Yes Virginia, It Does Matter Where Your Yarn Comes From
©2015 Frana Biederman

"Yes Virginia…" It does matter where your yarn comes from. Phi Beta Paca's shorn fleeces are  lovingly sorted by the handful. These sorters  obtain  certification  through specialized training to ensure that each handful is within an average of 3 microns and vary by no longer than a half inch in length. This creates a yarn of greater strength and uniformity:unlikely to pill.  This sorting by hand is called classing and grading. The people doing the sorting are trained to have eagle eyes as they grade the fineness of the fleece. Grade 1 is under 20 microns. Grade 5 fall just below the prickle factor :27-< 30 microns.  For reference  a human hair averages @100 microns

If you think social media marketing can be overwhelming, try learning to sort grades of fleece by three microns. I should know.  I took the five full day hands-on course and passed the exam that is the basic requirement to start an apprenticeship.  Then I looked at what made me happiest. Happiness is sharing the 'fiberlicious' ™ yarns grown by my pacas and getting to meet all the fabulous people who love fiber and yarns as much as I do.
These days we want to know where our food is grown.  Where our milk comes from. Should it be any different for the hats scarves and sweaters we create and share with our loved ones?
Tux Ole at 1 year.

I invite you to visit Phi Beta Paca and meet the alpaca that created and grew your  yarn. This way you are sure that the colors are natural and you have met the source, and that the alpacas are raised and nurtured with loving care.
Phi Beta Paca Yarns have a stories behind them. There is wonder and excitement knowing  that Tux Ole grew the fiber that became your yarn between 2014 and 2015, while he contentedly grazed with an unobstructed view view of the red mountain sunsets of the
Sangre De Christo Mountains in Taos, New Mexico. Visualize his prime fleece laid out ready for skirting at the Mill.   The Mill works  transformative magic His  21 ? skeins along arrived home in Taos on September 9 of this year.  All but  2 skeins are sold.
 Don't worry.  There are hundreds of skeins left for you.Love light silver gray?Try El Griego, the kissing alpaca that visits nursing homes
 
Or what about 90% dark chocolate in a single ply super bulky from ribbon winner Doctor Pepper whose
baby fleece was the color of the like-named soda?
If  sensuous cream- delights you try Prince who was born on 12-12-12!
Want a black with shine and depth that no dyed production will ever produce then sink your hands into Claudia Joy, Black Satin or Mary Full of Grace.  Could you guess that
Black Satin's mom looks more like a vicuña? I have so many more stories to share. Look
upcoming stories about the rich red-browns, a 'yarn' about a ribbon winning Alpaca that went to Ohio looking for love, found Mr. Right and Produced a Color Champion.
So,all of you 'Virginias' out there, do you still believe that it does not matter where your yarn comes from? Let me know. Feeling is everything ™. Frana

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @phibetapacayarns
Instagram: phibetapacayarns