Whispirit

Whispirit has been nominated for a second time for the Martha Stewart American Made contest. American Made spotlights the next generation of great American makers, entrepreneurs, artisans, and small-business owners who are creating beautiful, inspiring, and useful U.S.-made products. We’re showcasing our U.S. born and raised alpaca as a barn-to-closet creator of hand-made and hand-sewn, high-quality alpaca fiber fabrics, apparel and accessories.

We were and are determined to do everything here in America. Because we believe that it’s time to turn ‘off-shore’ back to ‘on-shore. American Made to us means collaborating with other American makers, as we do with the mills to which we send our alpaca fleece for processing. And the local seamstresses who take Sandy’s designs and make them into beautiful finished products. And the volunteers who come to the ranch each spring to help with shearing the herd. If we couldn’t rely on the can-do, quintessentially American spirit of cooperation, Whispirit would not be what it is today.

Last year’s nomination for the American Made program exposed Whispirit to thousands of individuals interested in the movement to bring back to the United States a tradition of handcrafted, high-quality products. This year, a panel of judges will select up to 500 finalists in early September from four categories: design, style, food and crafts. Public voting for an audience choice winner begins at that time. Winners in each of the categories will be feted in November in New York City. Thanks for your comments, shares and votes for us, here:

http://www.marthastewart.com/americanmade/nominee/104777/design/whispirit

I always love to skirt the fiber from our black male alpaca, Jazzman. His fiber is soft, crimpy, and consistent across his entire blanket and feels almost buttery to the touch. Beautiful sheen and felts into lovely fabric. This is what we seek in our alpaca herd.

Jazz was the first alpaca born at Whispering Spirit Alpacas. His mother Morning Shadow was one of the first three animals we bought and she had been bred to a beautiful black male, Magicman. We of course were just beginning our herd. We had to call the woman from whom we had purchased our three alpacas to have her remind us how to count from the breeding date to the expected birthing date of our first cria (the name for an alpaca baby). We checked Shadow two or three times a day for a couple of weeks. One day I was not able to run past the ranch during the midday (alpacas usually give birth in the morning) so my sister Patti did the cria check. When she arrived, the birth was in process. She, the two other alpacas (Princess and Angie), and our recently arrived great pyrenees pups (Butch and Sundance) watched Jazz arrive into the world.

Young Jazzman, Mother Shadow to the left and Saki, an early alpaca to the right

Jazzman was a healthy simple birth, thank heavens, because none of us would have known what to do. He got right up and nursed. Neighboring alpaca owners came to check him out and decreed him to be perfect and beautiful.

He is a gentle and affectionate alpaca friend (not all are), easy to care for and to be entranced by. We entered him into alpaca shows, which was again a first for us. We had never even been to an alpaca show let alone enter an animal. Handling an alpaca in a show ring is not an easy task, we learned. To our surprise and delight, he took blue ribbons and and won color champion awards in each despite our inexperience!

Although he has not turned out to be a successful breeder, his fleece is our favorite for making our fabric because it felts superbly and has such luster! One of my favorite creations with Jazz’ fiber is The Sophisticate. Pictured below is a new jacket made from his fibers, which is part of our Whispirit fall offerings. Should we name this? Jazchique? Keep an eye open. We also make a similar jacket using his mother’s fibers, which felt into a warm dark grey. Til next time – Sandy

Vote for Whispirit: Our 2nd Year for Martha Stewart American Made

Jazzman – Our True Black Alpaca