Group G (Weaving Study Group of Potomac Fiber Artist's Guild) Field Trip

It was a beautiful day here in Maryland after a week  of drerary wet drizzley weather. Jo of A'paca Fun Fiberworks Farm met us at her barn with a smile and lots of energy.



We toured the barn, saw and pet the freshly shorned alpacas.

Some of us (Sue here) even got a kiss. Sue is here talking to Jo about Mobius' mom.

It was so beautiful and warm. The alpacas were out on the pasture, laying in the grass. I need to ask Jo if she is ever scared when she looks out there to see them all laid out.

We tore ourselves away...truly we could have stayed there all day. We blasted up to Frederick to make our lunch reservation. We dined at Brewer's Alley in historic downtown Frederick. The food was yummy and the service was great! We used this time to conduct our only "business" of the day which was to play Weaver's Poker. More on that later.

Our next stop was Singleton Fiber Processing. This is a small Belfast mini-mill fiber processing family. They have only been open for about a year. They take local raw fiber and turn it into roving for fiber farmers and enthusists. Sorry no pictures....I'll have to see if some of our group took some.  Mary was kind enough to actually show us the machines running. So we  could really see the process.

Next we went to Middletown to Harley Farms. Elaine Murray and her family raise Cashmere goats and Crabbot Arabians. She brought out 2 horses into the open yard and let were content to be pet, talked to and fed. Here Karen is communing with Carly.

We heard all about the goats and the process to get the cashmere from them. The shade was nice and the information was entertaining. Here are some group members from the left, Carla, Jeanne, Susan, Sue, Pegg, Cheryl and Janet in the front.

The goats were all out eating grass until we came with the feed buckets and boy did they make a bee line to the grain. Lots of us got to feed some pretty persistent goats.

Our last stop was Kiparoo Studio Farm. Annie Kelly gave us a short history of her journey in the fiber world. And then we shopped!!!

It was a great day.  Thanks to all our fiber farm hosts!