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Alpaca TerminologyA ~ B ~ C ~ D ~ E ~ F ~ G ~ H ~ I ~ J ~ K ~ L ~ M ~ N ~ O ~ P ~ Q ~ R ~ S ~ T ~ U ~ V ~ W ~ X ~ Y ~ Z Absolute Scoring: This type of scoring is used in Alpaca fleece shows where each fleece is awarded points based on comparison to an ideal fleece which would earn a perfect score. Fleeces are then placed for prizes based on their numeric score. Accoyo: The name "Accoyo" refers to an Alpaca that has been bred at Estancia Accoyo in Peru. In the US the name "Accoyo" refers to alpacas imported from the estancia or to direct descendants of these imports. An alpaca is considered to be a pure or full Accoyo if its parents are both pure Accoyo. AFCNA: Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America (web site) Agistment: An arrangement in which an alpaca owner boards the animal at a location other than his own property. AOBA: The Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (web site) Apron (Bib): The chest area of an animal that may exhibit guard hairs (longer, coarser fiber) than that found on the neck or shoulder. ARF: The Alpaca Research Foundation (web site) ARI: The Alpaca Registry, Inc. was created in 1988 and is the central storage and retrieval center for all information on almost every alpaca in the United States. The Registry records and maintains data on pedigrees, blood typing, registry numbers, and other vital information on registered alpacas, and makes this data available upon request. (web site) Batt: Carded fiber ready for spinning, typically a rectangular 'block' of fiber. Strips are torn off the batt for spinning. Bird's Nest: A small portion of the fleece that is found at the base of the Alpaca's neck which often becomes highly contaminated with hay or other feed materials. This portion of the fleece should be removed during skirting. Blanket (Saddle): Prime fleece from shoulder, mid-section and rump (the exact area is determined by the location of change in fiber character). The larger the area of uniform fiber fineness, color, length and character the better. Edges of the blanket are characterized by a change in the grade of the fiber. This area of prime fleece may vary greatly in size, depending on the uniformity of the fleece on an animal. Approximately 60% of total fleece, but can be between 50% and 80%, depending on where, on a particular alpaca, the fiber characteristics change Bonnet: Wool on the alpaca's head and between its ears which is considered a desirable aesthetic quality; also known as the topknot or wool cap. Bred Female: A pregnant alpaca. Breeding: Induced ovulation (no estrous cycle) through physical copulation between sire and dam. Britch: Fiber from the rear/under-tail area. Usually discarded because of contamination. Bundling: Bundling is a desirable fleece characteristic. Grouping of micro-staples together form a larger staple. The formation of bundles is determined by the arrangement and density of the follicles in the skin. Bundling is said to be an indicator of a dense fleece. Character (Of Fleece): The overall evaluation of a fleece or lock as based on handle, staple length, fineness, density, luster, and softness. Classing Fleece: The grading and sorting of fleeces into consistent groups or uniform lines of fiber based on recognized quality characteristics such as micron, color, hand and staple length for mill processing. Clip: The total amount of fiber harvested by a producer in one growing period (which is usually one year). Color: The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors as classified in Peru, 12 as classified in Australia and 22 as classified in America. Color is determined by genetics. Uniformity of color is the goal. Comfort Factor: Comfort factor is the percentage of fibers over 30 microns subtracted from 100 percent. The higher the comfort factor the better. Conformation: The shape or contour of the alpaca, resulting from the appropriate arrangement, or balance, of all body parts. Cria: A baby alpaca up to one year old. Crimp: The even, corrugated wave formation in the staple (lock) of Huacaya fiber. Crimp is related to the fibers as they appear in an intact lock. It is measured in waviness per unit of length. Crimp can vary from an extremely tight crimp with many closely spaced corrugations to a lock that is completely straight with no wave or crimp whatsoever. The presence of crimp may give more elasticity to the fiber once it is processed into yarn and result in better performance of the yarn. Crinkle: Related to crimp and is used to describe the wavy characteristics of each fiber as opposed those characteristics of crimp found in all fibers uniformly in each lock. The meaning of the term crinkle is under some