Alpaca Facts

Alpaca, one of the world's most luxurious natural fibers. It is as soft as cashmere and warmer, lighter and stronger than wool. The natural colors of this animals fleece comes in 22 basic colors, more than any other fiber producing animal. Because of it's excellent affinity to dye, it can be transformed into an array of colors. The average life span of these cute creatures is 20 to 25 years. Once a year in the spring, they are sheared, producing 5 to 8 pounds of  buttery soft fleece that is spun into beautiful yarns.

 Flickr photos by: Janine Russell