Moon Dancing
User
Macho
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Re:SOJAA Fiber Mill Redux - 2006/03/07 17:26
Two tugs on the witches nose then circle around the toad, superstition, Quantum Mechanics or the Forces that be. The last time the SOJAA fiber mill was discussed and dropped, it manifested in New Mexico with grants to train low income peoples and to finance it, just as we had discussed but failed to act on it. So now if it is going to happen for real in SOJAA Country this time there are steps to be taken that lead up to this lofty but attainable goal.
For starters if we stand on someone else’s shoulders for personal promotion, then when they fall so do we. If they succeed then so do we, therefore, in my thinking, the path that is taken needs to see that our local mini mill and the existing alpaca fiber co-op succeed and so do we. What we start will also lead and carry other regions of the alpaca industry to success.
I am all for supporting SOJAA to become a leader in the alpaca fiber industry. It needs done and done right and it needs to include the smallest to the largest fiber producer.. In my experience from sales, first there needs to be a need to be filled before you can sell anything. Except for emotional buying, like the loveable huggable alpaca and the dream of big easy money, that has nothing to do with the fleece.
We have fleece but there is no need that other fibers can not fill and at lower prices. So what makes us so special?
What I do find that sells alpaca fiber and finished products is the buyer wants to support me, the local farmer and other local farmers. So we need to promote what makes SOJAA alpaca a cut above. Locally grown, grown in the U.S.A., hand made by local artists for SOJAA, machine produced for SOJAA with SOJAA fleece and to SOJAA’s specifications.
So to start this endeavor, this is what I propose and why I think it will work:
I can not knit, I can not crochet, and I can felt and weave a little, but do not have time for any of it. Most of us don’t. There are not enough spinners in the land to process the fleece that I grow much less the rest of the counties fleece. Here is where I need a mill or a viable co-op.
So now I have yarn but have you ever tried to sell 100 pounds of yarn? Alpaca fiber is a value added industry so each process about doubles the value. I can not bring it successfully beyond hiring it milled to yarn.
I have started Co-op-ing my rovings to local spinners who just love to spin for the sake of spinning. They give me back hand spun yarn and we split the income when I can sell it. I have co-oped my yarn to local knitters and crocheters and we split the income when I sell it. I receive the retail value of the yarn and they receive the value for their work. I think this co-oping with local artist will be a viable start for SOJAA’s first steps into becoming a fiber industry leader.
Spinners and knitters love to handle alpaca fleece. It is a passion, these are the tactile artists. They just want the opportunity to work with the fleece or yarn but they are hesitant to buy it due to cost to supply their passion or hobby. They don’t want to keep all that they make. Co-oping serves them and me. Plus they are talking about alpaca to all they know, thus expanding my circle of influence. There is an army of fiber artists that would love to participate and do it on shares.
I can see this working by our using the SOJAA website and creating a SOJAA brand, and a SOJAA store. We need a label that will promote SOJAA, the producer and the artist. We start by choosing (a hypothetical number) six patterns for knitted scarves and hats and six for crocheted scarves and hats, 6 for woven scarves, etc. We create a repeatable standardized, but hand produced product. With time we can move into triangle shawls and rectangle, then sweaters or vests, felt hats and hand made alpaca rugs of selected patterns.
Our products will all be SOJAA grown and locally hand crafted in either a locally mill spun line or a hand spun line. We contract out alpaca yarn by weight and quality to local crocheters and knitters and they give us back the same in finished products. We sell it and pay them and the alpaca farm that paid to have the yarn spun or provided the hand spun yarn. SOJAA will get a % for providing the standard, direction and the market place. Who knows we may even be able to supply the National Co-op with a product line. This is a place to start without huge capitol output and risk and the ways to grow from here are tremendous.
Everyone will somehow be working towards the same goal. We all win by creating a market for what we grow. May we all prosper.
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