Our herd is colorful group of thirty animals. One of the fiber characteristics we breed for is color. Alpacas come in more than 25 colors and we work to have good representational sampling in our herd. It is important to note that not all products including fabric will have the exact color pictured on our website. This is because each alpaca has its own shades of color, distinct from each other animal in their color family. We do not usually blend the colors, but have the animals fibers milled separately to keep the purity of the coloration.
The majority of alpaca breeders in the United States work to keep their herd white, anticipating that their white fiber is so readily dyable, that it will be more valuable. One third of heard is white and our senior white sire Vencedor has given us beautiful offspring. We have a lovely selection of white alpacas, chosen for their density, the feltability of their fiber and or course their crimp.
We usually have each animals fibers processed alone at the mill, but our beginning to combine the blanket fibers of our three youngest white ones (Mariposa, Luna Azul and Danito) because their micron and density is virtually identical thanks to Vencedor’s consistency in his breeding outcomes. White is not a bright whie, but is rather a winter white shade. And, like all the other colors of alpaca fiber, not all white fibers are the same color. We do dye these white fibers to produce our colored fabrics, which is discussed in the section about dying.
Our favorite color of alpaca is black. It is hard to find many true black natural fiber animals, but alpaca are naturally black. Our animals are so black they have hints of blue. We have one true black male, Jazzman, the first cria born here. We also have a rich bay black alpaca male, Sambra, and four black females. The black females are all birthed here from the same dam, Black Beauty anhttp://www.whispirit.net/about-us/our-alpacasd they have here gorgeous fiber. Many of the black fibers are a bit more difficult to felt because of the intense shiny qualities but we have figured out how to do and the results are oh so beautiful.
Our grey animals are next in our grouping. We purchased a beautiful grey herdsire, Chachapoya from a breeder in New York. He produces almost identical off spring, whether bred to black females or multicolor females. These silver grey fibers are one of the cornerstones of our fabric making.
We have two beautiful rose grey females who were the result of our breeding program. This color is warm pinkish grey . Windchime is a perfect example of this magnificent fiber.
Finally we have our shades of brown, fawn and tan. These rich colors are derived from our rich mahogany brown herdsire, the Cisco Kid. Each off spring has its own unique shade of brown. Cinnamon, the young one below, is one of our favorites to work with.
