WAnimal fibers are natural fibers that consist largely of certain proteins. Examples include silk, hair/fur and feathers. The animal fibers used most commonly both in the manufacturing world as well as by the hand spinners are wool from domestic sheep and silk. Also very popular are alpaca fiber and mohair from Angora goats. Unusual fibers such as Angora wool from rabbits and Chiengora from dogs also exist, but are rarely used for mass production.
WThe alpaca is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can successfully crossbreed. Both species are believed to have been domesticated from their wild relatives, the vicuña and guanaco. There are two breeds of alpaca: the Suri alpaca and the Huacaya alpaca.
WAngora hair or Angora fibre refers to the downy coat produced by the Angora rabbit. While the names of the source animals are similar, Angora fibre is distinct from mohair, which comes from the Angora goat. Angora fibre is also distinct from cashmere, which comes from the cashmere goat. Angora is known for its softness, thin fibres, and what knitters refer to as a halo (fluffiness). It is also known for its silky texture. It is much warmer and lighter than wool due to the hollow core of the angora fibre. It also gives them their characteristic floating feel.
WCamel hair specifically refers to the fur from the body of a camel, but more generally refers to the fibre that may be made from either pure camel hair or a blend of camel hair and another fibre.
WCameline was a fabric material used in the Middle Ages for cloth. By tradition it is commonly thought to have been originally made of camel's hair in Asia. It was imported from Cyprus and Syria into Europe. Cameline is described also as a cloak of the Arabs made of camel's hair which is oftentimes striped white and brown in color. Since history records it many times as a "common and cheap" textile it is thought that it was an imitation of the original Asian camel's hair fabric. It was sometimes a lower quality French cloth imitation made of goat's hair. The fibers were spun into yarn and produced in Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant in many colors in medieval times. It is also described as a warm light woolen textile of camel's hair combined with wool or cotton. It is considered of lesser quality than that of camlet, which is also made of camel's hair.
WThe Chilihueque or Hueque was a South American camelid variety or species that existed in central and south-central Chile in Pre-Hispanic and colonial times. There are two main hypotheses on their status among South American camelids: the first one suggests that they are locally domesticated guanacos and the second that they are a variety of llamas brought from the north into south-central Chile. The alpaca has also been suggested as a possible identity.
WFake fur, also called faux fur, is known as pile fabric, which is engineered to have the appearance and warmth of animal fur.
WFelt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood pulp-based rayon. Blended fibers are also common. Felt has special properties that allow it to be used for a wide variety of purposes. "It is fire-retardant and self-extinguishing; it dampens vibration and absorbs sound; and it can hold large amounts of fluid without feeling wet..."
WThe Georgetown Historic District is a historic district which covers the central portion the village of Georgetown, Connecticut. The district includes parts of Georgetown in the towns of Redding, Weston, Wilton, and Ridgefield and consists of the former Gilbert & Bennett manufacturing plant, institutional housing built for the plant workers, other private homes, and the Georgetown business district.
WThe guanaco is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Its name comes from the Quechua word huanaco. Young guanacos are called chulengos. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids, the other being the Vicuña, which lives at higher elevations.
WHorsehair is the long, coarse hair growing on the manes and tails of horses. It is used for various purposes, including upholstery, brushes, the bows of musical instruments, a hard-wearing fabric called haircloth, and for horsehair plaster, a wallcovering material formerly used in the construction industry and now found only in older buildings.
WHuacaya is the one of the two breeds that make up the species Vicugna pacos, commonly known as the alpaca. The other breed is the Suri. It lives on the Altiplano plateau in the Andes at up to 4,000 m above sea level. Its natural range encompasses four South American countries.
WThe llama is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era.
WQiviuq [sg] or qiviut [pl] is the inner wool of the muskox. In Inuktitut the same word can be used to refer to the down feathers of birds.
WRabbit hair is the fur of the common rabbit. It is most commonly used in the making of fur hats and coats, and is considered quite valuable today, although it was once a lower-priced commodity in the fur trade.
WThe Salish Wool Dog or Comox dog is an extinct breed of white, long-haired, Spitz-type dog that was developed and bred by the Coast Salish peoples of what is now Washington state and British Columbia. The small, long-haired wool dog and the coyote-like village dog were deliberately maintained as separate populations. The dogs were kept in packs of about 12 to 20 animals, and fed primarily raw and cooked salmon. To keep the breed true to type and the preferred white color, Salish Wool Dogs were confined on islands and in gated caves.
WSea silk is an extremely fine, rare, and valuable fabric that is made from the long silky filaments or byssus secreted by a gland in the foot of pen shells. The byssus is used by the clam to attach itself to the sea bed.
WShahtoosh is a fine type of wool made from the hair of the Tibetan antelope. It is also a metonym for a type of Kashmir shawl traditionally made of shahtoosh wool. The Shahtoosh shawl is now a banned item with possession and sale being illegal in most countries for the Chiru is an endangered species under CITES. However, the weaving of Shahtoosh shawls continues in secret in Kashmir due to high demand by western buyers. The estimated market value of one Shahtoosh shawl in the western market is around $5,000–$20,000. Shahtoosh is the world's finest wool having the lowest micron count, followed by vicuña.
WSuri alpaca is one of two breeds of the alpaca, the other being the Huacaya. Of 3.7 million alpacas worldwide, less than 10% are thought to be of the Suri breed. One study found that Suri alpacas could be reliably distinguished from Huacayas by looking for a low frequency of hairs less than 35 micrometers in diameter, as well as fewer hairs with more than eight cuticular scales. Suri alpacas may be bred for the lustre of their coats.
WThe vicuña or vicuna is one of the two wild South American camelids which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco, which lives at lower elevations. Vicuñas are relatives of the llama, and are now believed to be the wild ancestor of domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their coats. Vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be shorn every three years and has to be caught from the wild. When knitted together, the product of the vicuña's wool is very soft and warm. The Inca valued vicuñas highly for their wool, and it was against the law for anyone but royalty to wear vicuña garments; today, the vicuña is the national animal of Peru and appears in the Peruvian coat of arms.
WYarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, or ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or other lubricants to withstand the stresses involved in sewing. Embroidery threads are yarns specifically designed for needlework.