Baby Alpaca Knitting Yarn - Morris Maya

Finest  Quality 100% baby alpaca from the Peruvian highlands makes Morris & Sons Maya one of the most beautifully buttery soft yarns in our collection making it one of our best selling yarns. Discover why so many people love Knitting with Maya. 

Baby alpaca is a term used for the finest fleece from the softest areas of the alpacas body 80% of the alpaca fiber produced in the world comes from the Andean regions of Peru. Morris & Sons Maya range from Peru available in our own hand picked stunning colour pallet available in a beautifully fine lace weight 2 ply, 8 ply and a chunky 14 ply sport weight.

Alpaca fiber is seven times warmer than wool per weight and highly breathable and moisture wicking making it warm in winter and cool in summer. Its long lustrous fibers resist stain, odor and flame and are naturally wrinkle resistant. The strength and length of the fibers make it less prone to pilling and last longer than other fibers like wool and cashmere and the lack of lanolin in the fiber means that alpaca is hypoallergenic and can be worn by those with wool allergies.

Alpacas are members of the camelid family and are closely related to the camel, llama, vicuna and guanaco. They are gentle and inquisitive in nature and communicate most commonly using soft purring or humming sounds. Actual baby alpacas are called ‘Tui’s’ pronounced (too-ey). Peruvian alpacas inhabit the Altiplano plateau of the Andes and live up to 4000 meters above sea level.

Alpaca fiber has an incredibly light ecological footprint. Unlike cashmere goats, alpacas have soft padded feet which do not damage the grasslands and mountains on which they graze nor do they pull the grasses out by the root when eating, thus preventing damage to the landscapes in which they live.

Alpacas are also more efficient than goats. An alpaca drinks less water than a goat and can easily grow enough wool for four to five sweaters a year. It takes four goats the same amount of time to produce sufficient cashmere for a single sweater.

Because alpaca does not contain lanolin, the fibers do not require the same high heat processing that wool must undergo to remove the lanolin and therefore the manufacturing of the fibers has less of an impact on the environment and the light process means the fibers last longer.