Mary Harvey taught teenagers with emotional and behavioural problems for 40 years in London, Hertfordshire and Essex. When she retired to Cornwall, she decided to purchase some alpacas, followed by some ponies and then llamas. It was a steep learning curve which led to her setting up CHAT Chy Lowen Alpacas, a non-profit project dedicated to helping children and young adults with a variety of issues using Animal Assisted Intervention, in a relaxed and non judgemental environment.
In 2024 Mary brought some of her shorn fleece from her resident alpaca and llamas to the mill where we sorted, scoured and woollen spun the fibre, finishing it as oiled on cone. We sent the yarn off to our trade friends, The Bristol Weaving Mill who produced ten pure wool woven blankets.
Mary and Beki with Llama and Alpaca wool blanketsMary says: “”I’m very pleased with these beautiful blankets. The Natural Fibre Company team advised how best to process my fibre, as alpaca wool is different to sheep’s wool. They also suggested a good weaving mill to help me turn the alpaca and llama wool into luxurious blankets. The proceeds from the sale of these premium quality natural products will support our ongoing work. NFC provided excellent customer service and a great understanding of the end product that I wanted to create”.
You can find out more about Mary’s work at CHAT Chy Lowen Alpacas by following
@ChatCHyLowenAlpacasTregaswith on Facebook.
Pictured above is Beki, our account executive and Mary showing one of the alpaca and llama wool blend blankets. You can download the case study here: Mary and the Alpaca Farm