# Llama fleece - what now?



## dmbenson (May 11, 2013)

So DH and I have acquired a number of miniature llamas and I'm going to end up literally over my head in fleece by next spring.

This year I just sheared them off and threw it away - it was seriously dirty and matted and I wanted to begin with a 'clean slate' as it were. But even in that condition it was beautiful.

Now bearing in mind that about the only thing I know about the whole process goes along the lines of: 

"shear animal --------- have pile of fleece ---------[something mysterious happens] ----------- [someone talented weaves/knits/crochets] --------- beautiful wearing apparel appears" :whistlin:

Where do I start with this gorgeous stuff? Someone told me once that there were a couple of places in the US that you could send 'small batches' of fiber off to to be "something mysterious happens" - cleaned? carded? whatever?, but as you can see, I'm so ignorant about what's involved I don't even know what to ask for! :ashamed: 

I figure if I start now by the time next year comes around, I'll at least know enough to know what questions to ask!:spinsmiley:


:help::help::help:


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## DragonFlyFarm (Oct 12, 2012)

Miniature llamas? You've GOT to post pics of your new critters! Did you get them for the fiber? Youv'e got the basics down -- shear animal-----have pile of fleece-------scour (clean) fibers-------comb fiber to serparate coarser hair from finer----spin the yarn----knit/crochet/weave something amazing 

There are lots of very knowledgeable and helpful folks around here -- It's a good place to get some answers. Welcome!


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## dmbenson (May 11, 2013)

DragonFlyFarm said:


> Miniature llamas? You've GOT to post pics of your new critters! Did you get them for the fiber? Youv'e got the basics down -- shear animal-----have pile of fleece-------scour (clean) fibers-------comb fiber to serparate coarser hair from finer----spin the yarn----knit/crochet/weave something amazing
> 
> There are lots of very knowledgeable and helpful folks around here -- It's a good place to get some answers. Welcome!


There's photos on our website - www.tavixfancy.com :grin:


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

OMG !!! They are SOOOOOOOOO cute ! Is that 39 inches TALL ?!?! Are they sheared in belt fashion for a reason ??


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## FarmChix (Mar 3, 2013)

Are you sure they aren't Alpacas? (I can't go to the pic site, I'm on my work computer.) So, here's what we did back when we had llamas. After you shear, put the wool into zippered pillowcases and wash/dry like a load of laundry. (This eliminated the carding also.) You will get the roving strips like you would get back from a processor. Then, you would need to spin and use like yarn. 

Something else we did was dye and felt into fabric 'sheets'. There are some online tutorials for that. Have fun! I miss those days!


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

There are places that will process your llama fiber as much as you want them to! Shepherd's Mill 

This place will wash, card, make your fiber into roving, spin it into yarn, and even weave and felt it if you want! Basically, you can decide how much you want them to do, and you can do the rest! 

I don't know what your background is, so I don't know how much you would want done. Do you knit? Are you interested in learning how to spin? The lovely ladies here on the Fiber Forum are a wealth of information for getting started and learning the crafts required to make that "something magic" happen!


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## dmbenson (May 11, 2013)

Whoooo - where to begin. First of all Farmchix - yes, they are definitely Miniature Llamas  - maximum height at the withers (where the neck joins into the back is 38" for mini, 40" for foundation dam. They are all registered through the AMLA (American Miniature Llama Association) and the ILR (International Llama Association).

I would love to learn to spin and weave. Knitting, honestly, not so much. I have seriously un-fond memories of having to knit little 2x2 inch squares showing the different stitches for home-ec in junior high - took me weeks and looked like - well we'll kindly just draw the curtain over that vision please....

SvenskaFlicka my background as far as fiber/sewing/knitting and the fabric arts is absolutely nil - other than appreciating it! I run the farm by myself while my DH is on the road (he drives truck) to support it, and with 16 mini llamas, 10 miniature horses, 3 full sized horses, 2 milk cows, I've lost count of the number of poultry, 30 odd goats, 7 dogs, a good sized garden and 19 acres to deal with, my time for things like washing and carding and what not is rather severely limited. 

The long range plan is to develop another small revenue stream from the llamas. We breed and sell them as well. They absolutely _must_ be sheared each spring without fail, or they will die when it gets hot so I'd like to have something to do with the fleece. 

I would like to at least dabble in the 'fiber' arts myself (weaving really interests me), but I also want to figure out the rate of return on raw vs semi processed vs ready to use fibers - and to do that, I need to know what all is involved in the process.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

I just processed my first fleece. From 17 pounds of fleece, I was able to get 15 pounds of wool. When you send out a fleece, I read the return is much lower. However these ladies on here can recommend a good service. The rate of return on the wool I got was even so 15 pounds of clean wool turned into roving will return 15 pounds of yarn. I am still spinning the yarn up from my fleece but took a break to crochet some socks as I got too excited to try out my new yarn.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

You will want your Llama fleece Dehaired. So ask the mills of your choice if they do that.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

www.zwool.com They have processed alpaca for me. I have it combined with wool. One of my friends has an alpaca herd and she cards the fleece a couple of times, then spins it, knits it, and finally washes it.

You should get a good return on your fleece because there is no lanolin in it so llama does not attract and hold onto dirt like wool does. The way to groom a llama or alpaca is to use air, like a hair dryer to blow the dirt out.


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

If you are using the blower method of grooming, you can go with a shop vac, just get one with plenty of horsepower. Then you need a narrow tube at the animal end, so air is concentrated for blowing, gives you "more power" for getting into the fleece.

Electro Groom makes animal vacuums, with the wheeled one, looks like a box, being the best one available. They are NOT cheap, but sometimes you can find a used one. The parts are available if used needs replacing of items. We use our Electro Groom Vac on horses, cattle, sheep, blow off water, dirt in winter hair for grooming, it really is one of the most used tools around here. After a little use blowing, the air warms up, so you actually have heated air to dry or blow on the animal to groom it.

Mini Llamas sound pretty cute, have not seen any in person.


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