From Llama Fiber to Yarn — Separation, Washing and Spinning

Select raw llama fleece. Natural colours range from white, brown, grey and black, but are less varied than alpaca. A llama fleece weighs between 2 and 4 kg, but only part will be usable fiber — the rest is coarse outer hair.

Spread the fleece and remove dirty edges, belly and leg fiber. The highest quality fiber is in the blanket — back and flanks.

The llama has a double coat. Observe a lock: the coarse, smooth and long hairs are the guard hair (outer coat). Between them is the down — fine, crimped and soft fiber. You need to separate the two.

Take each lock and manually pull the coarse hairs away from the down. This process is called dehairing and is time-consuming but essential — guard hair in the yarn makes it rough and spiky. Andean peoples have done this by hand for millennia.

Soak the separated down in warm water (30-35°C). Like alpaca, llama has little or no lanolin. Soak for 20 minutes without agitation. A gentle wash is usually sufficient.

Rinse in progressively cooler water. Drain without wringing. Spread on a net or towel in the shade to dry completely. Llama down dries quickly due to the absence of grease.

Once dry, run through the fiber one last time and remove any remaining coarse hairs. The quality of the final yarn depends directly on the quality of this separation.

Gently pull each lock of dry down to open up the fiber structure and remove debris. Llama down is slightly shorter than alpaca — work carefully.

Load a thin layer of down onto the carder and pass the second carder with gentle motions. Llama fiber is shorter, so card with fewer passes — 4 to 5 are enough. Do not force.

Roll the carded fiber off the carder into loose cylinders. Llama down rolags are shorter and denser than alpaca ones. Reserve them in a basket.

Tie the leader yarn to the spindle shaft. For short llama down, a lighter spindle works better — excess weight can break the fiber during spinning.

Overlap a tuft of down onto the leader yarn with generous overlap (10 cm). Short fiber needs more contact area to adhere well when twist enters.

Rotate the spindle and draw out the fiber in short increments (5-8 cm at a time). Llama down is shorter than alpaca or sheep — long draws break the fiber. More twist compensates for the short fiber.

Continue the rhythm: draw little fiber, let twist enter, wind onto the shaft. Llama yarn has a slightly more irregular appearance than alpaca — this is normal and gives character to the yarn.

Spin two spindles of single yarn and ply them together in the opposite direction. Two-ply plied yarn is much stronger and hides irregularities of the single yarn.

Soak the plied yarn in warm water for 20 minutes, gently squeeze and hang with light weight to dry under tension. This permanently sets the twist.

Wind the dry yarn into skein, tying at two points. Llama down yarn is warm, light and ideal for blankets, hats and scarves.

Do not discard the separated guard hair — it is excellent for making sturdy ropes, rug textiles, or stuffing. Andean peoples make use of every part of the llama fleece.