About Alpaca
Known for over six thousand years as the 'Fibre of the Gods' alpaca is a warm, soft, light-weight
and lustrous fibre celebrated for its hypoallergenic qualities and myriad
of natural colours. Today alpaca fibre is
produced throughout the world, with
large national herds in Australia
and the United States.
Alpaca's versatility, wide natural
colour range and inherent softness
makes this a very exclusive and much
sought after material which deservedly holds a unique place on the catwalks of the world stage.
Here in the UK
there are now upwards of 19,000 alpacas
spread out over farms and smallholdings from the tip of
Scotland right down to
Cornwall. Each year these animals are all sheared, leaving many
individuals with a difficult decision about what to do with the fleece. As the UK can no longer
boast of a commercial textile industry, spinners, weavers and knitters must be sourced from the
traditional
regions, and very often coaxed into experimenting with this unusual fibre. Everyone I have ever challenged to work with alpaca has thoroughly enjoyed the process and all have been thrilled with the outcome of their work.
Spinning Alpaca
Alpaca fibre is wonderful to hand spin and it does not need to be washed before spinning. Most
handspinners, when spinning alpaca,
do their spinning and plying first
and then wash the finished skein of yarn in tepid water. The only real
preparation that needs to be done is to shake as much dry dust out as possible, and remove any stray pieces of foliage. When buying alpaca fleece from alpaca
owners you fleece should be free of foliage, but
finer fleeces tend to attract
vegetation, and it is advisable t o
hand pick these bits out before spinning.
Alpaca can be characterised as:
Luxurious - Soft and Silky
to the touch, with no 'itch factor'
Lightweight- Hollow core to the fibre means alpaca
is light to wear
Warm- Hollow core makes alpaca a
fantastic insulator
Durable -
less inclined to 'pill'
due to long staple length
Washable - alpaca can be handwashed and then dried flat
Colourful- natural
alpaca comes in 22 natural colours from cream through
to black, but if brighter colours are required it also absorbs dye incredibly well
to give radiant colours
When washing your completed hand spun
yarn, please remember that alpaca is a natural
fibre that does felt if wet, hot and
agitated. Ensure that you fill the sink with tepid water and a mild detergent, allow the yarn to soak for 10 minutes without moving it. Dry the yarn slowly and naturally. Placing alpaca above a radiator, boiler or aga will force dry the fibre and can lead
to a change in the handle- drying the
fibres out too much resulting a brittle touch.
Knitting Alpaca
If you're a newbie to knitting alpaca,
and desperate to get some yarn on your needles
it's important to decide on how you would
like your final
object to be before choosing a pattern.
We sell
2ply, 4ply,
Double Knit and Aran weight knitting
yarns, all
of which very in nature and texture. Be careful
to choose a yarn weight appropriate to the object you're knitting. As some rough
guidelines we would recommend:
Obviously just because we choose to
do it this way doesn't mean that it's the right way: your only limitation is your creative
ability. I have seen some amazing
knitwear produced by knitters purchasing our yarn who have used it in ways that
we don't. A lady recently completed
a stunning aran weight sweater- an amazing piece of work in a yarn worthy of the
hours of time put into the piece. I have also
seen wonderful hats done in 4ply and 2ply
ladies sweaters (not for the faint hearted knitter).
Colour
All of our yarns are 100% natural. One of the greatest features of the alpaca is
that is comes in such a wide spectrum of natural colours. From white through to
black with greys, browns and fawns in between. Although all coming off the same
breed of animal, the texture and handle of the different colours can sometimes
vary greatly. The white and cream yarns are usually the softest due to far more
years selective breeding in South America . However, there are exceptions to
this, and at Toft Alpacas we specialise in breeding top quality brown animals
(check out our credentials in the BAS National Show Ring 2006/2007). Our 'Baby
Alpaca' blends are guaranteed to be incredibly soft and slippy, as these batches
only contain the softest and youngest fleeces regardless of whether they are
grey, black or cream.
Tension
Due to the softness and soapy texture of alpaca,
some knitters find that in order to get the correct gauge they move onto a smaller needle size than recommended for the weight. If you are aware that you generally are quite a loose knitter
then I would advise doing so. ALWAYS
check your tension before you begin a project because you are using a new natural material and it will not always respond in as
uniformed a way as mass produced and computer-spun acrylic.
Needles
In Toft Alpacas
knitting Kits we provide wooden needles.
The give in the natural needle, in comparison to the steel
needle, seems to give you greater
control and pleasure over knitting with the yarn. This is in
no way essential, it's just a nice
thing to have when 'knitting natural'-
in fact most of the Toft Alpacas
knitters use steel needles. With some of the baby alpaca
yarns they have been spun loosely in order to maintain the handle and softness of the yarn. With these some knitters advise using a blunter needle to minimise the chances of the tip splitting the yarn.
Washing
As you're knitting with a natural
fibre it is important to handwash your knitting after you've finished. I would recommend using a delicate/natural detergent, something as easy to get hold of as Woolite or Ecover Delicate (which can be bought at all
supermarkets) is fine. Fill your sink with tepid water and allow your item to soak for
10-15 mins. After you have rinsed you can gently spin the item in the washing machine to remove excess water. Dry flat to avoid any misshaping. I would recommend allowing your item to dry slowly- don't force dry on top of an aga or boiler. The handle of alpaca seems to alter when it is dried out too fast- it almost goes brittle to touch.
Patience is the key to retaining the buttery soft feeling.
For more information about Toft Alpacas
Click Here