: 435-882-0790
cell: 801-557-4162
email:

Home . Alpacas for Sale . Yarn and Rovings . Custom Looms. Farm Journal . Farm Photos

Now standing at stud: Twinstar’s Boomerang with the Color Champion ribbons from the 1st annual Wild West Alpaca Fleece Show. Boomer is our new herdsire with his first crias due in the spring 2007. We are very excited to see what his full Peruvian heritage brings out in our herd. With Hemingway and Peruvian Felix as his grandsires, the potential for some truly outstanding crias is in our near future.

We've got something new on the sales page! Click here to check it out.

AND view our new alpaca farm photo slideshow!

In January of 2000, we began to plan for our retirement activities. We had found information about alpacas, investigated the investment potential, participated in a couple of seminars and visited a few ranches. We were hooked! We bought three alpacas and thought we'd be happy to board. That lasted until we visited more ranches that summer. We bought land in August and moved into our ranch on July 30, 2002.

Clark retired in August 2001, so he manages the ranch and makes fine wooden products used to create with fiber. Janet received her degree in Art, with an emphasis on fibers. She has begun spinning for her knitting and weaving. The lifestyle is so relaxing and provides a fulfilling way to spend more time with our children and grandchildren.

We chose our alpacas based on density of fiber and conformation, which reflects the best of the alpaca and is the basis of our breeding program. To further our goals, we purchased a Hemingway son for our herdsire: Hemingway's Papa, pictured above.

We give workshops on using the wooden sock and hat frames we make along with the triangle looms. Clark also makes skein winders, lucets, and niddy-noddies and has repaired a few spinning wheels.

We give farm tours by request and have a small farm store with fiber and other products available. Spend time with us discussing breeding choices, location considerations, herd maintenance activities, fiber use and handling, pasture management, nutrition, barn design, and necessary concerns. We offer package deals, breeding, boarding, and training. We host workshops and love company. We provide ongoing support and education for the first time buyer.

To find out more about the alpaca lifestyle, read entries from our farm journal.

Here is an excerpt from the first journal dated August 14, 2004:

August has been busy, already. The first few days (July 28-Aug 1) I was away at a spinning retreat. The local guild has so many talented people! They share their experience and knowledge throughout the year, but we really learn a lot those four days. I was told I wouldn't leave until I learned to spin with a drop spindle, so I finally did. After four years, I love it and am actually making some yarn...

Click here to read the newest journal, dated February, 2007...