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Alpaca fiber
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Alpaca fiber
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. Soft, spongy 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. 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, silky fiber.
While huacaya fiber is similar to sheep's wool, it is warmer, not prickly, and has no lanolin, which makes it hypoallergenic. Alpaca fiber is naturally water-repellent and fire resistant. Huacaya 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 Giorgio Armani has used Suri alpaca to fashion men's and women's suits. 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.
There are two types of alpaca: Huacaya, which produce a dense, soft, crimpy sheep-like fiber, and Suri, with silky pencil-like locks, resembling dreadlocks but without matted fibers. Suris, prized for their longer and silkier fibers, are estimated to make up 19–20% of the North American alpaca population. Since their importation into the United States, Suri alpacas have grown in number substantially and become more color diverse. The Suri is thought to be rarer, most likely because the breed was reserved for royalty during Incan times. Suris are often said to be less cold hardy than Huacaya, but both breeds are successfully raised in more extreme climates. They were developed in South America.
Alpacas have been bred in Pre-Columbian South America for over 5,000 years. They were domesticated from the vicuñas by the ancient tribes of the Andean highlands of Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Northwest of Argentina. According to archaeological studies alpaca fiber was similar in quality to the wild vicuña prior to the Spanish Conquests in the 1500s. 2,000–year-old Paracas textiles are thought to include alpaca fiber. Also known as "The Fiber of the gods", Alpaca was used to make clothing for royalty. In recent years[when?], alpacas have also been exported to other countries. In countries such as the US, Australia and New Zealand, breeders shear their animals annually, weigh the fleeces and test them for fineness. With the resulting knowledge, they are able to breed heavier-fleeced animals with finer fiber. Fleece weights vary, with the top stud males reaching annual shear weights up to 7 kg total fleece and 3 kg good quality fleece. The discrepancy in weight is because an alpaca has guard hair, which is often removed before spinning.
Alpacas are shorn once a year in spring. After shearing, the fleece is roughly cleaned and sorted according to color. The dried wool is then carded; in this process, the loose alpaca fibers are aligned into a strain of Alpaca fleece with a carding machine's help.
Like sheep, alpacas have thicker awn hairs. These long straight hairs located between the undercoat ensure that the fine coat does not become matted. Therefore alpacas should not be brushed; this would destroy their undercoat structure. The awn hairs are much coarser than the fine undercoat, and can be carded easily, but they can also be sorted out.
After carding, the strains are ready to be spun into yarn with a spinning wheel. Finally, the wool should be washed to remove impurities. Alpaca wool contains almost no wool grease (lanolin), making it easy to clean. The wool is then ready for sale as knitting wool or for further processing.
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Alpaca fiber
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. Soft, spongy 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. 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, silky fiber.
While huacaya fiber is similar to sheep's wool, it is warmer, not prickly, and has no lanolin, which makes it hypoallergenic. Alpaca fiber is naturally water-repellent and fire resistant. Huacaya 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 Giorgio Armani has used Suri alpaca to fashion men's and women's suits. 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.
There are two types of alpaca: Huacaya, which produce a dense, soft, crimpy sheep-like fiber, and Suri, with silky pencil-like locks, resembling dreadlocks but without matted fibers. Suris, prized for their longer and silkier fibers, are estimated to make up 19–20% of the North American alpaca population. Since their importation into the United States, Suri alpacas have grown in number substantially and become more color diverse. The Suri is thought to be rarer, most likely because the breed was reserved for royalty during Incan times. Suris are often said to be less cold hardy than Huacaya, but both breeds are successfully raised in more extreme climates. They were developed in South America.
Alpacas have been bred in Pre-Columbian South America for over 5,000 years. They were domesticated from the vicuñas by the ancient tribes of the Andean highlands of Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Northwest of Argentina. According to archaeological studies alpaca fiber was similar in quality to the wild vicuña prior to the Spanish Conquests in the 1500s. 2,000–year-old Paracas textiles are thought to include alpaca fiber. Also known as "The Fiber of the gods", Alpaca was used to make clothing for royalty. In recent years[when?], alpacas have also been exported to other countries. In countries such as the US, Australia and New Zealand, breeders shear their animals annually, weigh the fleeces and test them for fineness. With the resulting knowledge, they are able to breed heavier-fleeced animals with finer fiber. Fleece weights vary, with the top stud males reaching annual shear weights up to 7 kg total fleece and 3 kg good quality fleece. The discrepancy in weight is because an alpaca has guard hair, which is often removed before spinning.
Alpacas are shorn once a year in spring. After shearing, the fleece is roughly cleaned and sorted according to color. The dried wool is then carded; in this process, the loose alpaca fibers are aligned into a strain of Alpaca fleece with a carding machine's help.
Like sheep, alpacas have thicker awn hairs. These long straight hairs located between the undercoat ensure that the fine coat does not become matted. Therefore alpacas should not be brushed; this would destroy their undercoat structure. The awn hairs are much coarser than the fine undercoat, and can be carded easily, but they can also be sorted out.
After carding, the strains are ready to be spun into yarn with a spinning wheel. Finally, the wool should be washed to remove impurities. Alpaca wool contains almost no wool grease (lanolin), making it easy to clean. The wool is then ready for sale as knitting wool or for further processing.
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