| Apron: |
A section of fiber under the alpaca's neck (the chest area).
Fibers in this area may be may be variable in size, and
may be coarser and medullated, thus should not be mixed
in with the finer fiber. |
| Blanket: |
The part of the alpaca that would be covered if you threw a
blanket on its back that hung down almost to its belly
and covered it from shoulders to tail. Prime fiber comes
from the blanket area. |
| Basic colors: |
Seven of the 22 colors of alpaca fiber, which are
white and black, as well as light fawn, fawn, brown,
rose gray, and silver gray. |
| Carding: |
A combing process in which fibers are
disentangled and straightened so they line up parallel to each other
in readiness for spinning. |
| Cria: |
A baby alpaca. |
| Crimp: |
The natural waviness of huacaya
alpaca fiber, which gives it a natural resilience and elasticity. |
| Dam: |
The mother of an alpaca. |
| Felt: |
A material made by heating and pressing
together fibers. No weaving, knitting, or adhesives are used to
create felt. |
| Fiber: |
Alpaca wool, or fleece, which can be
separated into threads; also, the thin, thread-like strands of
alpaca fleece that can be spun into yarn. |
| Fineness: |
The diameter of natural fibers measured
in microns and generally varying from 20 to 36 microns, with 20 being
the finest and 36 being coarse. |
| Fleece: |
The coat of wool that has been cut
from one alpaca in one shearing and washed (or from a llama, goat,
or sheep). |
| Huacaya: |
The most common breed of alpaca. Huacayas
have crimped fiber that grows perpendicular to their bodies, giving them
a fluffy appearance. |
| Kush: |
A resting position in which an alpaca
is lying down with its legs bent under its body. |
| Medullated fiber: |
Fibers with a central core made up of
air-filled cells. Because medullated fibers are coarser, they should
be kept separate from other fiber. |
| Roving: |
Fleece that has been cleaned and carded,
then drawn out in twisted roll of fiber. Roving can then be spun into
yarn. Roving can also be used for felting or for making latch-hooked
items like rugs. May also be called "rove." |
| Shear: |
To use shears or clippers to remove
fleece from an alpaca. |
| Sire: |
The father of an alpaca. |
| Skein: |
Yarn wound into a loose, thick coil. |
| Skirting: |
When shearing and preparing fiber, a
process of discarding any fiber with urine, dung, or mud stains. |
| Spin: |
Drawing out and twisting fibers into
yarn or thread. |
| Suri: |
An uncommon breed of alpacas, accounting
for about 10 percent of all alpacas. Suri fiber grows parallel to the
alapca's body and hangs down the sides in ringlets. Suri alpacas
have a more slender appearance compared with the rounded, fluffy
look of huacaya alpacas.
|
| Weanling: |
A young alpaca that is no longer nursing.
This usually refers to an alpaca under one year old. |
| Woolen system: |
A method of spining fiber into
yarn. Alpaca fiber less than three inches long is processed
under the woolen system. |
| Worsted system: |
A spinning method first used in Worsted
(now Worstead), England, that makes long fiber into smooth,
hard-twisted thread or yarn. Alpaca fiber in the range of 3 to 9
inches long can be processed in this way. |
| Yarn: |
Fiber that has been spun by hand or
machine into strands for weaving or knitting. The yarn can be spun onto
skeins, which are usually sold in stores for hand knitting and
crocheting, or onto cones, which are used on knitting machines. |
