Alpaca Fibre

[Distaff]

Backpackers say it is more durable than the merino undergarments that have been a popular alternative to polypro and fleece. It is also fire retardant like wool and absorbs less water than wool, is also lighter because camelid fibers are hollow.

As a knitter, I always considered it to be a novelty yarn, and didn't bother with it. The sheep's wool industry has it hard enough without competition from new "and improved!" stuff. (I have a LOT to say on knitting yarn, but am on a time crunch for this morning, and probably no one is particularly interested in THAT rant.)

Alpaca would make for a lighter weight kilt, but the fiber is lusterous ....might look weird. It is going to swish differently, and would the current tartan makers from scourers, to spinners, to dyers, to weavers have the right specialized equipment to handle a different fiber (finer, slicker, and much less springy/strechy)? ALL the equipment and chemistry for processing would have to be tweaked.

That said, after conversing about the advantages of alpaca on a bushcraft site recently, I went onto ebay, and bought a few inexpensive second hand sweaters to try out this fiber. I ordered one peruvian alpaca sweater with lamas across the chest, and tought, That would look nice with my new kilt!

...hey, they're both Highland W.