Everyone loves the lovely fluffy cousins of llamas – alpacas, but how many of you know that they are the ones that produce the amazingly soft wool used to make the softest ever cosy alpaca wool throws? It is about time you find out more about these lovely creatures and the amazing fleece that they produce.

Alpacas, as well as camels and llamas are considered to be camelids. These fluffy balls of fur are a bit smaller than llamas, they grow up to a meter in height and up to 185lbs in weight. Alpacas were bred especially for the fibre that they produce which is a soft and luxurious fibre perfect for making woven and knitted items.

Alpacas come in two different types – the Suri alpaca, which has the fibre similar to a sheep and the Huacaya alpaca which has a long elastic fibre similar to dreadlocks. Alpaca fleece is a lot softer than sheep’s wool, it is not prickly and it doesn’t have lanolin in it, therefore it is hypoallergenic, meaning it will not cause any allergy for people with wool allergies. The fleece of an alpaca is water-repellent therefore making it perfect for cold weathers.

Alpaca fleece is used to make various items, such as bedding, throws, ponchos and even some luxurious products such as expensive suits.