“for quality fibre”
The Alpaca originates from South America—in particular from Chile, Peru and Bolivia where they have been bred for their fleece for 6000 years. During the Inca empire they were being selectively bred in large numbers to provide luxurious fibre exclusively for the clothing use of Inca nobility.
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They are members of the camelid family and are related to the Vicuna and the Guanaco as well as the Llama—although they are temperamentally very different. They measure about 3 feet to their back and in total around 5 feet to the top of their heads.
There are two types of alpaca:
DID YOU KNOW?
There are 22 acknowledged alpaca fibre colours in the UK.
Shearing alpacas is a specialist skill and a team of experienced New Zealand alpaca shearers tour the UK each year from March until August. They will also trim teeth and nails at the same time if necessary—shearing time is real ‘pampering’ time !!
An alpaca can produce up to 5kg of fleece per year. The fleece is carefully graded
after shearing and only the better grades are spun into yarn. The poorer parts of
the fleece can be made into rather lovely felt. The most popular yarn is 4-
The Huacaya
The teddy bear look helps us to identify the huacaya with its dense, springy fleece. The better fleece is fine with a nice crimp.
The Suri
Suri alpacas are much rarer and have a fleece that is without crimp, lustrous and hangs in a way that looks rather like dreadlocks.
