Alpaca wool is heavenly soft and insulating. The natural response is to make things with it! We all know that alpacas are versatile animals. This leaves us wondering: what things can be done with alpaca wool?
Alpaca fabric can be used for many things. People use the fibers for needle-felting, or you can spin it into alpaca yarn and use it for weaving, knitting, or crochet. All sorts of things can be made with alpaca yarn like hats, scarves, socks, sweaters, toys, and really anything you can dream up. You can even make accessories for your alpaca toys!
So let’s talk about all the things you can do with fluffy alpaca wool!
Of course, the most fun thing to do is throw it all in the air and let the fluff rain down upon you, then snuggle into the resulting cozy pile.
We aren’t going to stop you. So go ahead and rejoice in the squishy snuggliness. When you’re done, you might want to do something else with the wool. There are lots of choices!
Needle-felting with alpaca wool
You can take the wool and clean it, then use it for needle-felting. Needle-felting involves a sharp needle and a wad of fiber. Alpaca wool is perfect for this task. When you needle-felt, you hold the fiber in the desired shape and stab it over and over with the needle. The wool will stick to itself and create shapes.
Needle-felting can make adorable figures, toys, and decorations. You can also needle-felt shapes onto bags, clothing, hats, scarves, and whatever your imagination can dream up.
Spinning with alpaca wool
The seemingly magical process of transforming a ball of alpaca fluff into a ball of yarn is called spinning. There are several ways you can spin yarn. The main methods are using a drop spindle or a spinning wheel. A drop spindle is a handheld tool that can be purchased for under 25 euros, making it an affordable hobby to learn. A spinning wheel takes up more room (like a small table or bookshelf) and uses a pedal to help with the process.
Now that you’ve created a ball of alpaca yarn, you can turn that yarn into a variety of things with several techniques.
Weaving with alpaca wool
Weaving is a centuries-old technique used for making blankets and scarves primarily. Weaving uses a loom to hold the hundreds of threads used (called the “warp” threads). Then you weave the working yarn (the “weft”) threads over and under the warp threads to create fabric.
Weaving is time-consuming but relaxing and stress-reliefing. With enough practice and patience, you can create some truly stunning pieces. It’s especially good for rugs, blankets, scarves, and anything wide and flat. You can even sew your woven pieces together.
Knitting and crochet with alpaca wool
These are the most popular activities to do with a ball of yarn. And for good reason, because it’s lots of fun! Knitting uses two needles and crochet uses one hook. Both of these crafts are amazing creative outlets and are great for making gifts as well as things for yourself and your home. Scarves, hats, mittens, socks, slippers, blankets, pillows, rugs, you name it, somebody has probably knit or crocheted it.
Remember those toilet paper cozies from the 1970s? Yep... those were a thing for a while, but knitting and crochet have come a long way.
Knitting and crochet aren’t very expensive to learn. There are lots of tutorials on the Internet, and all you need is a pair of knitting needles or a crochet hook and a ball of yarn.
May we suggest alpaca yarn? Speaking of which, how cool would it be to crochet a little alpaca friend with a ball of handspun alpaca yarn? ;)
To save you some hard work, we've set out to make the fluffiest alpacas in the world for you. Check our favorite alpacas here!
Whatever activity you choose to do with your snuggly-soft alpaca wool, you’re sure to create something cozy and have a great time doing it.
