Alpaca Fibre

Alpaca is a luxury fibre. It is structurally differnt to wool and usually much finer, so it is not as irritating on the skin. It also has good insulating properties.

If you would like to buy some of our alpaca fibre, please visit our online shop.

Alpaca fibre comes in a variety of colours, up to 22 different shades. We have alpacas in white to light fawn, brown, black, rose grey and a lovely rich toffee colour. With these lovely natural colours available straight from the animal, there's no need to dye it.

Many alpacas in the UK are white or light fawn, so if the natural colours aren't enough for you, you can dye the fibre using the same dyes and processes as used for wool.

Alpacas are sheared every one to two years depending on their fibre growth. As with most fibre producing animals, the finest fibre comes from the first shearing. Baby alpaca is as soft as a cloud!

Alpacas are usually sheared with the same type of shears that are used for shearing sheep. The way that the alpaca is handled, however, is somewhat different. When sheared, the alpaca is usually stretched out on the floor with the front feet pulled one way and the back feet another but use of padded ropes. Restraining the alpaca this way means that the alpaca can't hurt itself or the shearer! With someone to guard the alpaca's head and neck, shearing gets underway ...

Bucky before shearing Shearing Bucky

Bucky Sheared Bucky sheared!

The best part of the alpaca fleece is the blanket or saddle. That is the part that covers the back and sides. Fibre from the neck can be almost as good as the blanket, but the belly and leg fibre tends to be shorter and have less crimp.

Unlike sheep's wool alpaca fibre is not greasy as they do not produce lanolin, and it is wonderfully soft to the touch. It has a long staple and is usually spun using the short draw or worsted method.

We sell alpaca fibre in its raw state, that is, straight off the alpaca as sheared. This is how I prefer to spin it, but you can wash it first if you prefer.

The photo shows a piece of raw fibre, a piece of raw fibre which has been combed ready to spin, a piece of the same fibre washed and then combed, a cmple of my own handspun 2-ply alpaaca yarn, and a 100g bag of fibre.

Most of the dirt in the fibre gets there when the alpaca takes a dust bath and a lot of it comes out when the fibre is combed. The rest comes out when it is washed.

Samples of alpaca fibre

Preparing Alpaca Fibre for Spinning

I prefer to spin the fibre just as it comes off the alpaca. You end up with a bit of dust where you are working, and your fingers get a bit grimy but the fibre is easy to handle. It is not greasy like a sheep's wool as alpacas do not produce lanolin.

You can wash the fibre before spinning. Handle it in much the same way as you would for a sheep's fleece, that is, use a gentle soap or detergent (I was once told that as alpaca is closer to hair than wool, you can use shampoo, but don't use conditioner if you want to dye it), use hot water but DON'T subject the fibre to sudden changes in temperature, for example when you are rinsing it. DON'T agitate the fibre or rub it. If you do it will felt, and you will have a knotted lump on your hands. I know, I've done it myself!

To dry the wet fibre squeeze any excess water out carefully, stand the fibre in a colander for a while until it stops dripping, then roll it in an old towel to take out more moisure. If you can lay the fibre out on some sort of gauze to let it air dry, so much the better. You could use an old pillow case or something like a clean onion bag hung in a barn. On really nice days you could dry outdoors, but you'll need something to stop the fibre blowing away.

Combing and Spinning Alpaca Fibre

I use a dog comb to comb locks of fibre before spinning. This separates the fibres and also removes some of the dust and any vegetation in the fibre. I'm talking about raw fibre here, you'll have removed any VM (vegetable material) earlier if you washed your fibre. Take a lot of the fibre and comb is using a dog comb, so that the fibres are separate, like this.

After a while you'll get a feel for how large a lock of fibre you can comfortably comb. Too little and you'll be forever joining another lock when spinning, too much and you won't get the comb through.

Using the dog comb, I prepare some locks, laying them out near me before I start spinning.

Alpaca fibre often has a long staple so it is best spun using the short draw or worsted method. This keeps the fibres alighed making a smooth lustrous yarn.

At my local Guild of Weavers, Spinners, and Dyers one of the members showed me how to comb alpaca using proper wool combs (as made by Peter Teal and more recently by Martin Hills). This produced a soft roving ready for spinning.

You can also spin alpaca fibre from batts from a drum carder, but I would recommend that you wash the fibre before drum carding.

handspun alpaca fibre 2-ply