HUACAYA vs SURI

In these photo’s you will see the difference in appearance between the Huacaya and Suri alpaca fleece.

The Suri being more silky and with natural “locks” .

The fleece as you see in these pictures have not been processed in any way or form.

If you look closely, you will see some organic matter like grass, etc. I take the bigger organic bits out by hand and after that I wash it – CAREFULLY!

To remove the tangles from the fibre, to align the fibres in the fleece and to prepare it for needle felting, I card the wool by hand.

Hand carders are used to brush the fleece until the fibres are more or less aligned and in the same direction.

This is important for when you spin your own wool, but I only use it for felting so I am not too worried about aligning my fibres!

Some day soon I will take out my hand spindle and try spinning my own yarn… just not today …Note to self: “if someone else can spin by hand, then so can I.” (As soon as I believe myself, I will take up my spindle and spin away! By the way… you will be the first to know!!!)

As for the hand carders, I have added a photo of mine to show you what it looks like with it’s closely spaced wire pins.