For something a bit different in the felting world, try felting with alpaca fleece. It's very different to felting with trusty Merino wool - much harder work for a start, as it takes longer to get the fibres to start melding together and then to shrink, and it's difficult to get up a good soapy lather to help the process (which I believe may be due to the fact that Alpaca fleece does not contain lanolin like sheep's wool). However, if you are a fan of beautiful natural colours (ranging from creamy white through browns and greys to black) and the extra silky feel of the finished fabric, then alpaca may be for you!
Back in December I had a day felting with Jane, who has an alpaca farm with husband Peter: Quarter House Alpacas on the Kent/Sussex border (check out the qhalpacas website). She is keen to properly utilise all the fleece which results from the annual shearing (can you believe, for some alpaca owners it's easier/cheaper to burn the fleece than have it turned into knitting yarn or felting fleece?). So she brought along some of her own alpaca fleece, cleaned and carded (combed) and ready for felting. We spent a day making her a wonderful big bag from a mainly dark brown fleece, with a tie design for the strap that we were both particularly pleased with. Of course by the end I was totally jealous that I didn't have one - yet another thing for my 'to do' list I think!
Anyway, Jane sells her fleece and still has some knitting yarn available (which is lovely and silky) - so do get in touch via her website for futher details. I've also included here some alpaca felt bead jewellery I've made using Jane's fleece, which gives a good idea of the different natural colours.
For something a bit different in the felting world, try felting with alpaca fleece. It's very different to felting with trusty Merino wool - much harder work for a start, as it takes longer to get the fibres to start melding together and then to shrink, and it's difficult to get up a good soapy lather to help the process (which I believe may be due to the fact that Alpaca fleece does not contain lanolin like sheep's wool). However, if you are a fan of beautiful natural colours (ranging from creamy white through browns and greys to black) and the extra silky feel of the finished fabric, then alpaca may be for you!
Back in December I had a day felting with Jane, who has an alpaca farm with husband Peter: Quarter House Alpacas on the Kent/Sussex border (check out the qhalpacas website). She is keen to properly utilise all the fleece which results from the annual shearing (can you believe, for some alpaca owners it's easier/cheaper to burn the fleece than have it turned into knitting yarn or felting fleece?). So she brought along some of her own alpaca fleece, cleaned and carded (combed) and ready for felting. We spent a day making her a wonderful big bag from a mainly dark brown fleece, with a tie design for the strap that we were both particularly pleased with. Of course by the end I was totally jealous that I didn't have one - yet another thing for my 'to do' list I think!
Anyway, Jane sells her fleece and still has some knitting yarn available (which is lovely and silky) - so do get in touch via her website for futher details. I've also included here some alpaca felt bead jewellery I've made using Jane's fleece, which gives a good idea of the different natural colours.
The aplaca felt beads are very pretty !
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