The mill helps us match up the microns to yarn from lace all the way to roving bumps. This term is used to illustrate the micron level. Skein — Yarn is typically sold in a ball, hank, or skein. A skein is similar to a ball but it is formed into an oblong shape. Due to this, I created some handy cheatsheet charts to help keep me and you on track. This chart will help you evaluate the quality of the yarn you purchase. Micron count alone is not enough to warrant quality. Characteristics like fiber uniformity, staple length, and comfort factor are also important.
This chart will help you keep the official yarn weight class IDs straight, while comparing them to standard yarn terminology and alpaca fiber microns. This chart will take the official year weight class and compare it to the finished product.
This will help make sure you are ordering the right yarn weight class for your specific product. This last chart will help you determine how much yarn you need to purchase for your finished product. Keep in mind that most skeins of alpaca yarn sold in the United States are about yards.
I have noticed some alpaca farms selling this at yards, but this is rare. While the United States government does have specific acts to help guard against mislabeling, issues still exist.
I doubt most alpaca farms even know such legislation exists, which makes it difficult to expect them to follow it. This means the product descriptions and labels you find will be inconsistent and sometimes incomplete. Before buying any alpaca yarn, make sure your label and product description clearly list:.
The bottom line is if alpaca yarn looks too cheap or inexpensive for the quality, it probably is not what you think it is and you need to buy alternate alpaca yarn. Cottage mills that process alpaca fiber are always full, so we do have delays in processing. It is the downside of running small batches by individual alpaca. But in my mind, it is worth it. I love looking at a skein of DK, sport, fingering, and worsted yarn and knowing it came from a specific alpaca.
It amplifies the beauty of the yarn and my love for farming. Rebecca is an alpaca farmer who lives on just outside of Traverse City, Michigan. She and her husband left the suburban life of metro Detroit, sold everything they owned, and moved north to start an alpaca farm in After buying their first set of alpacas, the duo fell in love with this magical animal and have jumped fully into the alpaca industry.
Thank you for an informative web site. I want to knit a pair of gloves and all my patterns use 5ply wool. My husband and I take great care in managing the shearing day and our herd as a whole.
We hire professional shearers and we are with our herd the entire time that shearing is taking place. We know exactly what is done, why it is done, and we make sure nothing cruel ever occurs to the alpaca. We also use shearers who do take even greater care with our pregnant girls and those who need special handling.
We do so because we care for these animals and want to give them the love they give to us. Not only do alpacas need to be sheared, most farms hire professional shearing teams so they can guarantee their animals are moved through the process quickly and efficiently to reduce stress on the animal.
And we farmers also stay close to assist the teams so we can increase the efficiency of the process. We do so because we truly care for the welfare of our livestock.
That way I know my alpacas are being taken care of in the best possible manner. On our first shearing day, we were pretty clueless. Who would? My husband was on-task to figure it out and the farm where we purchased our first alpacas was where he found solid answers and direction. What we did learn, was invaluable. It boils down to a few steps to make the entire process go faster and a lot smoother for everyone involved:.
In addition to that above list, I also tried and make sure we had a buddy system in place. Heartthrob and Onyx are best buddies, so I asked that they go right after each other. The same was true for Bean and Zula. That way they could stay with their buddy as they waited and then be with their buddy right after shearing was finished.
We had a large area waiting for them after the shearing so the alpacas could spread out, drink some water, and just relax. If it is a nice day, this will result in many alpacas sunbathing in their new skinny and fiber-free bodies. At this point, you might be wondering why there is all this fuss about the alpaca fiber. And you would be correct in questioning this process. We tend to treat the alpaca fiber like it is gold because it is the harvest of the farm. I have my fiber processed into yarn at professional mills and then I recruit knitters to whip me up something amazing.
They both possess all the crafting talent that was skipped over me. A few final points you should know about shearing if you are a new of future alpaca farm in the United States:. The more relaxed you are, the more secure your alpacas will feel. While the alpacas hate the shearing itself, they feel fabulous once done and they roll around happily in the grass.
When they are done rolling, they take naps in the sun. So expect a few sprawled out alpacas sunbathing in the grass. Rebecca is an alpaca farmer who lives on just outside of Traverse City, Michigan. She and her husband left the suburban life of metro Detroit, sold everything they owned, and moved north to start an alpaca farm in After buying their first set of alpacas, the duo fell in love with this magical animal and have jumped fully into the alpaca industry.
We just saw video footage from PETA and it was disturbing. We saw the animals vomiting and being manhandled. What are YOU doing to safeguard the alpacas on your farm? Liza if you read the post above, you would see I mention the PETA video and I specifically talk about our direct interaction to ensure our alpacas are sheared safely and in a loving manner.
My husband, son, and I are very involved in the shearing process. Not only do I personally tell the team which alpacas to shear next so they can stay with their buddies , I stand right next to the alpaca during shearing to provide emotional support and so I know they are well cared for.
Then once done, I move towards the open pasture and water, so my alpaca knows where to go to get a drink and run free with their barn mates. I love my alpaca more than I can express in a post comment.
They are family to me and I would never let them be treated poorly. We hire professionals so the shearing process can be efficient, well done, and so we can minimize the impact it has on our alpacas. Our alpacas are not traumatized by the event. Instead, they feel naked and free and immediately start jumping around and rolling on the ground in happiness.
Rebecca, great article! Our largest herd was We are down to 12 and one llama. We are no longer breeding…letting them retire along with us!! Due to demand, we now run a waiting list : you should contact us to be added to the list, when we also send you sacks in which to pack your fibre to send to us.
We call in orders in monthly groups and if people are not ready they can move down the list. We do not charge for being on the list. The list is around months and then processing is another months. We are quite proud of our turnaround times, which are among the fastest in the industry, and with a little planning and discussion we are often able to get things through more quickly.
However, there are reasons why it sometimes takes a little longer: we work carefully to keep different natural colours of fibre from cross contamination, so we schedule white with white, and black with black, and so on. We also timetable different types of fibre from fine to coarse. We schedule scouring at roughly weekly intervals, so most fibre has to wait for at least a month before it gets into production.
Sometimes we are just flat out! Contact us to discuss your plans as early as you can and we will do our best to help. The best option is to deliver it yourself so that you can also see around, see samples and discuss things in person. We can also arrange collection of our sacks from most parts of the UK and also Europe, though it is sometimes cheaper to arrange this yourself. Please contact us to discuss the most cost effective options and see our information on carriage. It depends both on the fleece and on your plans for the yarn.
Do you want to sell it for knitting, make it into textiles, furnishing fabric or felt? The softness and fineness of the fibre are the key factors to consider in making these choices. Blending your fibre with another can help and we can advise on this.
For the best results fibre should be centimetres 1. Fibre of varying lengths within a batch can help with spinning and reduce shedding and pilling in yarns, but lengths of over 20 centimetres 8 inches can cause problems. Fibre for worsted spinning can be longer, at centimetres inches.
To improve quality, suri alpacas should be sheared annually, and long-haired sheep twice a year. It depends on the machine. Most have specific gauge: domestic machines are usually fine, which will work for a 4-ply knitting yarn, or chunky, which is actually only able to work on DK knitting yarns.
If you tell us the machine gauge or the manufacturer we should be able to help.
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