Alpaca Wool

Alpaca wool is noted for its strength, warmth and smoothness. It’s less scaly than wool, making it less prickly and contains no lanolin, the cause of many wool allergies. This makes alpaca the perfect yarn if you’re knitting for a friend or family member who normally cannot enjoy woollen items. 

When processed, alpaca wool is classified according to its micron count - in simple terms its softness quotient. Baby alpaca is the finest and softest classification, followed by superfine, fine and Suri. Alpaca fibre is smooth and comfortable against the skin. It is often blended with wool fibres for easier working and elasticity and each alpaca fibre is hollow, making it very lightweight. 

Just choose your fibre from the range of brands, weights and colours available and we’ll already have the patterns and needle options available for you.

The alpaca belongs to the camelid family, which includes camels, llamas, guanacos and vicunas. More than three quarters of the world population of alpaca live in Peru. Indeed an Incan’s man wealth would be calculated in fabrics made from alpaca wool. So bestow a friend with some wealth by knitting them a cosy scarf, hat or gloves.

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Advantages of Alpaca wool 

  • With its special hollow structure, it’s three times warmer than sheep’s wool whilst being much more lightweight
  • It is resilient with some deeming it is the strongest mammal fibre
  • Water repellent to guard from odour and sweat and more fire repellent than other natural and synthetic alternatives 

At Laughing Hens we’re an independent, family owned business, specialising in everything related to knitting and crochet. We stock a huge choice of luxury natural fibres, patterns and accessories to ensure that you have all you need to create knitting and crochet designs. See also our selection of merino wool complete with ideas for projects and everything you need to complete them. We have a loyalty scheme and offer 14-day no hassle returns.