This lovely soft yarn is an Inca Spun, worsted 10 ply that is 50% Alpaca and 50% Fine Peruvian Highland Wool.

Our worsted weight is a beautifully heathered, 10 ply weight yarn perfect for creating garments, accessories, and blankets.

We here at Alpaca Yarns are passionate about Alpacas and Alpaca yarn. It’s vital to keep this industry thriving in Peru in a sustainable way. That’s why our fabulous alpaca knitting yarn stock is sourced from a supplier who has set up breeding ranches in the Andean highlands. Their main emphasis is on improving alpacas through sustainable breeding practices, and educating small farmers who own most of the animals throughout the region. We are the only distributors in New Zealand to supply 100% Baby Alpaca fibre to the wool stores of New Zealand, from the largest Alpaca textile group in Peru, Michell y Cía.

Beneficially for everyone, there is a growing demand for the Alpaca fibre in textile and fashion centres throughout the world. With a drastically limited supply of these animals outside South America and stringent export restrictions on further transport of their national treasures in order to avoid depletion of their own herds, consumers want more fleece than farmers can produce. We now work very closely with the factory and our customers here in New Zealand, having yarn spun and dyed specifically for our New Zealand market.

From the Mirasol and Michell y Cía websites:

In 2007, Michell y Cía launched the Mirasol Hand Knitting Yarns Collection together with several customers with the goal of sheltering, feeding and providing the best education possible to Andean kids in the Munani area of Puno, Peru.

The idea behind Mirasol Project is simple: To support the children of communities in Munani, Neque Neque and Mallkini in Puno with their education through the Mirasol School, with the sales of the Mirasol Hand Knitting Yarn Collection and donations from friends and other contributors.

Please visit http://mirasol.com.pe/time-line to read about the history of the Mirasol Project.