Four kinds of worsted alpaca
100% baby alpaca — Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted, Juniper Moon Herriot, HiKoo Concentric. The softest and warmest, with a sheen and a drape that no wool has, and no memory at all: a sweater in it grows and does not come back.
Alpaca and wool, half and half — Berroco Ultra Alpaca and its undyed sibling Ultra Alpaca Natural. Wool's crimp gives the fabric a spring; alpaca gives it warmth and hand. The all-rounder, and the cheapest.
Baby alpaca and merino — Blue Sky Extra, Blue Sky Suri Merino. The same idea with finer fibers on both sides: softer than Ultra Alpaca, more expensive, and in Suri Merino's case with the luster of suri.
Alpaca with silk or linen — Juniper Moon Iris (alpaca, silk, a little wool, self-striping), Plymouth Alpaca Lino (alpaca and linen), Noro Madara (10% alpaca in a wool-silk tweed). Drape and shine for a shawl or a swing cardigan rather than a pullover.
Malabrigo Worsted, Lamb's Pride Worsted and the other worsted wools are wool. The alpaca shelf lists only lines with alpaca in them.
Side by side
| Line | Content | Yards / skein | Gauge | Care | Price | Colors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted | 100% baby alpaca | 240 yd / 100 g | 5 sts/in, US 7 | Machine wash cold, gentle; tumble low | $26.50 | 19 |
| Juniper Moon Herriot | 100% baby alpaca | 218 yd / 100 g | 21–24 sts/4", US 5–7 | Hand wash, dry flat | $30.50 | 34 |
| HiKoo Concentric | 100% baby alpaca, gradient | 437 yd / 200 g | 5 sts/in, US 8 | Hand wash, dry flat | $50 | 18 |
| Berroco Ultra Alpaca | 50% alpaca, 50% wool | 215 yd / 100 g | 20 sts/4", US 8 | Hand wash, dry flat | $15 | 6 |
| Berroco Ultra Alpaca Natural | 50% alpaca, 50% wool, undyed | 219 yd / 100 g | 5 sts/in, US 8 | Hand wash, dry flat | $15 | 2 |
| Blue Sky Extra | 55% baby alpaca, 45% merino | 218 yd / 150 g | 4–5 sts/in, US 7–9 | Hand wash, dry flat | $34.50 | 14 |
| Blue Sky Suri Merino | 60% baby suri, 40% merino | 164 yd / 100 g | 5–7 sts/in, US 5–7 | Hand wash, dry flat | $28.95 | 7 |
| Plymouth Alpaca Lino | 80% alpaca, 20% linen | 218 yd / 100 g | 5 sts/in, US 7 | Hand wash, dry flat | $24.50 | 6 |
| Juniper Moon Iris | 70% alpaca, 20% silk, 10% wool | 437 yd / 100 g | 16–20 sts/4", US 7–9 | Hand wash, dry flat | $51 | 12 |
Two things to notice. Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted is the only alpaca on the shelf labeled for the washing machine, which makes it the gift sweater and the baby blanket. And Blue Sky Extra's skein is 150 g for 218 yards: it is a dense, heavy yarn, and a sweater in it weighs half again what the same sweater weighs in Herriot.
What a sweater costs
A plain 40" worsted pullover takes about 1,100 yards. Divided by the skein, rounded up, plus the spare skein you should always buy:
| Line | Skeins | Cost | Weight of sweater |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berroco Ultra Alpaca | 7 | $105 | about 520 g |
| Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted | 6 | $159 | about 460 g |
| Plymouth Alpaca Lino | 7 | $171.50 | about 500 g |
| HiKoo Concentric | 4 | $200 | about 500 g |
| Juniper Moon Herriot | 7 | $213.50 | about 500 g |
| Blue Sky Suri Merino | 8 | $232 | about 670 g |
| Blue Sky Extra | 7 | $241.50 | about 760 g |
Alpaca is denser than wool, so these are all heavier than a merino sweater of the same size; that is part of why an alpaca sweater is so warm, and part of why a long one grows.
Weight of a 40" sweater
Which to choose
- A fitted pullover or a cabled cardigan: Ultra Alpaca or Extra. The wool holds the cables open and the ribbing closed.
- Softness at the neck, for someone who finds merino scratchy: Herriot or Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted. Both are the fine baby grade.
- It has to go in the washing machine: Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted, and nothing else here.
- The most colors: Herriot, 34, then Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted at 19.
- The least money: Ultra Alpaca, $105 for a sweater, and the undyed Natural at the same price.
- A gradient with no ends to weave: Concentric, one 200 g cake knits half a sweater.
- A drapey wrap or a swing cardigan: Iris, Suri Merino, Alpaca Lino.
Knitting alpaca at worsted gauge
Swatch, wash the swatch, and then hang it with a couple of clothespins on the bottom edge for a day before you measure. Alpaca grows when it hangs, and a sweater hangs from the shoulders; the hung swatch is the gauge you will live with. Most knitters go down a needle size from the band for anything fitted in 100% alpaca, to make a firmer fabric with less room to grow.
Keep the body a little shorter than you want it, and expect an inch back from gravity. Work ribbing on a needle two sizes smaller, or knit the hem and cuffs in a blend even if the body is pure alpaca. Give a heavy sweater seams; a seam is a seat belt for a yarn with no memory. For a raglan or yoke sweater knit in one piece, Ultra Alpaca or Extra is the safer choice.
Alpaca does not felt as readily as wool but it mats with heat and agitation, so hand wash cool and dry flat, as every band above says except Plymouth's. Fold it; never hang it.
The alpaca guide covers the fiber itself — baby, suri, huacaya, and whether it itches — and the other weights, from the lace suris to Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande at chunky.