debate. Crochet: A process of creating fabric from yarn using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the French word croc or croche, meaning hook. Crocheting, similar to knitting consists of pulling loops of yarn through other loops. Crochet differs from knitting in that only one loop is active at one time. Curvature: Fiber curvature is related to crimp. Average Fiber Curvature (AFC) is determined by the measurement of two millimeter (2mm) snippets in degrees per millimeter (deg/mm). The greater the number of degrees per millimeter, the finer the crimp. Dam: An alpaca's mother. Density: The number of fibers in a specific area of an alpaca's body. Dystocia: Difficulty in giving birth or being born. Exotic Fiber: Alpaca is considered to be a luxury exotic fiber in the same class with cashmere and angora. Fading Color: Fading is a description used of an alpaca's color when their blanket is darker at the top and slowly fades to a lighter colors moving towards their belly. This is a fairly common coloring pattern but may be considered undesirable by mills seeking color consistency while hand spinners may welcome the variability. Felted: Felted fabrics are made by agitating natural fibers, typically with hot water and soap. The fibers overlap and bond together to form a solid fabric. Felted fabrics are used for hats, vests, quilt batting and more. When washing or dying alpaca fibers care must be taken not to agitate the fiber too much in hot water in order to avoid accidental felting. Fiber: The fleece of the alpaca also known as wool or fur. If you refer to an Alpaca's fleece as wool, many Alpaca owners will correct you and say sheep grow wool, no alpacas. Fiber Grades: There are several systems for grading alpaca fiber based on histogram micron counts. Here are just a couple of them. Fineness: The diameter in microns of individual alpaca fibers. Micron counts are done with very precise laboratory instruments. Genetics, nutrition, health, stress and age may affect fineness and it can change dramatically from year to year. Too much protein, being overweight and aging will often produce coarser fleeces with higher micron counts. Gelding: A castrated male alpaca. Gelding will typically help an alpaca retain desirable fiber characteristics longer and can often lead to a calmer and friendlier animal. Genotype: The entire genetic constitution of the individual alpaca. Guanaco: A wild member of the New World camelidae family, Lama gunaimicoe. Thought to be the ancestor of the llama. Guard Hair (Kemp): Coarse medulated fiber. A second coat of fiber found in llamas, vicuna, guanacos, and, to a lesser degree, alpacas. Hand (Handle): A subjective assessment of the quality of the feel of the fiber. Not quite the same as fineness. Fine fiber may also feel dry or brittle or harsh and so would have a poor hand. Fiber with a poor hand may be downgraded to a coarser micron category. Handle can be adversely affected during judging or grading processes by sand or dirt in the fleece which might wash out once the fleece is processed. Hembra: Female alpaca. Herdsire: A male alpaca with genetic characteristics desirable for breeding. Histogram: (1) The most common graphical presentation of quantitative data. The variable of interest, such as fiber diameter measured in microns, is placed on the horizontal axis and the frequency values, such as the percentage of fibers per micron, are placed on the vertical axis. (2) A micron test report that includes administrative information provided by the identification sent in with the individual sample. The histogram on such a report depicts the measurement of 2000 fibers in scale. Huacaya: A type of alpaca whose full coat presents a round and wooly appearance. The Huacaya fleece is crimped and very dense. Huacaya fleece has fiber with crimp and/or crinkle, that tends to grow perpendicular to the body of the animal. Huarizo: A term most often used to describe a llama-alpaca crossbred animal. Huarizo are characterized by weak, medulated fiber and poor breed type having neither the fine fiber of the alpaca nor the size and strength of a llama capable of hauling and packing. Junior Herd Sire: This is a young breeding male just starting his career as a stud. A male will typically be considered a 'junior' until he has three or more cria on the ground. Junior sires typically charge lower stud fees until they are sufficiently proven to graduate from 'junior' status. Kemp: Coarse medulated fiber. A second coat of fiber found in llamas, vicuna, guanacos, and, to a lesser degree, alpacas. Knit: A craft by which yarn is turned into cloth. Knitting consists of loops called stitches being pulled through each other using knitting needles. