About us
Welcome to knitalpaca, alpaca growers and yarn producers bringing you luxury fibres, yarns and designs from Australia and around the world.
The Alpacas
Alpacas are members of the South American camelid family. Along with the bigger llamas, used as pack animals, alpacas were domesticated thousands of years ago by ancient Andean cultures, to produce a warm, soft and luxurious fibre.
The more common alpaca type, the Huacaya, has soft, dense, crimpy fleece and a somewhat fluffy appearance, whilst the rarer Suri has straighter fibre which hangs in silky locks. Alpacas come in a wide variety of colours, so that naturally coloured is available in pure white, through all shades of fawn, brown and grey, to a true, blue black, without the need to dye.
The People
Situated on Australia’s southern coastline, at the heart of Victoria’s spectacular Otway Ranges & the Great Ocean Road, Lauris and Andrew Jephcott, together with Liz and Russell Dawe and Sue and John Harris are also passionate about promoting alpaca of all colours as a luxury fibre for top class clothing, textiles and fibre art. Their studs, Alpaca Marengo , Onyx Alpacas and Blaka Alpacas have formed the basis for the development of knitalpaca luxury yarns, although fibre for the yarns now comes from a growing number of Australian alpaca breeders.