Southern Select SpinOff Competition, March 4-5, 2006. Two first place ribbons in dark silver grey (Ishbel) and dark brown (Spring Blush) yearling classes, and a second place in juvenile dark brown (Myfanwy).

Virginia Classic, Lexington, VA - March 10-12, 2006. Blue ribbon black yearling (Logan) and second place grey yearling (Nikos) for our two entries in the Handcrafters' SpinOff. We took three alpacas to the Classic this year and won a second place for our juvenile pattern female, Nola, and our two black juvenile females placed fourth and fifth in a class of 12. Our daughters also showed really well with their alpacas in the youth performance classes, especially as their 'pacas are all juveniles who had only been in training for 6 weeks!

MOPACA Invitational Alpaca Show, St Louis, MO - March 24-26, 2006. In the SpinOff competition, Myfanwy won another blue ribbon in the juvenile brown category, with a score of 91/100 points. 

Sedalia Spring Fiber Festival, Bedford County, VA - April 8, 2006. We thoroughly enjoyed this celebration of fiber animals and fiber artists. Bring the family next year, for this fun and educational day out! Visit www.sedaliafiberfestival.com for more info.

Alpaca Western Extravaganza SpinOff, Oregon - April 14-16, 2006. Ishbel placed second in the grey category with a score of 91/100, ahead of a number of Champions! Our maroon female, Myfanwy, also placed second in the juvenile brown class, with a score of 92/100.

MaPaca Eastern Alpaca Jubilee, Harrisburg, PA - April 28-30, 2006. At the huge MaPaca fleece show, Nikos won a blue ribbon in his class and the Reserve Champion Grey Fleece banner for his 30-month shearing, with only 1.5 points less than the 10-month shearing of the Champion, who has a $7500 breeding fee! Diana Timmerman awarded Nikos 20/20 points for fineness and handle. Iona placed second in a black shorn class, and Kerensa ribboned in a full fleece halter class of 15 juvenile black females. Our daughters did an awesome job in the junior performance classes with Nola and Kerensa, winning first and third in junior public relations, second in obstacle and first and second in the costume class.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, West Friendship, MD - May 6-7, 2006. Feel the luxurious yarns and rovings made from our award-winning alpaca fleeces, some blended with our french angora rabbit fiber for extra softness, meet our french angora rabbits and check out our needle-felting kits and tools! Look for us as "The Wool Merchant" in outside tent EO3. Visit www.sheepandwool.org for more info.

PAOBA Breeder's Showcase, York, PA - May 12-14, 2006. Our five entries in the fleece competition won two firsts, (Nikos and Nola), a second (Lakisha) a third (Ishbel) and a fourth (Kerensa). Our fiber arts entries, which included a scarf knitted by our eldest daughter, won two second place ribbons and one third place for our farm.

AOBA National HandCrafters' SpinOff Competition, Louisville, KY - May 16-21, 2006. Our two entries in this prestigious, National SpinOff competition won first out of 6 in the juvenile dark brown class (Myfanwy) and second out of 8 in the yearling grey class (Nikos).

Virginia Renaissance Faire, Lake Anna Winery, VA - May 27-29 and June 17-18. The RenFaire took place every weekend from May 20 - June 18, 2006. We were there over the 3-day Memorial Day Weekend and the final weekend, with our alpacas, plus all the fiber and  materials to make needle-felted hats and sculptures! 

Virginia State Fair Alpaca Show and Exhibition, Richmond, VA - September 28th & 30th 2006. Thistledown was proud to be a Gold Sponsor of the State Fair Alpaca Show, which we have supported since it's inception in 2004. This year, we brought Elin, Nola, Kerensa and Lakisha, who won first, second and third in halter, and our children took part in the alpaca performance classes. For more information, please visit www.statefairva.org. We also appreciated the opportunity, for the third year running, to staff the alpaca exhibit in Young MacDonald's Barn. We were there on Saturday 30, September, 2006, from 10.00 a.m. until 10.00 p.m.!

Fall Fiber Festival of Virginia, Montpelier, VA - October 7-8, 2006. We were there again this year, with our alpacas, yarn, rovings and colored french angora bunnies. For more information about this festival, please visit www.fallfiberfestival.org. 

Mid-America Alpaca Show - October 27-29, 2006. Out of four entries in the SpinOff competition, Lakisha and Kerensa won first and third in a class of 7 blacks, Nola won a blue ribbon and Nikos placed second.

VAOBA Alpaca Exposition, Manakin VA - November 3-5, 2006. Thistledown was the first Platinum Sponsor to sign up and support this new Level III alpaca show. We won four blue ribbons and one second place ribbon in the SpinOff competition, with the experienced judge, Cathy Songer, awarding Nola 97.5 points and commenting that she had "one of the nicest fibers I've ever spun"! Nola also won a second place in halter. The rest of our ribbons at this show are pictured here - the girls are wearing the ones they won in the performance classes and the Handmade Derby with their needlefelted entries, and holding up the ribbons our farm won in the halter and SpinOff competitions!

AOBA/ARI National Fiber to Fashion HandCrafters' SpinOff Competition, Reno NV - November 1-5, 2006. Kerensa won a blue ribbon out of 11 juvenile black entries and Nola placed second out of 15 juvenile brown entries at National level.

OABA Handcrafter's SpinOff, Alpacafest, Columbus, OH - November 11-12, 2006. Kerensa placed first out of 9 with a score of 94/100, Nola won another second place and Nikos won his 9th blue ribbon of 2005/2006 in the huge OABA 2006 SpinOff competition.