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can be passed through them. Knitted fabric can stretch in all directions. Kush: When alpacas (and other camelids) lie down they are said to 'kush'. Typically the fold their legs up underneath them very neatly. Live Birth: A portion of most alpaca purchase contracts involving a bred female, in which the seller guarantees that the cria, when born, will be alive and survive for a stated minimal amount of time, usually 48 hours. Llama: (Lama glama) a South American camelid, widely used for packing by the Incas and other natives of the Andes mountains. In South America and parts of Central America llamas are still used for beasts of burden, fiber production and meat. Llamas can pack about 25% - 30% of their body weight for several miles. Macho: A male alpaca used in a breeding program. Maiden: A young female alpaca who has not yet been bred. Medullation (Medulated Fiber): Primarily determined by genetics and refers to hair-like fiber with a central core (guard hair). The fewer medulated fibers the better, particularly in the blanket. These fibers are typically removed through a picking and de-hairing process at mills. Micron: A unit of measurement of diameter equal to 1/1000 of a millimeter. Fineness of Alpaca fleeces is measured in microns. Midside: A point approximately midway between the front and rear legs and just lower than halfway down the side of an animal. Middle Legs: Usually good, slightly coarser fiber, may be same quality as neck fiber. Neck: Usually good fleece, similar to blanket, but shorter in length. Usually kept separate from blanket. Orgling: A strange yodeling type sound that male Alpacas make during breeding. Orgling is thought to positively effect ovulation in the female. Paco Vicuna: A crossbred or hybrid vicuna and alpaca. Parturition: The process of giving birth; also called birthing. Pet Male: A male alpaca whose genetic characteristics are not considered desirable for breeding; usually gelded at 9-12 months of age. Phenotype: The entire physical, biochemical, and physiological makeup of an individual alpaca, as determined both genetically and environmentally. Prepotency: The ability of an individual to produce progeny whose performance is especially like its own and/or is especially uniform. Prime Fleece: Comes from the area of an Alpaca where a horse blanket would fit. Typically the finest fleece from an adult alpaca. Soft with long staple length. Typically used in blankets, afghans and sweaters. Proven: An alpaca which has successfully produced live offspring. Relative Scoring: Alpaca halter show entrants are scored on a 'relative' basis where each animal is compared to the others present in the class on that day to determine placement. Remainder: Fiber classified as "remainder" is the lower leg, belly, britch and apron. This fiber is typically coarse, highly medullated, dirty, and sometimes matted. Roving: Carded fiber ready for spinning formed into a long snake rather than a rectangle batt. Saddle (Blanket): Prime fleece from shoulder, mid-section and rump (the exact area is determined by the location of change in fiber character). The larger the area of uniform fiber fineness, color, length and character the better. Edges of the blanket are characterized by a change in the grade of the fiber. This area of prime fleece may vary greatly in size, depending on the uniformity of the fleece on an animal. Approximately 60% of total fleece, but can be between 50% and 80%, depending on where, on a particular alpaca, the fiber characteristics change. Second Cuts: Short, chunks of fiber created when the fleece is cut twice. This can happen when the shears come away from the body of the animal leaving a ridge that gets cut twice. Any fleece ridges that do occur can be left on the animal and do grow out to a uniform look in several months time. Second cuts should be skirted off the blanket fleece before submitted for judging or processing. Seconds: Similar to but slightly coarser than prime with shorter staple length, usually from the neck and middle leg. Used to produce Socks, Gloves, Hats and Scarves. Shearing: The once-a-year harvesting of alpaca fibers usually carried out in mid-spring in order to make the alpaca cooler through the summer and allow the coat time to grow back before the cold of winter returns. Shear Weight (Fleece Weight): The weight of all usable fiber taken off an animal at shearing. Weights are often tracked separately for the blanket. Sire: The alpaca's father-sometimes called "herdsire." Skirting: Removing coarser or shorter fiber and debris from the sheared blanket or other parts of a fleece. Skirting is typically done on a mesh or slotted table which allows dirt and second cuts to fall free of the