[Sca-cooks] Llamas and alpacas

[Betsy Marshall]

>From another beginning fiber geek-
Llamas and Alpacas are both Camelids-
related to Camels (one hump or two..)
Their fibers are hollow, increasing by far their ability to retain heat
They are double coated, as were early sheep, the guard/kemp
hairs used in making ropes, rugs, and outerwear, the inner "Down"-i.e. finer
fiber
used for clothing and other wearables. The Inca culture bred the alpacas
specifically for the fine fiber, and its use was both monetary (Pay taxes)
and status-oriented- anyone not of the nobility caught wearing it could be
executed.
The Spaniards, in their search for more obvious wealth- gold silver and the
like, managed to
ignore, overlook or destroy not only warehouses full of peerless fabric,
(which we have yet to equal!)
but in wiping out the llama and alpaca herds to feed their imported goats
and cattle destroyed a breeding program with nearly 5000 years of expertise
behind it.

Info from www.alpacaweb.com links, and articles by Dr. Wheeler (nature oct
2001 I think)

Love the fluff!
So, wool allergies are unlikely to be triggered by Alpaca
fabric/fiber, but bank accounts tend to go flat...
Betsy

--__--__--

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 12:30:35 -0400
From: A F Murphy <afmmurphy at earthlink.net>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] llama and alpaca
Reply-To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Don't know about anyone else, but I don't seem to. I can wear cashmere,
too... these are different animals, after all. Of course, I can't really
afford either of them... and the blends with lamb's wool which are
fairly common don't work for me. :-(

Thank you for taking this seriously.

Anne
who is fine with all luxury fibers... ;-)

Christine Seelye-King wrote:

>
>
>Does anyone know if folks with wool allergies will react to alpaca?
>Christianna Claus
>
>