Wool Obsession

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:

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!

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.