Alpaca

Alpacas, for those of you that aren’t familiar with them, are South American camelids. There are two varieties of alpacas: the suri alpaca, and the huacaya alpaca. The fiber alpacas produce is very soft and fine, and is warmer than lamb’s wool.

Suri alpacas are a bit rarer than huacaya alpacas. Suri alpaca fibre is longer, silkier and has far less crimp than either huacaya alpaca fleece or sheep’s wool. It drafts and spins beautifully, much like silk. If there are any current auctions for suri alpaca fiber on eBay, you’ll find them here:

ALPACA FLEECE FIBER SPINNING WHITE SURI SUPER SOFT 2LBS US $29.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Aug-01-2010 16:03:02 PDT Add to watch list

CRAZY Handpainted 100% Baby Suri Alpaca Roving ^^ENVY^^ US $4.91 (0 Bid) End Date: Tuesday Aug-03-2010 7:51:37 PDT Add to watch list

100% Alpaca Suri Roving 1lbs Needle Felting Spinning US $0.99 (1 Bid) End Date: Tuesday Aug-03-2010 9:37:18 PDT Add to watch list

100% Alpaca Suri Roving Brown 1 lbs Needle Felting Spin US $0.99 (1 Bid) End Date: Tuesday Aug-03-2010 9:37:48 PDT Add to watch list

100% Alpaca Suri Roving 8oz Needle Felting Spinning US $0.99 (1 Bid) End Date: Tuesday Aug-03-2010 10:10:50 PDT Add to watch list

Most of the alpaca fiber you’ll find in the United States is of the huacaya variety. Both suri alpaca fiber and huacaya alpaca fiber is virtually lanolin free and thought by some to be fairly hypo-allergenic. If you haven’t tried spinning alpaca fiber, you should. Huacaya alpaca fibre will probably be easier to work with than suri alpaca fiber for most beginning spinners because it is generally a bit denser. Alpaca fiber can also be used for felting, although it often takes a bit longer to felt than wool. Click any of the pictures below to get more information or place a bid!

ALPACA PREMIUM Luscious Carded FIBER for SPINNING US $8.00 End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 14:08:26 PDT Add to watch list

Super Fine Pacific Sand Baby Alpaca Spinning Fiber 8 oz US $27.50 End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 15:34:08 PDT Add to watch list

WOW! Luxury soft 6 oz. Fawn Alpaca spinning fiber US $11.60 End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 16:17:39 PDT Add to watch list

Needle Felting KIT NATURAL Wool & Alpaca Beginner's Kit US $15.49 (7 Bids) End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 17:26:49 PDT Add to watch list

CRAZY Handdyed Baby Llama & Alpaca top 30 bright shades US $6.03 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 7:37:16 PDT Add to watch list

If you see an auction marked “alpaca cria fiber” or “baby alpaca fiber” that means that it is from an alpaca that is less than a year old. You’ll find that alpaca cria fiber is even softer than that of an adult alpaca.

If you can’t find what you are looking for on eBay, you should check out the Alpaca spinning fiber at Paradise Fibers.