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Alpaca in the UKBy Rachel Hebditch
Alpacas are the aristocrats of farmed animals producing lovely fleece in a whole range of natural colours from pure white through the fawns, browns and greys to a pure black. Garments made from alpaca are very warm, lightweight, hard wearing and extremely soft. Today there are around 12,000 alpacas in the UK and there is a lively market for pedigree stock with more and more people making the decision to breed these enchanting animals. They are relatively easy to keep, stay out all year and eat grass and hay. The youngsters are called Cria and gestation is a mammoth eleven and a half months with each female producing just one a year. They are bred for their fibre, shorn once a year, and are not slaughtered in this country living to around fifteen to twenty years. There is a thriving show circuit with alpaca halter classes at all the major agricultural shows.
Alpacas are members of the South American camelid family that also includes their much bigger cousin, the llama plus their wild ancestors, the vicuna and the guanaco. They have been domesticated in Peru, Chile and Bolivia for at least six thousand years and were central to the Inca civilisation. UK Alpaca was formed three years ago to take advantage of the crop of British fleece and buys between three and five tons a year from breeders in this country. Most of the alpaca yarns that were found in shops in the past were from South America but now there is a local alternative. Every autumn the barn at Vulscombe Farm, near Tiverton in Devon fills up with fleeces. These are then graded by hand into three grades — baby, fine and coarse — before being sent to Bradford and Halifax for processing. The farm also has its own herd of around two hundred and fifty Classical MileEnd Alpacas. All UK Alpaca's yarns are processed and spun in the UK to the highest quality to provide a uniform, soft, lustrous worsted spun yarn. Double knit yarns are produced in natural un-dyed alpaca shades blended with fine British bluefaced Leicester wool, to provide extra volume and spring to the alpaca. Some of the parchment and fawn yarns are dyed to produce a range of colours. And for the ultimate in luxury knitwear there is a natural coloured ultra soft alpaca yarn, made up of baby alpaca and unbleached Tussah silk plus a new blended range of baby alpaca and merino that can be worn next to the skin.
The worsted spinning system is used, which is best suited to alpaca fibre because of the fibre length. This produces a strong, lustrous, smooth and fine yarn, ideal for use in knitwear. The yarn is spun on a ring spinning system in either 100% alpaca or as a blend with wool or nylon dependent on the performance requirement of the yarn. For general knitwear wool is added when possible to stop any migration and to produce a loftier, bouncier yarn. The wool enhances the qualities of the alpaca whilst producing good wear resistance. For rugs a 50% blend with coarse grade British wool is used to eliminate shedding of fibres and to provide good wearability without losing the soft feel of the alpaca. To maintain good yarn stability, the yarns are generally produced as two single strands folded together and then autoclaved (subjecting the yarn to high pressure) which sets the fibres in place in the yarn and stops distortion in the final product. This process also improves stability and the shape of the final product. Be warned, Alpacas are very addictive, says Rachel. She started ten years ago, with three pregnant females and now has 250; produces a magazine, Alpaca World; and runs UK Alpaca, along with the three other directors, so alpacas have taken over all their lives.
To view their yarns visit UK Alpaca‘s website www.ukalpaca.com where you can order yarns or a shadecard on line. For telephone enquiries contact them on their UK number +44 (0)1884 243579. Related projects in this issue: |
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Rachel Hebditch is one of the founders and co-directors of UK Alpaca, along with John Arbon, Chas Brooke and Juliet Sensicle. Rachel talks to us about the growth of alpaca farming in the UK and how UK Alpaca turn the fleece into yarn.
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