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For those that enjoy working with textiles or fiber, one of the greatest joys of raising alpacas, is the tactile experience
of sinking your hands into an alpaca fleece either on or off the animal. It always brings "oohs" and "aahhs". The picture
here shows how we part the fleece of an alpaca's blanket, or prime portion of the alpaca's fleece to view its density, brightness,
fineness and crimp.
Alpaca fiber is exceptionally soft and warm. The fleece is also lightweight and hypoallergenic. There are 22 different colors
also with all the varied shades of those colors. And the fleece accepts dyes very well.
As we have mentioned on some of our other pages, most of the fiber our animals produce is sent off to a mill for processing.
We do hold onto some of our fleeces for sale to local spinners and for personal use.
We are planning on shearing our alpacas in April this year. This will be the first attempt to shear them ourselves. I
have included a few pictures of last years shearing. Tom Perez at Mount Airy Alpacas taught us how to do it. I'll probably
be more nervous about it than the alpacas. I will let you know how it goes.
We start our fiber preparation as soon as the alpaca is shorn. First we lay out the shorn fleece on a skirting table and we
carefully remove (skirt) any pieces of fiber that are not part of the premium quality blanket. The blanket includes the back,
shoulders, and sides but not the neck, belly, legs or rump area. When we are sure we have removed any fiber that is coarser
or shorter than that which belongs in the blanket area, we pick out any VM (vegatable matter including bits of hay, small
burrs etc.) and then we roll up the fleece and bag it in an open plastic bag and send it to the mill.
Fiber Terminology:
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Density
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Density refers to the number of hair follicles per square inch or centimeter. Since alpacas are raised for their fiber, we
consider density to be of high importance. It is a term used with both huacayas and suris. It is safe to say that density
is a quality we all breed for and density can be both felt, by holding fleece in your fist or feeling the weight of a handful
of suri. It can also be assessed after shearing by weighing the fleece.
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Crimp
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Crimp refers to the zigzag pattern that huacaya fleeces have. If you click on the picture above, you can see the crimp expressed
in this male's fiber. This wavyness is not apparent once the fleece has been processed, but lots of crimp when viewed either
on the alpaca, or in the fleece sample is associated with fine fiber. Generally the lighter colored alpacas will have more
crimp and be finer as a group when compared to alpacas of color. The darker the alpaca, usually the less crimp, but that
is changing rapidly here in the U.S.A. as we improve our alpacas with each generation. So when you think of high crimp, you
usually think of very fine fiber. If you are looking for suri alpacas, you do not want to see crimp in the fiber, for crimp
is strictly a huacaya characteristic, or should be.
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Fineness
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Fineness refers to the actual diameter of the individual hair. We raise alpacas to harvest their very soft hair or fleece.
We breed to increase that fineness, especially in huacayas. The finer the fiber, the softer the fiber. Not only is fineness
important, but the consistency of that fineness throughout the fleece is important. We do micron tests to assess fiber fineness
(see explanation below). Interestingly a fiber sample that has fibers as fine as 16 microns but ranging up into the 30 micron
range will not feel as soft and fine as a sample that is consistently in the 26 micron range. This is because you fingers
feel the "stronger" fibers first, and it sort of sways the sensory vote.
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Staple Length
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Staple Length refers to the actual fiber length. For showing, the staple length must be a certain minimum measurement for
hauacayas and suris. There is also a maximum length for suris to show. Some alpacas grow fiber quickly, and each year the
length of their fiber between shearings is remarkable. As an alpaca ages, the rate of growth usually slows down. Obviously,
the faster the rate of growth, the better, but one must bear in mind that diet and stress may influence fiber growth rate
and thereby the staple length.
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Handle
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Handle refers to how a fleece actually feels. This term is borrowed from the clothing industry which is appropriate. Does
your skin feel prickles when you touch the alpaca? Is it soft? If you are feeling suri fiber on or off the alpaca, does
it feel cool to the touch like silk? These are questions that are related to the handle or feel of alpaca.
