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Fibrecrafts offer a range of these rich fibres
which include
Alpaca, Camel Down, Cashmere, Mohair and Yak Down. They can
be used for spinning soft, fluffy yarns and in feltmaking.
The fibres do not felt easily as the scales along the fibre
are much further apart than the scales on wool, but felting
can be achieved using felting needles and when combined with wool fibres.
Browse the
Spinning section to see
spinning wheels and hand spindles or the
Felt Making section to see
felting making products.
The natural fibre colours are generally used
in their natural state for
spinning, knitting and weaving but can be coloured effectively
with Acid dyes (find
out more...). Results will depend on the shade of the base colour.
 Alpaca
Alpaca fibre is similar to mohair and comes from the fleece
of an Alpaca which is a member of the Llama family. It's long,
strong, fleece produces a soft and woolly fibre which can
be spun into soft, silky and lustrous yarns.
Camel Down
 The
Bactrian camel is the most commonly used for its coat, which
is comprised of an outer layer of long, coarse guard hairs
and a much finer, short layer of down. The fibre is gathered
by hand when the animal sheds its coat in the spring and the
down is separated out from the guard hairs. Camel down is
much lighter than wool, very soft and ideal for shawls and
knitwear.
Cashmere
 The
Cashmere fibre comes from the soft downy undercoat hairs of
the Kashmir goat. It is an extremely tedious and costly process
to dehair the fleece but the excellent, superfine fibres,
giving the cashmere yarn colour and feel, are worth the expense.
The resultant soft yarn is ideal for knitting and weaving
sweaters and other items of apparel.
Mohair
 Mohair
fibre comes from the curly, high sheen fleeces of the Angora
goat. It is a silky, lustrous fibre which spins like wool
and is often blended with it. It can be spun using varying
amounts of twist to achieve soft yarns for knitting and more
robust yarns for weaving rugs and furnishings.
Yak
 A
curly mass of surprisingly soft fibre harvested from the Yak.
It is usually dark brown to black in colour and similar to
cashmere in texture. It therefore produces a soft, luxurious
yarn.
Browse the selection of
hair
fibres
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