We want you to shop with confidence! To assist with that, we’ve created a list of shopping FAQs to help provide information to commonly asked questions.
Alpaca fiber is as soft as cashmere, three times warmer than sheep’s wool, hypoallergenic, water repellant, breathable, and odor resistant. These properties make alpaca products easy to wear and care for, as well as, very durable.
You can learn more in a blog post we wrote on the subject. See: https://cottoncreekfarms.com/why-alpaca-products-are-a-great-purchase/
Our products are made in Michigan, in other states within the United States of America, and via the artisan network in Peru. Our goal is to produce as much as we can within the USA and then default to Peru when that is not possible.
Browse our products by:
Made in Michigan
Made in the USA
Alpacas must be sheared annually for their health. This is a humane process and it is done with great care and by a team of professionals.
Our fur products come from Peru and they are harvested from already deceased animals. Over 80% of the world’s alpacas still live in Peru and in the Andes Mountains. Because of environmental conditions and existing diseases (enteritis, enterotoxemia, and pneumonia) they have a much higher mortality rate than here in the United States. They lose many babies each year and this loss is by small family farmers. Instead of losing all value of the animal, the fur is harvested post-mortem and used so the small family farms can obtain some value from their alpaca breeding program.
It is not a norm in our industry to kill alpacas to harvest the hides. We do not do it in the United States and reputable farms do not do it in Peru either.
Our store offers over 1,000 different alpaca products. Products that come from our alpacas include items like socks, hats, headbands, mittens, cowls, scarves, shawls, blankets, baby booties, baby hats, dryer balls, rugs, trivets, nesting balls, Christmas ornaments, yarn, roving, and felt. We’re working on increasing the variety of products made from our alpacas and hope to expand this list soon.
While Grandma Lil is our favorite artisan, we also have alpaca products made locally by Kathy, Pat, Nancy, Jody, and a few USA-based mills.
All other products would be made by artisans in Peru. You might ask why we would purchase products from Peru for resale. There are two main reasons.
The survival of the alpaca industry is heavily influenced by Peru. Over 80% of the world’s alpaca population still live in Peru and this community is important to the longevity of alpacas as a whole. We support these artisans because they are critical to our industry.
Another reason is the United States does not have a large number of mills that can support the production of alpaca products. It is very difficult to locate a mill that can produce garments from our alpaca fiber. We are working on establishing these relationships, but this process does take time.
If you live in or are visiting the Traverse City area, you are welcome to place an order online and select local pickup. Once done, just contact us and let us know when you’d like to pick up your goods. We’ll do our best to accommodate your schedule.
Just visit our contact page and reach out to us via a website inquiry or phone call. We’ll be happy to help.
We sure can! You can learn about our gift wrapping option here.
We sure do! Purchase your gift card.
At this time we do not ship to locations outside of the United States. We hope to offer this service in the future.
We have complete shipping information located here.
We have a no-questions-asked return policy and simply require you to return products in their new condition and within thirty days of purchase.
We certainly can. Whether you need 500 socks for holiday gift baskets or a very unique gift for someone special, we’re here to help. Learn more about our corporate gift program.