It is the practice among huacaya alpaca breeders to shear cria at about three weeks of age. The fleece thus removed is called cria tip. The reason for shearing cria is that the cria -- placental -- fleece tends to felt very easily. In our wet, Western Or… more »

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I had pictures of the different results when dyeing white and gray fiber, but I didn't have a blog. Back in December I also wrote about gray alpaca fiber.To be honest, gray alpaca fiber is one of my favorite topics and… more »

Unusual Spinning ToolsIn today's blog, I discuss some of the more unusual tools involved in fiber processing and describe how their use slows the entire progression of converting alpaca fiber to handspun yarn.This is a plumbing snake. Plumbing snakes are… more »

I have one blog about unusual fiber tools written, but I don't have the pictures to go with it. I have the pictures for another entry about the differences between dyeing white alpaca fiber and over-dyeing natural gray alpaca fiber, but I don't have the… more »

Upper Alpacas would like to invite you to our July Alpaca Celebration Days.If you are shopping for alpacas, we are offering discounts during the month of July. You are invited to visit us on July 9th, or make an appointment any time during the month.For… more »