APRON:Asection of fiber under the alpaca's neck (the chest area). Fibers in this area may be may be variable in size, and may be coarser and medullated, thus should not be mixed in with the finer fiber.
BLANKET: The highest quality fleece which begins at the shoulder, runs the full length of the back and down each side until it meets the more medulated fiber on the belly. Excludes neck, leg, chest, belly, and britch. The term originated from the image of a horse's saddle blanket. Prime fiber comes from this area.
BASIC COLORS: Seven of the 22 colors of alpaca fiber, which are white and black, as well as light fawn, fawn, brown, rose gray, and silver gray.
CRIA: An alpaca less than one year old.
DAM: The female parent.
FIBER: The fleece of an alpaca that can be spun into yarn.
FINENESS: The diameter of natural fibers measured in microns and generally varying from 20 to 36 microns, with 20 being the finest and 36 being coarse.
GUANACO: A wild member of the New World camelidae family, Lama gunaimicoe.
HUACAYA: A breed of alpaca characterized by a well-crimped fleece that grows perpendicular to the skin which gives them a "fluffy" appearance.
KUSH: A resting position in which an alpaca is sitting down with its legs bent under its body.
MAIDEN: A female alpaca old enough to breed but has not been bred
OPEN FEMALE: Not Bred at the present time.
SIRE: A male parent.
STAPLE LENGTH: The length of a lock of shorn alpaca fleece
SURI: A breed of alpaca characterized by lustrous locks of fleece that lay close to the body, twisting vertically toward the ground.
UNPROVEN ALPACA: Male that has "settled" a female or a female that has been bred but does not have offspring on the ground yet
VICUNA: Native South American camelid, thought to be the ancestor of the domesticated alpaca. Vicunas, which exhibit the finest natural fiber in the world, can cross-breed with alpacas.
WEANLING: An alpaca younger than one year old that is no longer nursing.
YEARLING: An alpaca's age between one and two years old.
