Coroglen Lodge

Coroglen Alpaca Stud was established in 2002 and our vision then was to breed black huacayas; as long as they had long necks and were black that was fine. How much we had to learn! Of course the vision has changed considerably over the years but the original reason for getting alpacas has remained the same.

We shear our alpacas in November so they can remain as cool as possible through the hot summer months. After shearing the fleeces are sorted and then they are sent away for washing and carding. They come back ready to spin into yarn or to felt with.

Of course it was the fleeces which originally interested me and as a hand spinner, knitter, weaver, and wool dyer, I wanted to work with this wonderful exotic wool. Yes, it is wool but it differs from sheep wool in a number of ways.

Alpaca comes in 22 natural colours, more than any other fleece producing animal.

Fine alpaca has amazing handle and lustre, and is stronger than sheeps wool of the same weight. Being a partially hollow fibre alpaca is warmer than sheeps wool too. On the down side it does not have as much ‘memory’ as sheep wool but there are ways around this too.

The sight of those lovely black creatures inhabiting our paddocks still makes my heart quicken.