A Word about Accoyo Alpacas!

Lindy and Paul with Don Julio Barreda at the Accoyo Ranch, November 2000

Accoyo... schmoyo... that's what some say and what I USED to say... until I visited THE Accoyo Ranch in Macusani, Peru and met Don Julio Barreda in the flesh, saw hundreds of his incredible alpacas, and began to raise huacaya alpacas of Accoyo descent. Hopefully I'll find time to say more about this incredible visit to Accoyo next week.

Here's what I knew about them before that visit in November, 1999. They sold for a lot of money. They were highly touted by some of the more "monied" breeders in the business. I didn't especially like some of their type. Nor did I understand density! When we went to look at Accoyo Augusto at Magical Farms to consider him for breeding, I didn't comprehend what I was seeing and feeling, and instead went away thinking that Augusto had a lot of guard hair (really NOT, it's just that he was soooo dense that his primary follicles were a bit more obvious than on some of the less dense and coarse (mostly unimproved) Chileans that I was accustomed to seeing at that point.

Okay, I'm almost out of time with a plane to catch out to the National Elite Auction. I could write volumes, and others have about Accoyo alpacas. I'll leave you with this simple thought: top selling alpacas of all time.... (not including suris, huacyas only)....

1. Peruvian Accoyo Legacy (sold to Virginia Alpaca Farm, half interest for $750,000 with Crescent Moon Ranch). Broke another record years before at $165,000. Now deceased...

2. Accoyo Royal Fawn- Sold to Maple Brook Farm and Double O Good for $600,000?

3. Accoyo Augusto- Sold to Five Star Alpacas for $220,000?

Accoyo America Auction- always one of the top selling average sales of the year....

The list could go one, get the picture?

National Elite Auction

Dear Friends,
As active participants in the alpaca industry for nearly 15 years, we have always prepared for a softer market (simple supply and demand), and that time has come with our crazy economy. How have we prepared? By giving generously of our time as industry leaders, learning about fiber, traveling to Peru and conferences nationwide to maximize our education, and partnering and networking with knowledgeable people all over the country and the world. Most of all, we have selected and bred to the BEST, most sought-after bloodlines, promoted them through shows and active participation in auctions, and through solid customer support! Every livestock industry has several levels of animals (show-seed stock, registered and grade), and we have always strived to offer high-end seed stock for our customers.

El Nino's Accoyo Michelangelo and winning Offspring

The National Elite Alpaca Auction is a first-class event which we have participated in for 3 years, and this year we proudly offer two outstanding daughters of El Nino’s Accoyo Michelangelo (above). Michelangelo’s offspring earned him the 2008 Extreme Progeny Herdsire of the Year, as well as the high-selling entry at the 2009 AOBA National Auction! His skin has been tested by Dr. Norm Evans as having one of the densest follicle counts in the country at 105 follicles sq/cm. Michelangelo’s offspring excel in the show ring, auction arena, and are now breeding and producing. Simply put, this Accoyo bloodline is one of the most solid you can find in the alpaca industry today. (Michelangelo is co-owned with North Coast Alpacas and Likada Farm.)

Lot #13, SSF Peruvian Bounce, is from a female (CMR Peruvian Na Tay) that we purchased from Rachel Hendrickson’s herd in AZ a few years ago. Na Tay just gave us an outstanding true black female from our newest black sire, Snowmass Nova’s Private Reserve. Bounce herself is elegant and stretchy with a very fine and soft-handling fleece. We recommend breeding her to Private Reserve (complementary, as is the choice of any of our world-class sires, OR you may use a Michelangelo breeding on another of your females). Lot #50, SSF Accoyo Noel, represents one of the hottest niches in our industry, a FULL ACCOYO FAWN. Quite simply, Accoyo genetics add value!Her dam is MA Accoyo Princess, one of our herd’s foundation females. Noel shows the potential to excel in the show ring, with great “type” and an elite fawn fleece. Another Princess daughter, SSF Accoyo Drama Queen, is our #1 female and has produced offspring that we have sold to some of the top farms in the country! Noel is unrelated to 419 Accoyo Maverick and this combination (Michelangelo and Maverick) is producing some wonderful results! She sells with a complementary breeding to Maverick or ANY of our sires (OR you may use a Michelangelo breeding on another of your females).

We haven’t really yet promoted another exciting fact about Michelangelo- one of his male offspring, SSF Cheshire Cat, is on his way or has just arrived in England! We sold champion brown Cheshire Cat last year to Ben Harford of Ashcroft Alpacas in Cotsold, Great Britain, where he will soon be standing stud!

Anyone who loves the alpaca industry as we do knows that there will be a strong demand for top breeding stock for years to come…. We feel that these Michelangelo daughters can help to infuse your herd with the fiber fineness and density and soundness that you’ll need to excel into the future. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at the farm at 859-873-8352 through July 26 or on my cell at 859-983-8808 after that. Tim Vincent with Celebrity Sales is excellent to work with for phone or proxy bidding, so feel free to call him at 503-704-9229 for assistance!

Thanks for reading about our outstanding consignments to the National Elite. You can learn more about the auction itself by checking out this link- it should be a great time with lots of great alpacas, seminars, food, friends, and fun-ALL FREE!
Sincerely,

Lindy and Paul

On a roll with felting!

Last week on my other blog I shared some recent felting projects and talked about having a creative rush without a lot of time to follow my urges. Well, it seems that positive intentions have resulted in both additional time AND continued inspiration!
I've been doing even more felting, and had a particularly great time making this hat! It is made from hand-dyed alpaca fiber, with the embellishments part merino and part hand-dyed and handspun alpaca.

Not a very patient person am I, but I am FINALLY learning to put unfinished projects aside occasionally when I get "stuck." I needled in the flowers last night, but didn't know what else to do the hat and it needed something. This morning I immediately had the idea for the lady bug and spiral, as well as the dotted band and handspun line on the brim.

After needle felting, I got the entire hat wet again with hot soapy water and wet-felted it again very gently with a palm sander (be sure to read up on safety precautions if you try this). I can't decide whether or not to stitch the edges like on the last one, but that can wait.