Alpaca fiber

Alpaca fleece, Wool Expo, Armidale, NSW
Spinning alpaca wool by Treadle wheel, Gotthard Pass, 2018.
Yarn spun from alpaca wool.
Alpaca scarf. Cambridge Food, Garden and Produce Festival, England

Alpaca fleece is the natural fiber harvested from an alpaca. There are two different types of alpaca fleece. The most common fleece type comes from a Huacaya. Huacaya fiber grows and looks similar to sheep wool in that the animal looks "fluffy". The second type of alpaca is Suri and makes up less than 10% of the South American alpaca population. Suri fiber is more similar to natural silk and hangs off the body in locks that have a dreadlock appearance.[1] While both fibers can be used in the worsted milling process using light weight yarn or thread, Huacaya fiber can also be used in a woolen process and spun into various weight yarns. It is a soft, durable, luxurious[2] and silky natural fiber.

While huacaya fiber is similar to sheep's wool, it is warmer, not prickly, and has no lanolin, which makes it hypoallergenic.[2][3] Alpaca fiber is naturally water-repellent and fire resistant.[4] Huacaya, an alpaca that grows soft spongy fiber, has natural crimp, thus making a naturally elastic yarn well-suited for knitting. Suri has no crimp and thus is a better fit for woven goods. The designer Armani has used Suri alpaca to fashion men's and women's suits.[5] In the United States, groups of smaller alpaca breeders have banded together to create "fiber co-ops," to make the manufacture of alpaca fiber products less expensive.

The preparing, carding, spinning, weaving and finishing process of alpaca is very similar to the process used for wool.

  1. ^ https://www.surinetwork.org/Resources/Documents/Tillman/SEM%20Suri%20Fiber.pdf [dead link]
  2. ^ a b Quiggle, Charlotte. "Alpaca: An Ancient Luxury." Interweave Knits Fall 2000: 74-76.
  3. ^ Stoller, Debbie, Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet, New York: Workman, 2006, p. 18.
  4. ^ "Alpaca." 22 April 2008. HowStuffWorks.com. 19 July 2009.
  5. ^ "ProperFashion.com". ProperFashion.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2013.

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