The first post I did was on my Turkish spindle, as part of that I want to discuss the different fibers I am using in that spin. Last fiber post was on Merino, which is roughly 40% of that blend. Next fiber I want to discuss is Alpaca, again roughly 40% of the blend. I used two colors, fawn and bay black. So let’s talk Alpaca.
Fun facts about this fluffy animal:
• Two breeds: Huacaya and Suri. Huacaya is the most commonly know. It looks fluffy (crazy fluffy sometime) and most toys are made to resemble this breed. Suri on the other hand is about 10% of the population bred and it’s locks grow in long silky ropes, kind of like a sheep dog or dreadlocks.
• Characteristics: Soft, durable, lightweight yet super warm, water resistant, silky, fire resistant, a natural shinny luster, no lanolin so its hypoallergenic and considered by some as a luxury fiber. Suri fiber has a draw back, very little memory or elasticity. So some spinners and yarn companies blend a bit of wool in to help with that. It does how ever lend well to woven pieces.
• Comes in 22 natural colors from white to black. But of those, shades and tones can be in the hundreds, cream and white being predominantly used for dye purposes.
• Both breeds can be found in top, sometimes referred to as sliver. Huacaya also lends itself well to being carded.
• Quality fiber runs between 18 to 25 microns
• Staple; Huacaya a fiber is 2-6 inches and Suri is up to 11 inches
My experience with alpaca has been Huacaya seconds, the neck and belly mostly, but still lovely to work with. I soaked for 12 to 18 hours in a tub of rain water, no soap needed, to remove the dust. Good grief was it dusty, then out to dry in the sun. After that I picked through to remove the VM bits and carded away. They seem to be as much VM as fiber, so if you are doing large amounts or blankets, I would look into a tumbler or willowing your fiber to get a head start on VM removal. So far I have only spun it on my spindles to keep my twist under control. To much twist will produce a stiff yarn and not as pleasing to work with. My fiber did not have guard hairs to remove but some do. So if need be pull all guard hairs first but hang on to those buggers, they make great garden twine or rug weaving yarns. I found it fairly easy drafting not as slick as merino but close. I got a nice fine single with most of the super fine pieces of VM falling out as I drafted. I have not tried dying with it as of yet since I really enjoy the natural shades of brown to black I have in my stash to blend with my dyed wool. I hope you found this information interesting and that I have sparked an interest to try spinning Alpaca.