ABOUT ALPACAS

DID YOU KNOW?

There are 23 acknowledged alpaca fibre colours in the UK.

Shearing alpacas is a specialist skill and a team of experienced 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-ply as garments made from alpaca are incredibly warm.

       Suri alpacas          

are distinguished in the camelid family by their unique fibre characteristics.

The fibre grows parallel to the body while hanging in long,separate, distinctive  locks.                                                                       

   The Huacaya alpaca

The Huacaya makes up 90% of the world's alpaca population and has a fleece of sheep-like appearance, growing out from the body.

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 alpacas

There are two types of alpaca: