About Alpacas

Alpacas and Llamas are related. They are members of the camelid family. There are 4 in the species, including 2 wild members: the guanaco and the vicuna.

The camel family first originated and evolved on the central plains of North America. Nowadays they are primarily found in Peru, Bolivia and Chile. In recent years alpacas have been imported from these countries and breeders in the UK. Successful breeding and improvement of their fleeces enables the use of this luxurious fibre for spinning and producing beautifully soft and entirely natural wool.

There are 22 different shades of alpaca fibre ranging in colour from black, fawns, grays to white. The South Americans have been processing alpaca fibre for more than 6000 years.

Alpacas are shorn annually and produce between 2 and 5 kilos of fleece.