Our Handspun Yarns Alpaca, and alpaca blended with silk and other fibres

Handspun alpaca yarn display

We produce a wide range of alpaca and alpaca-blend yarns for either knitting, crochet or weaving, and these are generally available in 2-ply Lace, Sport and DK equivalent weights. Higher twist yarns for warping are also often available, as are singles yarns and 3-ply Aran equivalent weights. If you can't see the precise colour, weight or usage you require in the availability lists below, we can usually spin yarn to your particular needs at fairly short notice. You can also commission us to spin your own fleece or fibre.

All of our yarns are hand-prepared and spun at Pistyll Gwyn from our own herd of alpacas, or occasionally from neighbouring Welsh alpacas. Each skein or ball of yarn will be from a single named alpaca, apart from some of our 'designer' yarns. The wool in our Alpaca/Wensleydale and Alpaca/Lleyn blends comes from locally-sourced organic farms.

Our animals feed on grass and hay with the occasional vitamin supplement and have a minimum of human intervention – we even let our alpacas wean themselves. The last pesticide application (for ticks, fleas and mites) will be guaranteed to be no closer than six months prior to fleecing, and no chemicals go into the production of our yarn other than Ecover 'Delicate' washing liquid.

Mid fawn huacaya knitting yarn
white huacaya knitting yarn

Huacaya Yarns for Knitting

We produce semi-worsted alpaca yarns for knitters, in either Lace, Sport or DK equivalent weights, in a range of undyed, natural colours. We find that a semi-worsted alpaca yarn is soft, warm and luxurious enough to compare well with a woollen yarn, but it will also have a certain amount of lustre to it which woollen-spun yarns lack. However, if you want to go with extreme cosiness, we often have some white woollen-spun yarns available or can spin some to order depending on the availability of a suitable fleece.

Huacaya Yarns for Weaving

We produce semi-worsted and worsted yarn for weavers, in either Lace, Sport or DK equivalent weights, in a range of undyed, natural colours. Our weaving yarns have a higher degree of twist to them than the knitting and crochet yarns, and most are suitable for use as warp yarns. Occasionally, we'll have high-twist yarns available for projects that require a greater loom tension. We find that our worsted yarns spun with a medium twist cope just fine with table looms, but a higher twist may occasionally be needed for floor looms. However, if you can't see what you require in our availability section, we can often spin some to your own specifications.

Suri bat and roving ready for spinning
white suri yarn

Suri Yarns

Our Suri yarns are available for both knitters and weavers in either Lace or Sport equivalent weights. All of our Suri yarns are spun worsted fashion from the lock, or prepared with English wool combs for a true worsted yarn, to enhance the lustre of the fibre. To maximise the luxurious feel of handspun Suri yarn, we generally use a medium to soft twist where we can (depending on the staple length of the fleece). However, we can produce a higher-twist yarn for weavers requiring a high-tension warp yarn.

blended yarn - huacaya and suri

Blended Yarns

We often have some alpaca blends available, usually blended with Wensleydale or Lleyn wool. We find that a little wool added to either alpaca gives a more hard-wearing yarn and makes articles of clothing a little more rain-proof.

We use Wensleydale for blending with our Suri fibre because of its high lustre and softness (almost comparable to Suri alpaca) and its longer staple length. Our Suri/Wensleydale blend is generally only available in white or cream colours, but it takes dye beautifully. All our Alpaca/Wensleydale yarns are true worsted yarns prepared on wool combs for a highly lustrous and smooth finish.

We also use Lleyn for our Huacaya blends. Lleyn gives more wear to any alpaca yarn, and a good degree of water-resistance.

The Wensleydale and Lleyn fleeces we use are locally-sourced from organic farms.

thick yarn

Yarns for Rugs

We occasionally have heavier rug yarns available, either alpaca or alpaca/wool blends. We go for a softer wool in our blended rug yarns than usual – generally Lleyn – to match the softness of the alpaca fibre. We find that the 100% alpaca blend makes a wonderful yarn for soft and luxurious bedroom rugs, and that the alpaca/wool blend gives just that little bit more wear for areas of the house with more traffic.

Current Yarn Availability

Available Now

White semi-worsted DK huacaya from Blanco, suitable for knitting, crochet and weaving

White semi-worsted DK huacaya from Diamond, with a soft twist suitable for knitting, crochet and weft yarns

Light fawn semi-worsted Lace and Sport weight Suri from Walter, suitable for knitting, crochet and weaving.... Walter's first fleece!

True black semi-worsted DK huacaya from Saskia (a guest alpaca), suitable for knitting, crochet and weft yarns

True black worsted Sport weight Suri from Jet (a guest alpaca), suitable for knitting, crochet and weaving

In the Pipeline

Reservations can be made now for the following yarns: White semi-woollen DK huacaya from Lavender, with a soft twist suitable for knitting, crochet and weft yarns

Light fawn semi-worsted DK huacaya from Tyler, suitable for knitting, crochet and weaving

White worsted Lace weight baby Suri from Mischief (a guest alpaca) - suitable for knitting, crochet and weaving.... Mischief's baby fleece!

70% Alpaca/30% Lleyn Blend, semi-worsted, suitable for knitting, crochet and weaving

80% Suri/20% Wensleydale Blend, creamy white, worsted, suitable for knitting, crochet and weaving

Currently Available To Spin At Short Notice

White huacaya (fine micron count) from Blanco - available worsted, semi-worsted or woollen

White huacaya from Diamond - available semi-worsted or woollen

True black huacaya from Saskia (a guest alpaca) - available semi-worsted only

Light fawn Suri from Walter - available worsted only

True black Suri from Jet (a guest alpaca) - available worsted only

Rose-grey huacaya chunky rug yarn from Renoir (a guest alpaca) - available semi-worsted only, optionally blended with Lleyn

Handspun Yarns From Your Own Fleece

As well as spinning our own alpaca yarns, we also undertake hand spinning commissions. This could be quantities of fleece from your own animals, or rovings of a particular fibre you want for a knitting or weaving project. Although we specialise in alpaca fibre here at Pistyll Gwyn, we also spin wool and other fibres.

We prepare all fleece ourselves here at Pistyll Gwyn – no machine processing. The fleece is scoured, if necessary, and then either carded into rolags or rovings for woollen and semi-worsted yarns, or combed into slivers for worsted yarns. Alternatively, you can supply us with prepared rovings or slivers for us to spin for you, or even specify a blend of fibres.

We can produce yarns to your own specifications – you can specify weight, twist and the spin type - or you can just tell us what you want the yarn for and we can advise on the yarn best suited to your project. We can also advice on the best yarn to show off the qualities of your particular fleece or fibre.

Yarn produced by us from your fibre will be prepared and spun with no chemicals, other than the Ecover 'Delicate' washing liquid used to scour the fleece and wash the final yarn. The yarn can be supplied either balled or skeined.

Yarn Supply

All our plied yarns are sold in 100 metre lengths and the singles in 200 metre lengths, unless stated otherwise. Commissioned plied yarns can be anything up to 200 metres in length. Yarns can be balled or skeined to your requirements.