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Post by caterina on Mar 27, 2023 15:46:08 GMT
Hello.
I have been taking a look on Etsy UK looking for pencil roving, then got diverted (ahem...!) and found baby alpaca raw fleece on sale: now I kind of have an itch to get one to try making it into a rug or possibly a chair cover. The one that I saw was a warm russet colour, and the (expensive) baby alpaca blankets that I have are just amazingly warm and lightweight. I picture myself with a russet cloud of softness in my hands..
BUT it's raw fleece, of course unwashed, and I live in a small flat with my family and without garden: is it feasible for me to wash it, do you think? It weights 1,3 kg, but sizes are not listed. Would my family stage a revolt because of the smell? Would I absolutely need an outside space for drying it or might a clothes rack work fine? Would it be just like Leonor's raw fleece washing adventure (sorry, it just scared me: I can't possibly process fleece on my kitchen floor, it is too small and we constantly use it) or baby alpaca fleece would be smaller and more manageable?
And what about felting it, will it wetfelt easily do you think? Alpaca is supposed to not felt easily, and I wanted a "viking rug" type, leaving the locks as much as possible, and using the rest as much as possible without much addition of other types of wool (or maybe without any addition). Alpaca viking rugs are sold by the same Etsy shop for around 5 times or more the cost of the raw fleece, so it must be doable, but how much elbow grease will go into it?
Or maybe it is not a project for today, maybe I need more time and space (and energy) and will have other chances in future. What do you think?
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Post by Ann @ frabjous fabrica on Mar 27, 2023 16:05:30 GMT
I bought some baby alpaca some years ago from the owner of the animal and because she had been careful with it - it had no vegetable matter or faeces in it - I haven't had to wash it, I've used it "raw" - only a little bit as I do have a project for it and don't want to waste it.
Who told you that alpaca fleece doesn't felt? It most definitely does - at least it did for me, quite quickly - the finer the fibre the quicker it felts I have found.
If it really is "baby" alpaca, I should just go ahead and felt it as it is - with the soapy water you use to do this, it will get washed. It should give you a beautifully soft felt, to keep you warm in winter.
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Post by caterina on Mar 27, 2023 16:19:30 GMT
I bought some baby alpaca some years ago from the owner of the animal and because she had been careful with it - it had no vegetable matter or faeces in it - I haven't had to wash it, I've used it "raw" - only a little bit as I do have a project for it and don't want to waste it. Who told you that alpaca fleece doesn't felt? It most definitely does - at least it did for me, quite quickly - the finer the fibre the quicker it felts I have found. If it really is "baby" alpaca, I should just go ahead and felt it as it is - with the soapy water you use to do this, it will get washed. It should give you a beautifully soft felt, to keep you warm in winter. Very heartening, Ann. Your experience makes me definitely more confident. Well there are photos of the Alpacas, supposedly: very cute little one with its mummy. They say that it is from a 1-year-old alpaca. From the photo it seems not too dirty, but there is only an overview photo, not detailed ones. I suppose that I could have it sent before the Easter holidays, so that I can immediately use it while I have some time, without leaving it unwashed to stink the house for weeks... |
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Post by caterina on Mar 27, 2023 16:45:41 GMT
Fine, I went with the tide and just bought it. Reviews for this seller are five star good, so it should be a reputable one.
It should arrive by the end of the week, in time for the holidays: I will have some online and in person work, but not all the usual load, and the kids will be off school, so I will have a bit more time without the school run and homeworks and whatnot.
Plan B will be to return it or to give it to some local felter...
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Post by Ann @ frabjous fabrica on Mar 27, 2023 16:50:02 GMT
Hope Plan A works. I look forward to seeing what you make with it.  |
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Post by MTRuth on Mar 27, 2023 17:04:52 GMT
I haven't used baby alpaca but the adult alpaca is not as easy to felt as wool. I hope you are able to create what you want from it. Good luck!
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Post by caterina on Mar 27, 2023 17:45:10 GMT
I will post updates 😁 fingers crossed!
