Alpaca Fibre - Link to our herd's fibre
To purchase our unique Thistledown yarns & Raw Fibre, click on the On Line Store, then Yarns
Alpaca fleece is at the top of an elite group known as 'specialty fibres'. (Rare and extremely fine).
Alpaca fibre is stronger than mohair.
Alpaca fibre is finer than cashmere.
Alpaca fibre is smoother than silk.
Alpaca fibre is softer than cotton.
Alpaca fibre is warmer than goose down.
Alpaca fibre breathes better than thermal knits.
With the exception of mohair, Alpaca fibre is the strongest animal fibre in the world!
Alpaca fibre is hypoallergenic. People allergic to wool, only often wear garments made from Alpaca fibre.
Alpaca fibre is warmer, lighter and stronger than wool.
Yarn made from the Alpaca fibre does not pill easily. (Pills are the little matted balls that form on sweaters).
The high demand and limited supply of Alpaca and fibre equates to an excellent financial market.
Harvey's fibre @ 8 months of age (see our Stud page for Harvey's fibre @ 21 months of age)
Harvey's fibre hand spun into double knit yarn
During the period of the Incan civilisation, the wearing of robes made from Alpaca wool was reserved for the nobility and Royalty. The Alpaca fibre is extremely fine, soft and dense. It is known as a medullated or a hollow fibre with exceptionally warm insulating properties.
It has a no itchy-scratchy feel to it because of the lack of scales on the individual fibre strands (unlike sheep wool). Due to the absence of lanolin and other oils in the fleece people who are allergic to other wools can wear Alpaca. This coupled with its extraordinary fineness of handle mean that Alpaca garments are both hypoallergenic and luxuriously soft next to your skin. As the Alpaca comes in approximately a delightful spectrum of 22 natural colours there is no real need to dye. Over 250 different natural shades have been identified.
The two different types of Alpaca are the Huacaya (wa-ki-a) and the Suri. The Huacaya is a fluffy fibre with crimp. The Suri is more shiny and straight.
Below is a selection of handspun Huacaya yarn from our farm.
