From Critter to Sweater. . .

Do you want a beautiful alpaca sweater/jacket for next fall and winter?

Below are the simple steps to follow in order to get just the sweater you want!    

It is an "adventure" well worth experiencing if you are a "fiber fancier". . . though some may think it a bit extreme.   

Step One:  Get an alpaca, or two or three or more.  Actually, social animals that they are, you would need at least two in order for them to be happy!

Step Two:  Shear the alpaca and bag the fiber from the saddle area (firsts) and the shoulders and neck area (seconds)

Step Three:  Take the fiber to a fiber mill for washing and carding and processing into roving (or yarn if you wish to skip Step Four).  Be prepared to wait for at least four months for them to process your fiber!

Step Four:  Spin the roving into yarn.  Because alpaca is so dense and warm, spin it quite thin and two-ply it.  Take it from one who made the mistake of thinking it would be pretty nifty to show off her newly learned Navajo Plying techniques to acquire a triple ply yarn.   Had I not listened to my wiser and more experienced fiber friends. . . I would have wound up with a four pound sweater that could only be comfortably worn in the far northern regions of Alaska and Siberia.

Step Five:  Look at hundreds of patterns to decide what it is you want and determine how much yarn you will have to spin to actually finish the project.  You really don't want the disappointment of beginning a sweater/jacket only to have it turn into a vest.  ;-)

Step Six:  Knit, knit, knit, knit. . . . I am at that point in this "adventure"   I will post the final results when the final results become available!

Of course there IS another alternative.

You COULD buy one. . .But what fun would that be?