Fiber

From Fiber on the animal to a cozy sweater or blanket, how does it happen?

The first step is shearing day. In spring when it really begins to stay warm, the alpacas are shorn. The fleece is skirted and divided into firsts, seconds & thirds. In many cases the coarser leg neck fibers are thrown out, but we find they are very useful for felting. The fine fiber is then processed either by hand or a mill.

If, done by hand, the fleece will be cleaned, usually just by picking out any vegetable matter, that was not picked out before shearing. Alpaca fiber is so fine that many fiber artists will not wash the fiber, this is possible because it lacks the lanolins that sheep and other wool's have.

The Fiber will then be carded, either with paddle carders or a drumcarder. The carder is somewhat like a really prickly stiff brush that lines the fibers up so they are all going the same direction. It creates a fluffier fiber preparation without perfect alignment, best for soft, fuzzy yarns.

Once the fiber is carded into a batt (for felting) or roving( for yarn) it can be spun. Spinning twists the roving into a tight long, strong yarn, If hand spun you can easily make lumpy yarns that have allot of variation in width. An easier technique for those of us whom are just beginning, just pretend you wanted it that way...

Of course the yarn is then made into a finished product via weaving, knitting, or crocheting.

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