Alpaca
Alpaca is a luxurious animal fiber from the alpaca, known for being very soft, warm, and lightweight, but with less natural elasticity than wool.
Explanation
Alpaca fiber comes from alpacas, camelids originally from South America, and is known for being extremely soft, lightweight, and highly insulating compared to regular sheep's wool. However, alpaca lacks the natural lanolin and much of the crimp that gives wool its elasticity, so yarn with a high alpaca content can become heavier and stretch more over time. For this reason, alpaca is often blended with wool or nylon in yarn to combine a soft feel with better shape retention.
Also known as: Alpaca fiber
Warmer than wool, but without the spring
Alpaca fiber is hollow, which makes it exceptionally warm for its weight. It is also smooth and lustrous, without wool’s natural crimp — and crimp is precisely what gives wool its spring.
The consequence is that alpaca drapes and grows. A garment in pure alpaca lengthens with wear and does not recover. That is why alpaca is often blended with wool, which restores some of the bounce.
How to knit with it
Knit at a firmer gauge than you would in wool, and choose designs that do not depend on the fabric holding its shape. Ribbing in pure alpaca stops gripping quite quickly.
Common mistakes
- Knitting pure alpaca as loosely as wool, so the garment drops.
- Using pure alpaca for ribbing that needs to hold its shape.
Keywords
- alpaca
- alpaca yarn
- alpaca fiber
Frequently asked questions
Is alpaca warmer than wool?
Yes, gram for gram. The hollow fiber insulates better, which can make alpaca too warm for indoor wear.
Why is alpaca blended with wool?
To restore the spring. Wool holds shape, alpaca supplies warmth and lustre — the blend takes advantage of both.