One of the miraculous things
about alpaca fibre is that it can be used to produce lightweight garments, that
still offer incredible warmth to the wearer. Experts have discovered that, pound-for-pound,
the material preserves heat eight times better than sheep’s wool.
Another difference between alpaca
fibre and traditional fabrics is that it is largely free of grease. As such, it
is not usually necessary to clean alpaca wool prior to spinning; saving much in
the way of time and labour, when it comes to garment production for business
and pleasure.
A further time-saving feature of
the fibre is that alpacas naturally exist in a whole spectrum of colours,
meaning that dying is not a necessity. These colour variations have been caused
over the years by diet, climate and breeding conditions. As a result, you will
commonly see alpacas that have coats of white, fawn, reddish-brown and black,
frolicking in fields both on farms and in the wild. Indeed there are more than
20 different shades of alpaca wool that occur naturally! With that being said, creatively-minded
hand-spinners have reported that the wool does die well.
Meticulously graded on fineness,
alpaca yarn is rich, supple, long and strong. The finest of the fine coat
fibres are to be found on the creatures backs – an area known as the blanket.
The neck and apron areas are of a slightly lesser quality, perhaps lending
themselves more to heavy outerwear garments.
Also possessing a remarkable softness,
that’s comparable to the feel of cashmere, Alpaca fibre can be a fantastic
substitute material for those with concerns over skin sensitivity. Baby
garments made of alpaca are rapidly growing in popularity, in Europe, due, in
no small part, to the fabrics non-allergic nature.
A veritable miracle fibre, the rarity of alpaca wool is its
only real limitation. This natural scarcity has only served to make it even
more highly-prized, worldwide.