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Post by Shepherdess on Mar 28, 2023 15:42:59 GMT
Good luck, it sounds lovely. I hope you share how it goes as you progress.
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Post by caterina on Mar 29, 2023 17:25:47 GMT
Good luck, it sounds lovely. I hope you share how it goes as you progress. Thanks, Ann. I am very excited. I researched posts here on the forum on alpaca fiber and found an old one where Zed was explaining the difference between huacaya and suri alpaca fibers, so I asked the lady at the farm which one she was sending me, and happily she confirmed that the fleece is of a baby huacaya alpaca. Zed said that it is the one suitable for wet felting, so I should be fine! Also, very kindly,the lady told me that the fleece is unwashed but not very dirty, and with a small amount of VM. I will see when it arrives. |
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Post by Shepherdess on Mar 31, 2023 21:48:20 GMT
Good luck, it sounds lovely. I hope you share how it goes as you progress. Thanks, Ann. I am very excited. I researched posts here on the forum on alpaca fiber and found an old one where Zed was explaining the difference between huacaya and suri alpaca fibers, so I asked the lady at the farm which one she was sending me, and happily she confirmed that the fleece is of a baby huacaya alpaca. Zed said that it is the one suitable for wet felting, so I should be fine! Also, very kindly,the lady told me that the fleece is unwashed but not very dirty, and with a small amount of VM. I will see when it arrives. A lot of people do not wash it before using it. It doesn't any lanolin or other grease you need to get rid of. |
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Post by caterina on Apr 1, 2023 7:58:12 GMT
Thanks, Ann. I am very excited. I researched posts here on the forum on alpaca fiber and found an old one where Zed was explaining the difference between huacaya and suri alpaca fibers, so I asked the lady at the farm which one she was sending me, and happily she confirmed that the fleece is of a baby huacaya alpaca. Zed said that it is the one suitable for wet felting, so I should be fine! Also, very kindly,the lady told me that the fleece is unwashed but not very dirty, and with a small amount of VM. I will see when it arrives. A lot of people do not wash it before using it. It doesn't any lanolin or other grease you need to get rid of. Good to know, Ann. It is very interesting for me to see if this seller is ok, as the farm has supposedly had awards for the quality of their alpacas, particularly their fleece: they breed for high quality of fleeces and get their own yarn to be spun by a mill, and sell it. Now they have started to sell a few of the fleeces to test out the viability of selling them raw to craft makers. If this fleece proves worthwhile for me, I may want to recommend them to the other UK based makers, and buy more for myself in time. |
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Post by caterina on Apr 1, 2023 9:08:28 GMT
Hello!
The fleece has arrived. It has only very few bits of VM, it is very clean for raw fleece, and it almost doesn't smell (I was very worried about that).
It so so soft that my kids wanted to bury their faces in it straight away and I had to restrain them
The colour is exactly as described and seen in the photos.
The only thing is, the fleece is all bits, it is not as I pictured it or have seen in sheep raw fleece images, a big animal shaped chunk: it's all tufts of locks. As this is my first time, I have no idea if this is normal for raw fleece or for alpaca fleece or for baby alpaca fleece. I am wondering if it will be a plus or a drawback, anyway I am very happy for the rest.
