Suri alpaca/Jacob roving. September 2023 Fiber Club - 4oz

This is the fiber from September's monthly subscription club. Description is from the monthly write up that comes with each box...

Every year I buy all the wool from WileyJo Farms out of Salem, Oregon which is where the Jacob for this month came from. They didn’t lamb this year so the fleeces are perfection!!! I did a couple “minisodes” in 2020 on processing Jacob wool so if you are interested head over to YouTube and search back for some great videos including on the WileyJo farm!

Suri alpaca is not one I work with very often. In fact it has been several years! It can be very long and matted if not raised by attentive farmers. Which makes it even more random that I came across this lovely Suri at Mecca – a used arts and crafts supply store in Eugene, OR. This was my first time in and I was so excited to find this. I paid more than I would usually have paid but the perk is that Mecca is a non-profit ”driven by our commitment to inspiring creativity, supporting education, and reducing waste.” More than happy to spend extra money on that!

I decided to blend the Suri with the Jacob because first and foremost they had similar staple length making it a bit easier to spin once blended. I also thought that most of us by now have had a chance to spin Jacob wool so will be able to tell the difference of what the Suri fibers will do to the roving and yarn. And finally I just thought the Suri would lend a lovely extra reddish color to the fiber as it is a natural dark fawn.

So how will this fiber behave? Suri alpaca fibers are longer, denser and “silkier” than the normal huacaya alpaca fibers that we are all used to. This Suri was perfection at about 3-4 inches (it can be as long as 10 inches!) Suri alpaca hangs from the animals so it will add this characteristic to this blend making it have a much heavier drape than the Jacob alone. The Suri also has a high luster so will add extra shine to the finished yarn. And Suri in general is a bit softer than the Jacob so will help to soften up this finished yarn.

Jacob wool/Suri alpaca 75/25

4oz roving