I’ve been spinning with alpaca fibers lately and I’m in love with all of the different color combination possibilities! I ordered 1 pound of brown and black alpaca roving from A+ Fiber Mill earlier this year. I’ve been spinning the fibers on my drop spindle, and am surprised that I spun all of the brown roving already! I spun a total of approximately 686 yards. Most of the yarns are alpaca fibers, about 5% is Romney and Bluefaced Leicester wool that I previously had. The yarns are a 2-ply, fingering weight yarn.

I’m currently in the process of knitting a honeycomb scarf, and am creating a gradient effect with the brown to black and white yarns. I’m about half way through, and am anticipating making it about 2 yards long.

Brown and White Alpaca Cakes, 2016

Honeycomb Knitting, 2016

I was also interested in seeing what the alpaca fibers look like under an optic microscope, so I took photos of the brown and black alpaca fibers from A+ Fiber Mill. See below. It’s interesting to see the variation in the fiber’s diameter. Taking these photographs reminded me that all of the fibers are unique and individual even though they are in the same processed batch and the same color.

Black Alpaca Fibers under a Microscope, 2016

Brown Alpaca Fibers under a Microscope, 2016