Llama Fiber Processing
By
Kendra Curtis

QUESTION: Should I do a lot of brushing if I want to have the best wool to spin into yarn?

ANSWER: No. To much brushing will brake down the fiber and give you a poor quality yarn. Lets start with the fiber itself. If you were to look at llama fiber under a microscope you would see that it has a few hooks or barbs that extend outward. Sheep fiber has many bards or hooks. These bards are what help wool stick to itself and helps in the felting process. If you have felted both wools you will know that it is much easier to felt sheep fiber and takes a little more time and effort to felt llama. If you brush your animals a lot you can break down these barbs and cause the yarn to look fuzzy and will pill ( those little nubs you get on you sweaters after you wear and wash it). For the best wool, you want to only brush your llamas when you need to. Allowing your llama to build an outer dirt build up will not only give you a nice wool for spinning, but will also keep the cleaning process easier. When you brush you allow the fiber to separate and the dirt and debris to get deep into the wool. Allowing that dirt build up will keep the debris from going deep and is easily flicked off using the grooming wands and a blower. You will find there is very little work and your yarns will be top quality.

QUESTION: Should wool be washed before carding?

ANSWER: I have found, in carding both by hand and mill carding that your best yarn is produced if washing is the final step. Most of your carding mills will only card washed wool as dirty wool does create a lot of dust in the air, and under the card. It also builds up on the main drum of the carding machine. Quite a bit of your washed wool will stick to the main drum at the carding mill. This is where most of your loss will be. I have found that by carding dirty wool, your return is better. Although your fingers and wheel might get a little dirty, your finished product will be at its best. So, if you find a mill, ( there aren't many), that will card dirty wool, this would be the way to go. Or if you card by hand, card dirty. You must how ever clean your llama has mush as possible to rid it of debris. If you send out wool that is filled with hay you will get rovings filled with hay. So be sure to brush and blow out the wool before shearing. Spin your wool dirty and wash it last to set your twist and you will be pleased with the end results.

QUESTION: Because llama wool has no lanolin, do I have to spin it tight?

ANSWER: No. If you put to much twist in your yarn you will create a hard yarn, and nothing anyone would want to wear next to their skin. You can produce wonderful, soft yarns with a gentle twist. you can also knit with an unspun llama wool. After the yarn is knitted it becomes very strong. I don't recommend weaving with an unspun llama wool unless it is a tight weave