SKIRTING MADE SIMPLE
Emma Taylor, promotes fibre and fibre products as a BAS board member and fibre committee chair. She is co-owner of the East Anglia Alpaca Mill and herd owner at Alpacas of East Anglia. Her guide to skirting was the subject of a recent BAS webinar and it is a topic she covers each year at the BAS National Show.
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mma’s message is straightforward – skirting adds value to fleece and it is a skill that is not difficult to learn. “If you can feel and see the difference between fine and coarse fleece you are already on your way.” Skirting will increase fleece value either when sold as a raw product, or when sent to a mill for processing, and it ensures a fleece is presented to its best advantage when shown. “Fibre creates revenue and skirting maximises your revenue – fibre is the product and not a by-product of owning alpacas. “Even if you keep pet alpacas you still have to shear them every year and you will benefit from some revenue each year if that raw fibre is presented to the best of your ability.” Emma is keen to ensure owners understand that all fibre (good, bad or indifferent) has a use. “Ask yourself what should be done with your fibre? And look at its value raw compared with the value added – you can turn your raw fleece into a product worth £300 plus/kilo processed weight.” Before making anything the first step is to decide what to make and work backwards from there. Are you looking to sell finished garments or yarn for machine or hand knitting, crochet or weaving? Duvets are another potential source of revenue for poorer quality fibre. There are many potential end uses but you must ensure fibre is suitable for your intended finished product fleece testing will ensure you receive an objective measure of quality in terms of fineness (micron), staple length and standard deviation or uniformity.
Prime fibre
The best part of the fleece is prime fibre or blanket (see diagram), followed by seconds (second best fibre) from the neck, belly and leg area. Seconds are different from second cuts which happen when a shearer passes twice over the same area of fleece – too many can ruin an
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> Skirting points
otherwise beautiful fleece. “You need to remember this is your annual crop and your shearer is hugely important. Poor shearing and or poor handling of fibre post shearing can ruin even the best fleeces,” Emma adds. To avoid contamination prime fibre is shorn first and good shearers should also be able to recognise transition lines defining the blanket
area and shear accordingly. Shearing in colour order from white through to black will also help to reduce contamination and ideally fleece should be skirted as it is shorn. “You need to retain the neck fibre separately, particularly of younger animals and those with great genetics, because as long as you have a good staple length it can still be spun into yarn.” Continued on the next page >>
