What to do with what grade of fibre

Discover the best way to handle different grades of fibre! Knowing what to do with varying qualities of fibre is crucial to ensure a successful outcome for your yarn. Consider quality, uniformity, staple length & the intended project.
Below is a visual representation of where each grade of fibre comes from. Each alpaca is different so each area will be a variance of the illustration. Prime/blanket will always be the best fibre that an alpaca can produce.

Below is a visual representation of the possible uses of fibre from each area of the alpaca. Some areas will be interchangeable, while others not. Always consider quality (micron), uniformity(SD) and the fibre’s handle. The rule of thumb is that the better the fibre, the more choices are available.

From fibre to end product

If you have a project in mind you need to consider if your fleeces are suited to that project carefully. Processing & further manufacturing to end garments can be a lengthy process.
We can help! You will need to start at the final product & work backwards to enable us to give you our best advice. Contact makers, knitting or weaving mills to discuss your requirements; each maker will have different parameters that they work within & will need to tell you the preferred weight of yarns they require for your project to run successfully on their machines. This will likely be in the form of a new metric yarn weight eg Nm2/9 which we will need to match as closely as a natural fibre allows us to.

To help, this is the likely order you will wish to work through if you intend to have garments /cloth made:

-know the quality of your fleeces (fibre test)
-decide on the final project subject to the quality of the fleece
-talk to the manufacturer to know their requirements
-talk to East Anglia Alpaca Mill

Below is a graph of possible uses for fibre in micron ranges with both UK & USA terminology. Do not lose sight of the SD when considering what yarn to have made from each fleece or batch of fleece. A 20-micron fleece with an SD of 7 will feel awful next to the skin where as conversely a higher micron with a lower SD is likely to have a significantly better handle. The table is merely a guide rather than a definitive guide referring only to micron ranges without reference to SD.