All Fleece is Good Fiber
If you choose the right use for it

Fiber, fiber everywhere, but what can I do with it?

Just like so many things in life, all alpaca fiber is not created equal. Some alpacas have lots of crimp and others have none to speak of. Some have long locks while others grow barely two inches a year. Some have coarser fiber while their cousin has very fine.

Which is better? Is there one that is the best?

The answer is really more of a question of finding the best use for the kind of fiber you have. If you have the expectation of making a fine soft yarn from a course short fiber, you will be very disappointed just as you would if you want a thick bulky yarn from a fine long fiber. The goal is to use the fiber to best show off its positive qualities.

Let’s explore several characteristics of fiber that we all look for: crimp, staple length, hand, and fineness.

Crimp is easy, right? Well maybe. Fiber with crimp does “hold together” easier meaning that the fibers stay together better than fiber with little or no crimp, such as Suri. That alone can be a difference in the spinning process since you need the fiber to stay together to spin it. The crimp acts like little hands that hold onto other fibers and they move through the process together, i.e. rovings stay together to spin. When there is little or no crimp, these little hands are not there and the fibers slide past each other easier and the result is that the rovings tend to fall apart if not carefully handled. Having crimp applies to felting as well. Felting is dependent on the fibers meshing into each other to create a mat. The crimpier the fiber, the better and faster it felts. The less crimpy fibers slide past each other instead of getting matted together.

This is not to say that Suri’s do not felt. I have seen many Suri and Huacaya fleeces where the animal has felted themselves with heat and sweat and rain. This usually happens when the fleece is sheared every two years instead of annually. It’s just not the kind of felted results that we are usually looking for.

Crimp also plays a part in the finished yarn and the garment or item made from it. Just like curly hair in people, no matter how much you iron your hair to make it straight, once it gets wet or at least damp, the curl comes back. And just like people with straight hair that curl it, when it gets wet or damp, it goes straight again. This is true about crimp in fiber as well. In spinning, the fiber is put under pressure and tension so the yarn looks very smooth when it comes off the spools. Now wash it. Whatever crimp (curl) was in the fiber before all this tension will return. With more crimp, the yarn becomes more lofty and bulky. With less crimp, the smoother the yarn is.

Staple length is how long the fiber is. Usually one year’s growth on an alpaca is between 2 and 6 inches. The variation in the growth comes from a list of reasons. The age of the animal is a factor: as the animal gets older, the staple length decreases. Not as much energy is put into growing fiber. Pregnancy in females can also decrease the staple length; they are building a cria not making fiber. Prolonged illness will affect staple length since they are using their energy to get healthy and strong again. These are a few of the reasons for short fiber. Long fiber is the opposite of these. Great health, along with genetics, plays a big factor in staple length.

Should you shear ever other year to get longer staple length? You need to look at the animal’s health before making this choice. If it is a pregnant female, she is giving you the cria and you want great fiber too? Will the heat from keeping the fleece on all year cause her problems? The heat of keeping the fleece on any animal needs to be looked at; having the animal go into heat stroke is not fun either. Also as mentioned above, a two year fleece is more likely to be felted or “Cotted” (felting on the animal) than a one year fleece.

Fineness is how thin the shaft of the fiber is or Micron count. Now what does this have to do with the use of the fleece? If you want a big bulky yarn, using a fine fleece will make that yarn very heavy, because you will need more fiber to make the thickness of the yarn. To get the most out of your finer fiber, then a thinner yarn is best. It will show off the fiber better. From thicker fiber, you want to create thicker yarn which won’t add heaviness to the final product.

Fineness and hand go together, but not always in the way we want to think they do. We often think that the finer the fleece the nicer the hand it has. For those whose don’t know what “hand” is, it is the way the fleece feels in your hand or the softness of it. After “playing” with hundreds of fleeces, I have found that some of the finest fibers are not as soft as some of the coarser fibers. You really have to touch it and learn the feel of the fiber.

So what makes a good bulky yarn? Fiber with higher Micron count, shorter staple length, and lots of crimp. The “hand” will tell you if it’s a coat or a scarf. Do you want it on your skin? Soft on your skin, not so soft over something else. What makes a good fine lacy yarn? Fiber with a low Micron count, longer staple length, less crimp, and a good hand.

Are these hard and fast rules? No, since most of the time all of these qualities will not be in one fleece. And as mentioned above, some fleeces behave differently than you might expect them to. So there is a lot of room for doing things in the middle. But these qualities will determine the end results of your yarn and finished item or your felted item.

So, let your fleece tell you what it wants to be.