KINGFIELD – Amy Grant recently opened an outlet store on North Main Street, where she features her handmade soap, candles and alpaca goods from local and Bolivian sources.
The new endeavor is a family affair for Grant, her husband, Jim, and their 10-year-old daughter, Zoe.
“Before, I made the soap in our basement,” Grant said in a recent interview. “It’s so much better here, and I can do a lot more, faster.”
Grant began her Carrabassett Soap Co. in 1999 and her all-natural product is well-known throughout Maine and beyond. Her husband recently began making hand-dipped and molded candles under the name Solstice Candles, while Zoe frequently helps her parents, experimenting with her own creativity.
Together the Grants own and operate Good Karma Farm on the West Kingfield Road, which is home to 10 alpacas and two llamas. Much of the roving and yarn available at the shop is from their own animals. There is also a wide selection of hand-knitted alpaca hats, scarves, mittens and sweaters, many imported from Bolivia via Vermont, Grant said.
Alpaca wool is especially warm, and the yarn and finished products are extremely soft, she noted.
“The woman from Vermont who imports a lot of these goods once worked in Bolivia in the Peace Corps,” Grant explained. “She still retains contact there, and she works with the women who knit the items and makes sure they are paid fairly. Ten percent of each sale goes to Heifer International, a charity that buys trees, livestock and other goods for people to learn to be self-sustaining. I feel that’s important.”
The shop also carries blankets from the Brahms-Mount Co. in Hallowell, and Grant said she will keep adding items to expand the gift selections.
“We thought that along with yarn that we’d like to offer things for spinners,” Grant said. “The fiber arts are huge and growing all of the time.”
Grant said she hopes to offer spinning classes in the near future and will expand educational opportunities as demand requires.
The family also offers tours of the alpaca farm. To find out more about the farm, the shop and spinning classes, call 265-4557.
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