Alpaca Fleeces and Yarn
The fleece of these elegant and engaging animals is incredibly soft - feeling much like cashmere. It is stronger than wool and has even greater insulating properties.
All our alpacas are sheared once a year in May/June. The fleeces are sorted and graded before being individually bagged up and sent to a UK mill to be transformed into stunning British alpaca yarn – a highly valued product.
Alpacas come in 22 natural shades from white through to black and therefore we pride ourselves in using only these natural colours in yarns and products, which include:
- Knitting yarn – undyed, natural, fine and British
- Raw fleece is generally available of varying qualities which is reflected in the price, please contact us for a price
- Fleece suitable for craftwork or felting
- Bird nesting/tree mulching lowest grade material
The Unique Selling Point of our alpacas is the Field to Fashion ideal – any product purchased from Field Burcote Alpacas can be directly traced to the individual animals in our fields.
All Field Burcote alpaca fibre is processed in the UK, using British mills. The 2010 clip was sent to The Natural Fibre Company in Cornwall to be manufactured into 4 colours of yarn: black, grey, fawn and light fawn.
The fleeces of the older animals and the legs and neck of the younger alpacas were sent to Penrose Products for the production of 100% natural, organic, and sustainable bedding (pillows, mattress toppers and duvets).
Alpacas are South American Camelids, their wild relation being the rare vicuna found in the high altiplano of the Andes. The fifteenth century Incas of Peru appreciated the true value of the alpaca for their superb fleece - as well as their meat and bi-products.
The Incas not only used the fleeces for yarn but also as a means of payment for loyalty and military conquests. Nothing was wasted with the alpaca, the Incas made textiles from the fleeces, while eating the meat and using the bi-product to fertilise the land. With three stomachs the alpaca digests its food so efficiently that the bi-product can be used in the garden without the need to rot down – how perfect is that!
