Meet The Alpaca....

These are a few of the alpaca whose fleece give us UK Alpaca wool for sale by Knit Knack. Renowned alpaca breeders Chas Brooke & Rachel Hebditch at Classical Mileend Alpaca farm in Devon, use the fleeces from their own alpaca and also buy alpaca fleeces from breeders throughout Britain to produce the UK Alpaca super fine luxury wool available from Knit Knack. 

The alpaca fleeces are graded by hand and then spun in the traditional way using the worsted process as this exploits the natural properties of alpaca fibre - giving a smooth, strong yarn that shows off the natural brightness of the fibre.

Yarn Information

Quality: The superfine high quality of UK Alpaca wool means that there is more length in a 50g ball of UK Alpaca wool than other brands for the same ball weight, making UK Alpaca wool better value for money than other brands.

Knitting: UK Alpaca wool can be used for patterns requiring a double knit yarn. Make a tension swatch before you start knitting and make changes to the tension by changing the size of needles. See guide below.

Washing:

For best results, hand wash or machine wash at a low temperature, using settings for delicate fabrics. See label for full instructions.

Tension Information

To achieve a tension square of 10.2cm x 10.2cm using UK Alpaca wool:
Needles Sizes:

About UK Alpaca Yarn

UK Alpaca Superfine Luxury Wool - 100% British

Renowned UK Alpaca breeders Chas Brooke & Rachel Hebditch, use the fleeces from their own alpaca and also buy alpaca fleeces from breeders throughout Britain to produce the UK Alpaca super fine luxury wool available from Knit Knack. 
Alpacas are natives of South America, mainly Peru, but they are now successfully bred in North America, Australia, Europe and Britain

Alpacas are a herd animal, closely related to llama.  They have  a natural curiosity and become anxious if separated from the herd. Even a visit to the vet becomes a family affair as seen in a recent TV vet programme where a sick alpaca had to be  accompanied by his mother and grandmother!

What makes UK Alpaca yarn so special?

Alpaca is a highly desired, luxury fibre. Its special properties are:

• very strong natural fibre - high durability
• hypo-allergenic – alpaca does not contain lanolin and so it is perfect for knitting for babies and for anyone with a wool allergy.
• soft and silky - nice to wear next to the skin and nice to work with
• a high lustre - gives knitted items an attractive natural sheen
• washes very well.
• quite fire resistent.
• easy to work with.

What can I use UK Alpaca wool for?

UK Alpaca yarn is perfect for hand knitting and spinning. UK Alpaca wool is silky smooth and is very easy to handle and pleasurable to work with. There are 22 natural colours including true black but UK Alpaca wool can be dyed to produce a wide range of colours. UK Alpaca wool can be used for hand knitting:

• cardigans
• sweaters
• waistcoasts
• hats, scarves, gloves
• baby clothes,bootees & mittens
• baby blankets
• cushion covers, tea cosies

and many more garments, accessories and soft furnishings.

Alpaca yarn is hypoallergenic: it does not contain lanolin, which means that it is suitable for knitters and anyone who wants to wear hand knit garments but suffer from a wool allergy. It is also perfect for babies' sensitive skin.

Alpaca can also be felted successfully to create felted garments, accessories and soft furnishings.

Can I use UK Alpaca wool with patterns for other yarn?

You can substitute UK Alpaca wool for other double knit yarns. Use the tension guide and make a tension swatch first. You can make adjustments to compensate for small differences by changing to larger or smaller gauge needles.