The Processing
Spinning
At Toft Alpacas we have most of our herd's fibre spun locally in Banbury,
producing our Double Knit and Aran weight knitting yarns through a large mill
spinning in a woollen process. Before our fleeces are sent to the mills we
painstakingly sort each animal's fleece into six standards, from the top used
in scarves and yarns down to the coarser leg fibre used in felting. As generally
the lighter weight the yarn the more likely the item is to be worn directly
on the skin, 4ply is our softest yarn generally used in scarves, babywear ladies
cardigans, with Aran weights used in handbags and Teddy Bears. Our fine Baby
Alpaca 4ply yarns are produced in North Wales , where a mini-mill carefully
spins much smaller batches through to finer yarns. Each year we have several
carefully selected fleeces individually spun at this mini-mill. These are the
yarns that we use in our scarf knitting kits, allowing knitters to visit the
farm and identify the specific animal they have been working with. The alpaca
used in this process are selected as it has an exceptional quality in its fibre,
whether that be fineness, lustre or a highly unusual colour.
Dyeing
I have made the decision to keep all of our yarns 100% natural in colour,
making the most of the rich creams, deep browns and soft fawns clearly visible
in our fields. When buying our knitting yarns you can be certain that the yarn
has not been dyed, and thus has undergone as little artificial processing as
possible. Occasionally we will use small batches of colour by hand dying yarn
on-farm. We have experimented with the full range of dyes, from natural onion
skins and blueberries to the vibrant reds and blue achieved by acid dyes. 'Natural'
versus 'Chemical' dying is very much a contentious issue as the process to
achieve guaranteed colour fastness very often has to involve chemical fixing.
The acid dyes that we now use are fully absorbed into the fibre, leaving the
discarded water entering the system pure and chemical free. Alpaca absorbs
dye readily and as it is a lustrous fibre it reflects the light off the dyes
fabric, thus producing very vibrant colours.
Knitting
I now have a team of over thirty handknitters working within Warwickshire,
Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire, who all love working with our wonderful natural
yarns. Well sorted and spun alpaca is wonderful to work with, producing perfectly
even finishing on both patterned and plain knits. For me alpaca garments should
use simplicity to allow the 'alpaca' to be shown at its best. My design emphasizes
the uniqueness of this exclusive luxury fibre over the 'ethnic' origins of
the animal. We have been breeding alpacas in the UK for over 10 years at Toft
Alpacas, and our animals and designs are thoroughly British. Most of our range
is knitted, as alpaca is very suited to handknitting when spun using the woollen
process. Alpacas are being bred with increasing 'crimp' in their fleece as
quality is what gives knitted alpaca garments its wonderful 'drape'. The crimp
gives a yarn memory, meaning that any wear and stretch in the garment will
return to the original shape following washing. Alpaca is a natural fibre and
consequently must be gently handwashed in tepid water. After draining the majority
of water from the fabric garments and accessories should be slowly dried flat
in a cool place. Have patience with drying the item as forcing rapid drying
of alpaca will dry the fibres and affect the soft handle of the fabric. If
alpaca is well cared for it is renowned for its longevity in wardrobes, and
many a person speaks fondly of garments inherited from parents.
Weaving
The woven scarves, shawls and blankets are also outsourced to craftsmen and
women in the UK , very often to those cities and regions traditionally associated
with British textiles. The blankets have been woven at 'Melin-Teifi' national
woollen mill in West Wales in small batches of different sizes. Halifax is
home to the creator of our fine alpaca and silk woven scarves and shawls which
are then handfinished and pressed in Huddersfield . I am very happy to have
a few master hand-weavers producing the occasional one-off exclusive piece.
Within Lincolnshire and West Sussex handspinners pour hours of time and skill
into weaving exquisite heirloom pieces admired by all.
Felting
Felting is an exciting new addition to our products' range, and we now using
three different felting processes to produce our handbag range. Concerned by
the waste created by the determination to produce hand-sorted exquisitely soft
ladies and childrens knitwear, I was determined to develop a product range
using the less-popular coarser fibres. Handbags are perfectly suited to the
leg fibre as its coarser nature makes it more hard wearing and the felting
process creates wonderfully bulky and structured fabrics. The first type of
felting is achieved by loosely knitting with our aran yarns and then boiling
or washing the final product to solidify and shrink the fibres. This process
totally changes the nature of the knitted product and often gives a 'fluffy'
finish. The second process is wet felting, arguably the most labour intensive.
I managed to find a local felt maker in Birmingham who now works on my range
of fully 'vegan' and 'organic' bags for men and women. Fibres are arranged
horizontally and then vertically across each other and then compacted and agitated
with water and detergent to produce a solid fabric around a mould. Our 'Toft
Teds' are produced by needle felting. This final type of processing involves
repeatedly stabbing the fibre with needles to sculpt them into a solid structure.
All of our felted goods are produced by very skilled craftspeople, and we hope
to run a few courses in 2008/2009 teaching other interested people how to felt.
For more information about Toft Alpacas Click
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