Alpaca Fleece is processed into a Variety of Products

At Alpacas at Lone Ranch, our Alpacas are shorn once a year. There are three shearing areas: blanket, neck, leg and belly, and 6 grades of fineness. It is important to know the grade of the fiber to determine its end use.

• Grade 1 - Ultrafine <20 microns (this is what you want to wear next to your skin)
• Grade 2 - Superfine 20 - 22.9 microns (yarn, wear next to your skin)
  
• Grade 3 - Fine 23 - 25.9 microns (most versatile grade, yarn, textiles)
  
• Grade 4 - Medium 26 - 28.9 microns (socks, throws)
  
• Grade 5 - Intermediate 29 - 32.0 microns (mattress pads, comforters. quilt batting)
  
• Grade 6 - Robust 32.1 - 35 microns (rugs, stadium seat mats, car seats, stuffing for pet bedding, even insulation: R-95)

Alpaca fiber is one of the less flammable and difficult to ignite fibers, with a slow spreading flame which is easy to extinguish.

We are members of the Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America, and send a portion of our annual clip to them to be converted into finished products for sale to its members at whole sale prices. Another fiber coop is the New England Alpaca Fiber Pool. They carry an inventory of products made in the US from US alpaca fleece. Each product requires us to send a certain amount of fleece and pay a reasonable wholesale price for socks, hats, blankets, etc.

We ship our finest fleeces to a local mill to be processed into heavenly yarn, usually in skeins of 110 or 220 yards. Different colors of similar micron counts can be combined to produce various shades of natural colors. For instance, several of our white and one black fleece were spun into beautiful silver grey yarn, and we are adding silk and bamboo to create delicious blends. The yarn is available in our ranch store and we sell it at local events and alpaca shows. We are over-dying some of the lighter yarns and are delighted with the results. Rovings are also available, as is a small amount of raw fleece if you want to spin your own.

If you knit or crochet and have never used Alpaca yarn, you owe it to yourself to order some today!
E-mail us for colors and weight. The average price per ounce of yarn is $4-5.

• The coarsest fiber is made into hand-woven rugs by a company in Texas. We carry 2x3’, 3x5’ and 4x6’ rugs, and can special order any other size. The entire 2006 clip has been processed and we won’t be able to accept special orders until shearing our herd again in May.
• We also carry a large assortment of finished product: scarves and hats hand knitted locally, the warmest socks imaginable made in Georgia, and cardigans and vests imported from Peru.
• We ship USPS and accept VISA and MasterCard.