fleece. Sliver: A continuous, untwisted strand or rope of parallel alpaca fibers, produced by the carding and drawing process. Carded slivers are blended prior to combing in the manufacture of worsted yarn. Staple: A lock of fiber containing a number of individual fibers. Staple/lock structure can vary significantly within a type of animal such as Huacaya alpacas as well as between types such as Huacaya alpacas and Suri alpacas. Staple Length: The length of a lock of fiber as measured from the animal's skin to the outer tip without stretching. Staple length is one factor used in evaluating fleece for show scores. Mills will often state minimum (usually 2 or 3 inches) and maximum limit (often 6 or 7 inches) of the staple length of fiber they can process. It is preferable to have a consistent length of staple throughout a particular fleece. Strong Fiber: Does not refer to the strength of fiber, but rather the higher micron fiber being thick and coarse. Suri: Suri alpacas are distinguished in the camelid family by their unique fiber characteristics. The fiber grows parallel to the body while hanging in long, separate, distinctive locks. Suri fiber locks, made up of high-luster fibers, drape down the sides of the body in a twisted or flat form of various size. The alpaca with "dreadlocks". Tags: Bits of coarse, felted or short fiber from areas such as the topknot and lower legs. Usually not used for yarns but may work for felting. Tender: Fleece that breaks easily at one or more points along the length of the fiber. Often caused by some trauma, stress or health problem suffered by the animal at a time that correlates to the break points. Thirds: Coarsest of all alpaca fiber with varying staple length. That fiber from the lower leg, belly, britch and apron which generally lack character and usually is shorter, coarser (strong) fiber. Used to make braided rugs, baskets or felting unless it is matted or overly contaminated with vegetation and/or fecal matter, in which case it should be discarded. Top Knot: Wool on the alpaca's head and between its ears which is considered a desirable aesthetic quality; also known as the bonnet or wool cap. Tops: A continuous, untwisted strand of combed alpaca fibers from which the shorter fibers have been removed by combing. Tui: An eighteen-month-old alpaca. Tui Fleece: The finest fleece an alpaca will ever produce, usually its first coat. Tui fleeces are known to be fuzzy at the ends and often pick up and hang on to vegetation and debris so they are difficult to skirt. Vicuna: A small (90 pounds) South American camelid with an extremely fine cinnamon and white coat. Native South American camelid, thought to be the ancestor of the domesticated alpaca. Vicunas, which exhibit the finest natural fiber in the world, can cross-breed with alpacas. Weanling: A weaned alpaca less than one year old. Weaving: An ancient textile craft that involves placing two sets of threads or yarn called the warp and weft on a loom. In general, weaving involves the interlacing these two sets of threads at right angles to each other. The warp is held taut and in parallel order, typically by means of a loom. Wool Cap: Wool on the alpaca's head and between its ears which is considered a desirable aesthetic quality; also known as the topknot or bonnet. Woolen: Woolen spun yarns are loftier and softer. The fiber is shorter and is usually carded rather than combed. This results in fibers that go in different directions rather than parallel, incorporating more air into the yarn. Woolen yarns are more suitable for knitting, sweaters or fluffy blankets. Woven: Fabric is formed by weaving. It only stretches in one direction unless the threads are elastic. Woven cloth usually frays at the edges, unless measures are taken to counter this. Most cloth in use is woven. This cloth can be plain (in one color or a simple pattern), or it can be woven in decorative or artistic designs Worsted: Worsted yarns are smooth, quite strong and long-wearing, typically spun from fibers that are 3 inches in length or longer. They are used for woven clothing such as men's suits. The fiber is usually carded, combed with wool combs and then drawn. This process removes the shorter fibers and bits of dirt that may be in the fiber. Combing keeps the longer fibers in parallel order. Yarn Weights/Sizes: Yarn weights and sizes are referred to by many different names, often the same size being called two or even three different things. Here is an excellent reference on yarn weights and sizes. Yearling: An alpaca one to two years old. Yield: The quantity of dry fiber remaining after the fleece has been skirted. Z
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Page Updated: 2007-11-23 / Alpacas of Avalon © 2007