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Brightness
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Brightness refers to the amount of light reflected from the fiber. This is a term reserved for huacayas. It refers to whether
a fleece is shiny or not. There may be an association between brightness and fineness. Presumably, a fiber will reflect
more light if the scales of the fiber are lying flat, than if they are sticking out off the fiber shaft. Flatter scales will
likely provide a finer fiber that is softer to the touch, and reflects more light. Brightness is best visualized closer to
the alpacas skin when you part the fleece, simply because it is cleaner there.
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Bundling
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Bundling This is a term relatively new to evaluating huacaya fleeces, and may be a fad. To be honest, I am not at all sure
about the concept, but when you look at a huacaya in full fleece, the fleece can actually divide itself a bit into bundles.
This has been deemed a desirable trait by some who claim that it implies increased crimp and fineness. In my opinion, the
jury is still out on this, but I could easily be overly skeptical
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Lock Structure
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Lock Structure is a term reserved for suri alpacas. The fiber of suris, when it gets long enough, actually forms locks that
remind one of dreadlocks. They should not be matted like dreadlocks though! There are many different types of locks in suris.
Some may be wide and flat, with little twist, others can be very thin with lots of twist, and still others can have some
curl to them. The industry has not settled on any particular lock structure as being superior. What breeders have agreed
upon is that whatever lock a suri alpaca has, it should be the same type throughout the individual. In other words you should
not have a mix of flat and fat with thin and tight. Additionally, suri breeders agree that it is desirable to see that lock
start to develop at the skin.
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Luster or Lustre
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Luster or Lustre is a term used primarily for suri fleece and fiber. It is the luster that truly differentiates a suri fiber
from any other. Once the fiber is off the suri alpaca and in the fiber processor's hands, the lock structure makes no difference
at all, but the luster is what makes suri fiber so special when it is processed into garments. Luster refers to a relective
quality the fiber possesses quite possibly because the scales on the hair shaft lie flatter giving a smoother fiber that reflects
more light. The luster makes the alpaca look silky and or even wet.
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Histogram or Micron Count
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Histogram or Micron Count refers to a special test that measures the diameter of multiple strands of fiber that have been
submitted by an owner for testing. The sample is taken from a specific location of an alpaca's blanket and submitted to
a special lab that performs fiber testing. To be most valuable, the test should be performed over several years for fiber
tends to coarsen as the alpaca ages, and the results should be compared with the results of the rest of the herd. The cria
fleece is the finest fleece the alpaca will ever have. Remarkable alpacas are those that minimally coarsen as they age.
It is important to remember that fiber testing is just one part of the fiber "equation" for the breeder should also consider
staple length, rate of fiber growth, fleece weights, density, crimp or lock structure and brightness or luster.
It is also important to remember that there is no way to verify that the fiber submitted for the testing is actually the alpaca
listed on the form. Lastly be sure that the micron test you are studying is recent. A micron test taken when the alpaca
is a cria really tells very little, for the fleece can change tremendously as the alpaca ages. The micron test provides the
following information, Average Fiber Diameter, Standard Deviation, Coefficient of Variation, and Fibers > 30 Microns.
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Average Fiber Diameter
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Average Fiber Diameter: This is fairly self explanatory. The diameter of all of the fibers submitted are tested and their
combined diameters are averaged to produce this figure. The lower the average fiber diameter, the finer the fleece.
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Standard Deviation
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Standard Deviation: This statistical term refers to the amount of variation in the measured diameters of the fiber in the
fleece sample. Basically, the lower the standard of deviation, the more similar the fibers are in diameter. The larger the
standard of deviation, the more the fiber sample varies, with more fibers being finer and thicker than the average fiber diameter.
It is obviously most desirable to have a low average fiber diameter with a low standard of deviation.
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Coefficient of Variation
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Coefficient of Variation: Mathematically, this figure is arrived at by dividing the standard deviation by the average fiber
diameter and multiplying it by 100. This provides a figure that explains the variability of the fiber sample as a percentage.
It is desirable to have a low coefficient of variation
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Fibers > 30 Microns
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Fibers > 30 Microns: A fiber diameter of 30 microns or greater is associated with a "prickle factor" which makes it uncomfortable
when worn next to the skin. It is preferred that the percentage of fibers greater than 30 microns be lower than 4%.
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