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Post by Ann @ frabjous fabrica on Apr 1, 2023 10:03:03 GMT
Sounds good Caterina. So far as I can recall the stall from which I bought my alpaca, at the Association of Guilds of Weavers Spinners & Dyers Summer School all those years ago, all the fleece was tufts, even the fleece from the older animals. I don't think it sticks together like sheep's wool does when it is clipped. It's so long since I've done any spinning, but I think that all you need to do is take a handful of tufts, flick card the ends and spin from there. I'm sure one of our current spinners will give you advice though. I must say that the Summer School is a fantastic event and is the one thing which makes me wish I hadn't given up my Guild membership - perhaps I'll join the Online Guild so that I can get back into it. Anyone can join that, you don't have to live in the UK to do that and I believe that the Online Guild is as active as some of the "in person" Guilds if not more so. I believe you live in London Caterina, this is the London Guild's website www.londonguildofweavers.org.uk It looks as if their next meeting is next Saturday. This is the Online Guild's website www.onlineguildwsd.org.uk/ - having looked at their introductory page I think I probably will join in - they cover felting and crochet as well as all the other stuff. Though at the moment my malware app is blocking the download of the application form as being suspicious!  |
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Post by caterina on Apr 1, 2023 11:18:04 GMT
Sounds good Caterina. So far as I can recall the stall from which I bought my alpaca, at the Association of Guilds of Weavers Spinners & Dyers Summer School all those years ago, all the fleece was tufts, even the fleece from the older animals. I don't think it sticks together like sheep's wool does when it is clipped. It's so long since I've done any spinning, but I think that all you need to do is take a handful of tufts, flick card the ends and spin from there. I'm sure one of our current spinners will give you advice though. I must say that the Summer School is a fantastic event and is the one thing which makes me wish I hadn't given up my Guild membership - perhaps I'll join the Online Guild so that I can get back into it. Anyone can join that, you don't have to live in the UK to do that and I believe that the Online Guild is as active as some of the "in person" Guilds if not more so. I believe you live in London Caterina, this is the London Guild's website www.londonguildofweavers.org.uk It looks as if their next meeting is next Saturday. This is the Online Guild's website www.onlineguildwsd.org.uk/ - having looked at their introductory page I think I probably will join in - they cover felting and crochet as well as all the other stuff. Though at the moment my malware app is blocking the download of the application form as being suspicious! Thank you for all the informations on the Weavers Guild: I honestly thought that it was only for weavers, and, since I am not one, I never thought that I could apply!! Thank you also for the information on alpaca fleece, it seems that I have the real stuff, then! I was a bit confused as I do not want to spin it, but to make a felted so-called viking rug/blanket, there are quite a few on Etsy from sheep fleece. It's basically the whole fleece, I suppose the base layer is felted but the locks are kept as much as possible. Or you can obviously felt locks on a background of wool,so that the end shape can be to your choice. I guess that I will have to do something of this kind. |
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Post by Shepherdess on Apr 2, 2023 22:06:25 GMT
Sounds good Caterina. So far as I can recall the stall from which I bought my alpaca, at the Association of Guilds of Weavers Spinners & Dyers Summer School all those years ago, all the fleece was tufts, even the fleece from the older animals. I don't think it sticks together like sheep's wool does when it is clipped. It's so long since I've done any spinning, but I think that all you need to do is take a handful of tufts, flick card the ends and spin from there. I'm sure one of our current spinners will give you advice though. I must say that the Summer School is a fantastic event and is the one thing which makes me wish I hadn't given up my Guild membership - perhaps I'll join the Online Guild so that I can get back into it. Anyone can join that, you don't have to live in the UK to do that and I believe that the Online Guild is as active as some of the "in person" Guilds if not more so. I believe you live in London Caterina, this is the London Guild's website www.londonguildofweavers.org.uk It looks as if their next meeting is next Saturday. This is the Online Guild's website www.onlineguildwsd.org.uk/ - having looked at their introductory page I think I probably will join in - they cover felting and crochet as well as all the other stuff. Though at the moment my malware app is blocking the download of the application form as being suspicious! Thank you for all the informations on the Weavers Guild: I honestly thought that it was only for weavers, and, since I am not one, I never thought that I could apply!! Thank you also for the information on alpaca fleece, it seems that I have the real stuff, then! I was a bit confused as I do not want to spin it, but to make a felted so-called viking rug/blanket, there are quite a few on Etsy from sheep fleece. It's basically the whole fleece, I suppose the base layer is felted but the locks are kept as much as possible. Or you can obviously felt locks on a background of wool,so that the end shape can be to your choice. I guess that I will have to do something of this kind. I would talk to the vegetarian or viking rug people/groups before attempting with alpaca. it doesn't hold its locks the way sheep fleece does. One thing that makes it work with sheep is that you use raw unwashed fleece and the lanolin helps the lock stay separate and not just felt down flat. I would hate for you to go to a lot of trouble and end up with a large lumpy piece of felt. |
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