100% Alpaca

I was disappointed to learn that 100% suri should not be done. Not for a good quality wearable product. Not that suri isn't a good quality fiber, it is; however, I have recently learned that suri fiber doesn't have memory, therefore it won't hold the shape of whatever it's made into. That was very disappointing but not the end of the world and certainly not the end of my suri herd.

My fiber mill made a very simple suggestion: blend the fiber. If I want to still have 100% alpaca blend the suri with huacaya. And he said I would only need 10% for the yarn to retain memory. Of course I can blend it with other naturals as well. I was already considering silk, angora or cashemere. I have no problem adding huacaya to that list.

Now that I know that blending is a necessity, I'll definitely be adding huacaya fiber animals to my herd. I've just about completed my revised plan which tells me that at the end of 5 years I should have 17 breeding and fiber animals, not counting the cria born to my breeding herd. I think 17 is a nice manageable number.