# Alpaca ??



## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

I watched a video, and it was mentioned that Alpaca was VERY warm and HEAVY ..... it didnt have a memory so it doesnt hold it's shape very well , and that it was best to blend it with wool , to make it hold it's shape ( as if knitting a sweater ) , and wasnt so heavy ......

what is your opinion ?? I have some alpaca I want to spin up for a sweater , dont know now if I should card it with some wool ?!?!?


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

I have some alpaca I have been pondering how to work it up. I was thinking of maybe spinning and plying with some wool.
But I am a spinning novice. Maybe I will learn something!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I have pure alpaca and it is heavy and it is not smooshey. It will drape and be very warm. I would advise for a sweater that perhaps you blend it 50/50 with wool or some other percentage you would like. It wouldn't take too much wool to give it some bounce and memory. Alpaca is also very slippery to spin and needs a lot of twist. You could spun up a bobbin and play it and see what you think.


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## Ana Bluebird (Dec 8, 2002)

Yes, I like to blend with alpaca, but maybe try some pure alpaca just so you will know for yourself---won't hurt to have the experience. Play with it, as Marchy said.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Don't spin, but I like pure alpaca for its drape and stitch definition. I'd say it knits up a bit like cotton, only more plushy. Great for structure, and it's so warm a vest-type sweater will keep you toasty! I made a neck warmer in a leaf edging stitch with a few moss rows when I needed a busy-work take along project, turned out to be my best workhorse.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Just as a warning, I had a very hard time spinning alpaca - I had to set it aside and work on wool spinning for awhile longer before I could handle it!

Not everyone has this experience, but if you find it really difficult to work with, don't be startled.  Blending with a bit of wool will make it much easier to spin as well.


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

Lordy , do you measure by weight ... each carded rolag ?! hmmm.....


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

That lace scarf I made during the TdF?
The yarn was one ply alpaca and one ply Shetland wool.
That is how I measured it out 50/50.


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

gone-a-milkin said:


> That lace scarf I made during the TdF?
> The yarn was one ply alpaca and one ply Shetland wool.
> That is how I measured it out 50/50.


:goodjob: :clap: 
TOO AMAZING !!! SO much easier !! Your scarf came out so freakin BEAUTIFUL !!! Thats the way I'll do it then !


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## alpacaspinner (Feb 5, 2012)

Could be that spinning alpaca is difficult, but I can't say for sure as I have never spun wool. I was given bags of alpaca fiber, and have been spinning and practicing and knitting ever since. I figure by the time I am through all this alpaca fiber I will be able to spin anything 
Haven't done a sweater yet though, so can't answer the question. The scarf for DH turned out very nicely though, and is certainly warm


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

When I blend fibers I rarely measure by weight. It's usually eyeballing it or a handful here a handful there. Or like GAM one ply this one ply that. It isn't rocket science, it's an art, be creative!


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## rootsandwings (Apr 20, 2004)

I'm allergic to wool. I learned (am learning) to spin using alpaca. there are two types, suri and huacaya. the suri is very slippery and has almost no crimp. It is very difficult to work with. The Huacaya is more crimpy and makes a nice yarn. I haven't tried yet, but I have been told 1:2 Huacaya to Suri is a good blend.

It is very very warm.


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

Look at the alpaca fiber. If it's straight with very little crimp and lots of sheen, it is probably Suri and will spin and wear a lot like mohair or silk. It's nice for a lace weight only as it would be very heavy if spun thicker and wouldn't hold it's shape. Nice for a lacy scarf.

Alpaca that is more like sheep wool with a firm, deep crimp, will give you loft and softness. This can be spun 100% to a sport weight yarn if you want a scarf, hat or mittens. If you spin larger, it will be heavy and will loose its shape for a sweater and will be too hot to wear. 

If you blend it with wool in whatever method you'd like, it would be more fitting for something that you want to have shape.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

I've never *ahem* _spun_ any alpaca fiber.....
But I did get four 50 gram skeins of some really chunky, bulky alpaca/wool blend in a delicious medium brown.

I used 2 strands in the cuffs and neck of one brown sweater, and the same all the way through a pair of really chunky mittens to match, and well....umm... wow.

_Warm_ is a gentle way to put it....as is _soft_.


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

WOW ! This is good to know !! Im going to knit a small sweater /shrug with some of it .... I now know to blend it , maybe 1 ply Alpaca, 2 ply wool ?? I love the color of the alpaca, it's like a caramel color .... I wonder what color wool I should use , or DYE !


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Blend with wool. I knit a sweater with alpaca, yes it is very warm. The real truth came out when I washed it. It sucked up water like a sponge and weighed about 20 lbs. Had a hard time getting the water out and it never regained the proper shape no matter how much I blocked,steemed,squished,adjusted ect.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

7thswan said:


> Blend with wool. I knit a sweater with alpaca, yes it is very warm. The real truth came out when I washed it. It sucked up water like a sponge and weighed about 20 lbs. Had a hard time getting the water out and it never regained the proper shape no matter how much I blocked,steemed,squished,adjusted ect.


Could you tell us more? :spinsmiley: Yarn wt, needle size, stitch pattern, all like that?
I usually have trouble with my non-wool fiber choices stretching out, the more the original stitch pattern has knit/purl, ribbing or cables, the more it flattens out, never more to regain it's original dimension. I thought alpaca was the best behaved, I make exact measurements of my pieces before and after wetting.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I had blended brown Alpaca with a small amount of white Angora -a 2 way swirl,so that the white would show up as nubs after spinning.2 Ply not quite bulky weight,a close knit. My sweaters usally take 2 lbs of unspun fiber. The majority of the sweater was stockinette stitch on 8's, with a large cable on each side of the front openings.One button on the top at the neck. I wore it for a long time before it needed washing and always wash by hand. I suspect it would have been a good time to take something to the cleaners instead.There also was some piling on the underside of the sleeves before washing but I suspect that was mostly the Angora as it can pill easily. I've made many hats with Alpaca and do not have the problem, but they are lined, It must be because the sweater was just too large to fully regain it's shape. Next time I'll add a lot of wool, something with good crimp.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

I can certainly see how an alpaca/angora blend would be fragile, at best.....

You must have been young and overly adventurous when you attempted that ? :whistlin:


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Oh, angora, so intriguing, so tricky tricky tricky. RootsandWings mentions some particulars about different kinds of alpaca. There was a big startup alpaca producer nearby that focused on Haucaya, the animals & the special equipment for spinning it, but they have totally disappeared, my only link was through our local growers exchange. Gives me a sense of how difficult and expensive this fiber is.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

RedDirt Cowgirl said:


> Oh, angora, so intriguing, so tricky tricky tricky. RootsandWings mentions some particulars about different kinds of alpaca. There was a big startup alpaca producer nearby that focused on Haucaya, the animals & the special equipment for spinning it, but they have totally disappeared, my only link was through our local growers exchange. Gives me a sense of how difficult and expensive this fiber is.


Yes, many are going out of buisness. If you can find one near you,you might get fiber very inexpensivly. A Breeder this spring told me that many farms are giving away the fiber for just the cost of shearing the animal. Suri can have very long fibers. I have raised Angora Bunnies for 20 years now,so I've spun quite a bit. One must s l o w down their spinning to get along with it if spinning it right off the Bun.


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