Video and pictures: A thrilling yarn as alpacas star in Church Stretton
Wizard and Derby the alpacas were out and about in a Shropshire market town.
The unusual sight was in aid of the opening of an unusual shop - dedicated to their wool.
The animals are more commonly found on the slopes of the Andes in South America, but for Jane Potts it's the norm.
She bought her first pair of the llama-like creatures in 2007 and now has a herd of 17.
The Leebotwood-based animal lover has been selling alpaca wool at markets and events for 18 months.
Now she has opened a permanent shop, Coco Alpacas, on Church Stretton's High Street – and she brought a couple of her woolly animals, named Wizard and Derby, along for the big opening day.
Jane said: "The opening of the shop was brilliant. Lots of people came along to see us and Wizard and Derby were fire. It was a strange environment for them and they did really well."
She fell in love with pedigree Huacaya alpacas after seeing them at the Royal Show in Warwickshire.
She then bought two pregnant females, Eliza and Phoebe, and started her herd, later deciding to produce luxurious hand-knitted accessories like hats, gloves and scarves from their soft wool.
Her herd of is shorn once a year and the fibre is sent to a mill in Lincolnshire for processing.
The yarn is washed, carded and then spun and when it returns, Jane winds it into 100g balls and labels it. She has an assistant who does the knitting.
Her alpacas have different coloured fleeces from black, grey and dark brown to fawn, beige and white, and the shop will sell hand-knitted accessories in their natural shades, alongside accessories and yarn in more vibrant ones.
Jane added: "It's always been a dream of mine to run a wool shop and I'm so excited to be opening here in Church Stretton.
"Coco Alpacas is very much a hands-on cottage industry – I enjoy it enormously."
She added that the shop would be "an Aladdin's cave for creative folk".
The shop will open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and also sell blended yarns, knitting kits, knitting accessories, craft books and hand-crocheted alpaca toys.
