Chart showing 16 of the 22 natural colors of alpaca
|
Alpaca are very lovable and fun to be around. You'll soon find out why we say 'I love alpaca!'.
Alpaca wool is as soft as cashmere and warmer, lighter and stronger
than wool. Alpaca fiber can be used to make sweaters, dresses,
outerwear, rugs, wall hangings, and yarn. Spinners and weavers around
the world now enjoy this cashmere-like fleece, once reserved for Incan
royalty. Unlike sheep's wool, alpaca contains no lanolin, therefore it
is ready to spin right off the animal.
Alpaca fiber can also be readily combined with other fibers like fine
sheep's wool, cashmere, mohair, silk and angora to attain interesting
blends. Because of the unique manner in which the scales of alpaca
fiber lie own against the shaft of each hair follicle, alpaca fiber is
considered to be hypo-allergenic.
There are two types of alpaca; huacaya ("wah-KI-ah") and suri
("surrey"). The huacaya (our alpaca) has a thick, crimpy fiber, while
the suri has penciled locks with a wonderful luster.
Typical alpaca weight can range from 90 to 200 pounds and they measure
30-36 inches tall at the withers (point where the neck and shoulder
meet). Female alpaca generally have one offspring per year, called a
cria ("kree-ya"). Their gestation period is approximately 11 months.
|
