Knitting Workshops

On receipt of your deposit, we post or email confirmation to you, together with map, directions and postal code of the farm. Please make sure you wear shoes you can walk across a field in!

Our guests usually arrive between 10.30 and 10.45, ready for our 11.00 a.m. start. We offer Twinnings Tea, Fair Trade filter coffee, Innocent fruit juice or smoothies and home made biscuits. After introducing ourselves, you choose which design you would like to make and try on samples to see which size fits best. We then ask you to choose your yarn colour and then we collate the pieces and put your knitting pack together.

Once everyone is settled and has read the pattern, checked anything is clear and had their questions answered by Kari-Helene, you will commence knitting your tension square.

Tracy will then give a brief introduction to alpacas. You’ll hear about the alpaca myth, alpaca behaviour and quirks of character and she will answer any questions you may have. It naturally follows that you should meet some. So whilst Kari-Helene sets out lunch, Tracy takes you across to the alpaca field so you can meet the ‘fibre-providers’ and feed them an apple if you want to. There is something quite magical about these animals and meeting them has proved a very popular part of the day.

For lunch, we have found a buffet arrangement works best so you have a choice of dishes and portions. The food we provide is sourced as locally as possible and is organic (if it is available). Kari-Helene also makes her speciality bread (which is really yummy!)

After this, we get back to some serious knitting! We give you individual attention and tuition if needed and just chat generally or answer questions. Kari-Helene gives a brief over-view of how she finds inspiration for our designs and, depending on the time of year, we either give a preview of our next collection, or an idea of what will be coming up in the future.

About 3.30 Tracy will start writing everyone’s receipt and ask for the balance of payment in either cheque or cash. We will ask you to complete a short feed-back form and then after 4.00 p.m. think about making a move home.

We hope that every time you wear your completed garment, you remember this day and smile.

Total price of the day is £95.00 per person or £90 if booking 3 or more places; it includes lunch, the Purl Alpaca Designs knitting pack and first five balls of yarn.

Here's what Charlotte Booth had to say about her day with us:

"The knitting workshop at Purl Alpaca Designs was a birthday present and I couldn't have asked for a better gift. It was a lovely day, with some great people. We all met up in the morning and received our knitting kits, chose wool and started knitting whilst listening to some background about alpacas and the farm. Then we got to meet the bundles of fluff and feed them apples. After a delicious lunch we continued knitting recieving any help required from Kari-Helene and Tracy. It was a great day and the final knitted project was fabulous.I thoroughly recommend the workshops and I can't wait until I can attend the next one!"