• About UK Alpaca

• Buying UK Alpaca yarn

• Selling your fleece

• Using alpaca yarn

About UK Alpaca

A new initiative for the collection of fleece and direct Alpaca yarn retail.

It is said that the sun god Inti created the alpaca to reward the Incas of Peru. Even today alpaca fibre is still referred to as the ‘fibre of the Gods’. These beautiful animals have been domesticated for thousands of years and the textiles made from their fleeces have been highly prized for centuries.

We are proud to offer you this yarn made from the fleeces of alpacas farmed in Britain. One of the ‘noble fibres’ alpaca is soft, luxurious and stronger and more resilient than the finest sheep’s wool. It is prized for its silky feel, weightlessness and warmth and comes in a great variety of natural shades from pure white through the fawns and browns to grey and a true black.

All our yarns are spun using the worsted process as this exploits the natural properties of alpaca fibre giving a smooth, strong yarn that shows off the natural brightness of the fibre.

UK Alpaca buys fleece from many breeders throughout Britain. It is graded by hand at our farm in Devon and processed in the traditional way in the North of England.

UK Alpaca is a privately funded company set up by four partners: John Arbon and Juliet Sensicle, of John Arbon Textiles, based in Lynton on the North Devon coast and the owners of Classical MileEnd Alpacas, Chas Brooke and Rachel Hebditch.

Our aim is to create a viable fibre industry in the UK that can then exploit the fabulous qualities of our home grown alpaca fleece and bring sensible returns to the growers.

We buy alpaca fleeces from any owners in the UK who wish to sell them. The fleece is bulked according to colour and grade and then commercially processed into hand knit and machine knit yarn for retail and wholesale sales.

UK Alpaca is delighted at the quality of the yarns produced this year. They are selling well at retail and wholesale. Our research and development for 2005 will concentrate on the creation of a rug yarn so that we can find a use for the coarse fibre. < top >

Buying UK Alpaca yarn

Retailers please contact us for information on quantity price breaks.

Want to get a feel for alpaca yarn? Order a sample card from our shop.

Visit our retail outlet for direct sale to the public.

Alpaca fleece has been prized for thousands of years in South American cultures, particularly the Inca. It can be compared favourably to cashmere, has excellent thermal properties and is second in strength only to silk. It comes in a range of natural colours, white through fawns and browns to a solid black.

Our double knit yarns in black, grey, parchment, fawn and brown are made from un-dyed alpaca fleeces which are sourced from British breeders and the manufacturing is done here too. All of them, apart from the black which is 100% alpaca, are a blend of 70% alpaca and 30% Bluefaced Leicester. This combination gives the yarn extra loft and stops the fibres migrating. Our coloured yarns are a dyed blend of 70% alpaca and 30% Bluefaced Leicester.

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Selling your fleece

UK Alpaca has set up a series of fibre collection centres this year. Any breeders wishing to sell their fibre should contact the centres direct or contact UK Alpaca to arrange delivery times, preferably in September. The centres close at the end of September and the fibre will be graded in October/November.

After grading, growers will receive a grading receipt for their fibre and a request from UK Alpaca for an invoice which will be paid within 60 days. Payment rates will be £7.50 per kg for baby, £4.50 for fine and £0.75 for coarse; neck and blanket fibre only in white, fawn, brown and black. Multicoloured, grey and suri fleeces are not required at present, this will be reviewed in 2006. < top >

Using alpaca yarn

We are pleased to announce the launch of our unique alpaca yarns made from the finest alpaca fleece harvested in the UK. All our yarns are processed and spun in the UK to the highest quality to provide a uniform, soft, lustrous worsted spun yarn.

We produce double knit yarns in natural un-dyed alpaca shades blended with fine British Bluefaced Leicester wool, to provide extra volume and spring to the alpaca. We also produce a coloured range of yarns comprising dyed natural alpaca blended with fine British Bluefaced Leicester wool.

For the ultimate in luxury knitwear we produce a natural coloured ultra soft alpaca yarn, comprising of baby alpaca and unbleached tussah silk.

Our yarns can be knitted to most double knit patterns, although we recommend knitting a tension square before embarking on any project. Alpaca yarn provides that extra touch of softness and luxury to any knitted item.

Now also available are two specially commissioned patterns for use with UK Alpaca yarns. A simple hat, gloves and scarf set and an exclusive Sasha Kagan designed cardigan.

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