It starts getting cold in many parts of the earth right now. Instead of freezing, the old Incas knew a better solution to stand the cold. It’s been about 3,000 years already since people domesticated the coveted Alpaca. The Incas used to keep those animals as livestock because they were not only offering a good food source and a means of transport but also their precious wool. Did you ever own any kind of sweater you didn’t have to wash because it cleaned itself? Then you should definitely get some alpaca-fashion. The special wool is a nature product and therefore it’s able to reject dirt. To keep the alpaca scarf, sweater or blanket clean it’s enough to just hang it on a clothes line overnight because the air contains humidity that supports the self-cleaning process. Besides it can be processed in many different ways and if you’re wearing your alpaca sweater, you won’t feel any uncomfortable itching because this material is very soft. In comparison to other materials you probably wear during cold winters, alpaca wool doesn’t only isolate the cold but also compensate the heat because of its thermic function.

The special material obviously doesn’t grow on a tree. Talking about a soft sweater made of alpaca-wool, we have to keep in mind that there still is that cute animal that actually owns the material. It belongs to the family of the camels and is able to supply three kilos of wool per year. Once a year the alpacas get sheared and the fabrication process begins. To achieve a proper quality, the fibers need to be well-selected. Women that learned this work over thousands of years are separating the different kinds of fibers because the quality of fibers differs. royals postseason hoodiesThis is a handcrafted and therefore a really hard process. arb hoodiesTo avoid itching effects of the sweater, the fibers need to get rid of their bristles. north face denali jacket mint blue

Afterwards they have to be washed to prevent residues of dirt and excess of fat. The carding process helps eliminating fibers that are too large and form strands. The combing of the strands removes knots and builds Tops that can be processed to different kinds of threads. And nowadays people are really picky. For that reason the majority wouldn’t be satisfied with only the natural hair colors of the alpacas. That’s why the threads need to be colored. At the end they spin them to make them thinner. slowbucks hoodiesAnd there we got our alpaca-wool ready to be processed to sweaters, blankets, scarfs and more.hoodies footasylum But Aalpaca -wool is not alpaca-wool. sons of anarchy merchandise etsyAs mentioned above, the wool’s fibers differ regarding quality.

That means we have different sorts of alpaca-wool, for example Royal, Baby, Finca, Superfine, Huarizo, Guesa or a mixture. No matter what, the wool feels smooth and absolutely not itchy on our skin. Chinese textile manufacturers also discovered the high-quality material. In Asia the salaries are lower, especially in sewing work. This makes the alpaca products cheaper for the consumer. The problem is that this threatens Ecuadorian and other South American producers to lose their jobs and their existence. A lot of Non-Profit-Organizations are already trying to solve the problem supporting textile producers in Ecuador and South America. To make sure your alpaca sweater is locally produced and people were working on it under fair conditions visit the beautiful and famous market in Otavalo to buy it. According to several travel guides this market is under the top ten must-sees in whole South America. And it really earns its popularity. Besides sweaters, scarfs, gloves, ponchos, blankets, pillows and hats made of alpaca wool you can find a lot of other handcrafted stuff there.

If you want to spend some more time there, our Spanish School in Otavalo offers language courses and trips around the area of Otavalo.The alpaca belongs to the species of South American camelid and has similitude in appearance with a lama. Its wool is very sought-after due to its softness, lightness and hypo-allergenic properties. Our soft touch blankets are hand-woven on looms of Peguche city, in the Andes of Ecuador, with a blend of 80% alpaca wool and 20% high quality polycotton. This blend will allow the blanket to dry quickly in cold weather conditions. Please be aware that some sellers on the Internet promote alpaca blankets similar to ours as made of 100% alpaca fiber, when in fact they are not. Our fair trade policy includes to tell our customers the true about the blend we use in our process of production. Our alpaca blankets are perfect for cold nights and can be used as an accessory for home decoration. The blankets can also be used as alpaca throws. We suggest to hand-wash the alpaca blankets with soft detergent in cold water.

During the first week of use, the wool of some blankets might peel off. This is quite normal as the alpaca is a natural fibre. You can brush the blanket with a soft cloth brush to take the excess of the wool off. We sell blankets per unit and per dozen. Check our four collections of blankets: Monocolor, Traditional, Striped and Rainbow alpaca blankets. Thinking in placing an order for Christmas? Please take into account: Our Ecuador office staff, will have their holidays from November 2016 to March 2017. Please let us know before the 10th November if you would like to purchase any products from us. If you are based in New Zealand or Australia please contact us at anytime, we might have in stock what you are looking for. Otherwise we apologize in advance for the inconveninece this might cause to you. Payments can be made through Paypal or bank deposit. For orders of $400 USD or more, we prefer to receive payments through international money transfer. You also might like to visit our other catalogues of alpaca products: