Sorting and Grading
Sorting, Grading, and Bagging Fleece
Each alpaca is going to have different grades of
fiber on the body. Typically, the blanket is going to
be the prime (or firsts) fiber on the animals. The
blanket covers from hips to shoulders and down
the side to the top of the belly. The seconds are
hip, shoulder, and neck. Thirds are leg, belly and
whatever is left on the mat. Knowing what you
are doing with each animals fleece will help in
this process. If an older female has course fiber
and is well suited for rug yarn, then there may be
no need to collect fiber in 3 different bags. Put it
all into one bag and move on to the next.
The goal is to reduce the amount of waste associated with processing fiber, thus reducing cost
to process. This helps everyone. Overall the less
amount of handling the better the final product.
Fiber mills like to spin fiber that is no more than
2 inches different in length and within 2 microns
of each other in fineness. Felt doesn’t have the
same requirements as yarn fiber.
Tumble/Pick/Wash and maybe Tumble/Pick/
Wash some more
Picking is a process of the fleece being picked
apart or opened up whereby allowing dirt and
debris to fall out. Washing is washing the dirt out
as much as possible. Always keep in mind, water,
soap, agitation or washing results in felt. Once it
is processed for felt, it cannot be used for yarn.
Carding for spinning or felting
Finished Product
For many people, the use of alpaca fiber is what
alpacas are all about. First, develop a plan of
what you want to do with alpaca fiber, then d ]