Meet the Presenters - Jenny Ellwood-Wade

We were all saddened by the sudden death of one of our Creative Learning presenters, Brian Kitson from Adobe Alpacas, just before Christmas. We are fortunate to a have Jenny Elwood-Wade as a replacement presenter. Jenny says “I would like to stick with Brian’s topic ‘Alpaca processing, product and potential’, this is one of my passions as well.”

If you were registered to attend Brian’s presentation you will be automatically now be transferred to Jenny’s.

Jenny Ellwood-Wade
Jenny is passionate about alpaca fibre and its potential. She farms between 60 and 70 alpacas in the Hunuas, south of Auckland, concentrating on the true black alpacas. She is fascinated by alpaca fibre and its potential, and learnt to spin and weave so that she could explore the boundaries of this wonderful fibre.

Jenny has an AVL Industrial Dobby loom, which allows her to produce a range of woven alpaca fabrics, scarves, blankets etc. of a high standard while retaining the personal touch and the ability to change colours and patterns between each item. She weaves for Alpaca Box [their own shop], and for wholesale, as well as doing commission weaving.

Jenny found that she couldn’t spin enough yarn herself for weaving, so she researched both processing of her alpaca and sourcing alpaca spun in New Zealand.

In Jenny’s words, “This is how I met Brian Kitson and Maggie Sewell who were so generous with their help and advice. Brian had a deep understanding of yarn and commercial spinning and a passion to produce wonderful alpaca yarns. I am so pleased that this did come to fruition last year with the sublime Alpaca Ultimate 4 and 8 ply yarns.”

Jenny’s business depends on having alpaca yarns to weave, and she is deeply concerned about the fibre processing industry in New Zealand.
She will speak about what is happening in New Zealand and the role that alpaca breeders and farmers need to play. She will have a wide range of samples demonstrating the potential of alpaca fibre.

For more information, visit cuesta.co.nz.