is wool wool

[Steve Ashton]

Wow, you have really opened a BIG can of worms with this.

While there are specific differences between Hair, Fur and Wool, to a biologist, they are all share the characteristics of being made up of proteins and lipids produced by follicles on the skin of mammals.

But in general, while all are hair, fur is usually defined as short, very thick hairs covering the entire body. Humans have sparse, less thick or dense "hair" while dogs have full body, thick "Fur.

Wool grows from follicles like hair and fur, but is wool is produced only in secondary follicles, does not fall out (shed), while also having crimp, elasticity and the ability to absorb moisture without being hollow.

With that said however, there are today over 4,000 different types of wool.
Sheep are the primary source of wool today but other animals produce wool including the Camelids which include the lLama, Vicuna, and Alpaca.

The wool of sheep is the most common animal fiber in use today but the Camelids have gained popularity in recent years due to being hypoallergenic and not containing lanolin. Many people claim that Llama and Alpaca wool is less irritating to human skin than sheep wool because the individual fibers are finer and softer to the touch having fewer or finer scales.

Camelid wool has less elasticity than sheep wool meaning that while having a higher tensile strength does not 'give' as much when spun into yarn as sheep wool. Knitted Camelid yarn does not offer the same stretch and 'ease' of sheep wool. It is also more susceptible to wear by friction.

Sheep wool is better for felting, and when woven, at taking and holding a crease.

While I personally do not think Llama or Alpaca wool would make as durable a kilt with pleats that would require more frequent pressing, that is not the problem.

The problem is that currently, I do not know of any commercial weaver producing a kilt quality fabric from either Llama or Alpaca. That is to say - worsted spun, tightly twill woven with a selvedge edge with weights between 13 and 16 oz per linear yard. That is not to say that smaller wool mills do not prepare, spin or weave Llama or Alpaca, they do. Llama and Alpaca are currently quite popular but are much more expensive simply because there is less of it and Llama and Alpaca wool are more difficult to work with due to being finer, softer and 'slipperier'. They also do not take dye as readily, but naturally come in at least 22 recognized colors.

If you have access to Llama or Alpaca woven fabric and wish to make a kilt from it - I say go for it and let us know what you think.