Alpaca wool is made from the fleece of an alpaca animal. It is a highly demand natural wool which is a very good alternative to synthetic fabric. It is very much like the wool that you get from sheep but it is lighter and softer. There are only 22 colors but the white wool can be dyed and turned to an indefinite number of color.
There are 2 kinds of alpaca wool in the USA and this is primarily because there are 2 breeds of alpaca being raised in the country. The first kind which is the most popular is the huacaya. The wool that is made from the fleece of huacaya alpaca is very dense and cringed. The second kind which is the rarer one is the suri. The fiber is longer and the strands are separate.
Whether huacaya or suri, the process of turning the alpaca fiber from wool is the same. First, the alpaca is sheared. It is not sheared when it is wet because wet fleece will not produce good alpaca wool. After getting the fleece, the fleece is combed, cleaned from stains and then spun. The spinner that is used for traditional sheep wool is also the one that is used for this wool.
Today, there are more and more weavers and manufacturers of clothing that choose alpaca wool over other kinds of wool and synthetic fibers. It is all-natural, soft, light and the product supports the hundreds of breeders who are trying to earn money from alpaca wool.
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