For many thousands of years alpaca fiber has been highly prized by the South American Indians for good reason. The properties of the fiber make it both unusually luxurious to the touch and durable as well. Because it is a hollow shaft fiber, its warmth factor is at least four times greater than wool.

Photo By: Charlotte Sankey
Sharon and Doug spinning llama fiber at the 2003 Hopkinton Fair

Of major concern to most new alpaca owners is how to go from fiber on the back of the animal to a useful product to market. The first step is preparation of fiber on the animal before shearing. There are as many schools of thought on this subject as breeders. Constant brushing of the fiber does cause damage to it, as the dirt and debris are pushed from the surface into the dense fleece. Now we are left with the choice of brushing and blowing out as much debris is possible before shearing or letting it be, and processing out the accumulation afterwards. Here in New England alpacas are hayed for almost six months, we have autumn leaves etc. that make it almost impossible to keep the animal debris free!

Most farms are now using electric shears to remove the fleece. There are many videos on the market showing techniques. In the simplest of terms one starts down the middle of the back and removes the blanket in two sections. It is important to do this in a clean area and have old sheets and pillow cases ready to lay out the fleece. At this time you will want to skirt the fleece so that the areas that are particularly resembling a hay field (i.e. the back of the neck) don’t mix in with the prize fiber that is easy to process.

Now, you can have closets and rooms of pillow cases or plastic bags with rolled up fleeces, and soon you’ll have to do something with it or else! There are many cottage industry processors who will, for a modest amount, clean and card the fleece. If you have the time and patience, you can card it yourself. I use a method, with very long fleeces, of combing it all in one direction with a dog slicker brush. Most times I have found that five pitch English combs remove the debris and align the fibers to make a roving that is easy to spin. Except to blend fiber, I do not use a carding machine. I also do not wash the fiber until I have spun it. Washing it only makes it more slippery to work with and more difficult to comb. My market is hand spinners, so I usually try to grow a two-year fleece.

This is not the way the industry should be heading. In a short time there will be wool cooperatives which will bring the industry light years ahead once machinery is retooled to accommodate the long, fine fiber of the alpaca. Wool will be graded and used for many purposes. There are many properties of each fleece besides fineness that give it value. Crimp, density, and uniformity are but a few of these. Good leg wool makes wonderful rug yarn. There are many more uses than just the high end sweater market. Spinning alpaca is a joy. If spun without blending, take care not to spin a yarn much heavier than a shetland weight. Alpaca is very warm and heavy if it is spun in a bulky weight, or spun with a lot of twist if you are using it for knitting. Spin fine, you can always use two strands if needed. There is a great joy of accomplishment to have created a product of Andean Gold.