Hi all…I have a herd of 33 alpacas and produce yarns which I hand dye and sell on Etsy (shameless plug 
). I currently have DK and Sport weight but am now thinking of having fingering weight made either instead of or as well as.
I am trying to decide whether to do a straight alpaca yarn, or some type of a blend.
Any input you have would be greatly appreciated.
Happy trails,
Diana
One of my knitting students raises alpacas and has their fleece milled into yarn. She showed me a skein of an alpaca/bamboo blend that was stunning. Bamboo’s drape echoes that of alpaca, so for her product I feel it was a good choice. I would definitely buy such a yarn in a fingering weight.
I would be most likely to purchase a blend. Softness of alpaca, plus a little ‘structural’ boost from some wool, best of both worlds! 
I also would like the option of a blend. For a shawl alpaca would be fine.
Thank all! Bamboo is a great blending fiber, provides the sheen of silk without the expense and the added drape as well. I have also knit with an alpaca/tencel blend and it is also very nice!
Isn’t this a wonderful group?
I’m throwing in my .02. I would prefer a blend. I love alpaca blends. They are so soft and warm!!
If the project is small, like a cowl, I love pure alpaca. But I have found that pure alpaca drapes well but stretches out for shawls and needs to be re-blocked.
Now because alpaca is warmer than wool, a fingering weight would be nice for a more open fabric. I personally love just a touch of silk or wool (that has a close micron count and fiber legnth to avoid pilling and shedding), but just a touch.
Thanks all for the input!!
I think a fingering alpaca would be great for shawls. But for socks, I’d blend it with wool or bamboo.
Thanks Callie…I am thinking that no matter the blend, alpaca probably wont work for socks, but definately shawls !!
I think alpaca is great for sweaters too but I’m not a big fan of trying to knit a sweater from fingering yarns. I hope your venture turns out really well for you!
Thanks Callie. I agree it is great for sweaters, but since it tends to “grow” in something like a sweater, blending it with something like wool would help. If you are interested, you can take a look at my Etsy shop to see the DK yarns I have been selling. I really prefer the fingering myself but we will see how things go. Thanks so much for your input!
@love2knit I have not knit a shawl with 100% alpaca, so really appreciate your experience with it. I do love the silk blend as it provides wonderful sheen and drape. I recently used a fingering yarn that was a 50/50 blend of alpaca and tencel which I loved working with. The tencel provided the sheen of silk but without the cost. It was quite slippery and I think if I used it again, I would have worked it with wooden needles.
One of my knitting students raises alpacas and has their fleece milled into yarn. She showed me a skein of an alpaca/bamboo blend that was stunning. Bamboo’s drape echoes that of alpaca, so for her product I feel it was a good choice. I would definitely buy such a yarn in a fingering weight.
That sounds lovely, I haven’t seen this blend before.