The study of the rune

^{RUNE RATING}

The quality of alpaca fleece is evaluated based on many parameters, including thickness measured in microns, standard deviation, comfort factor, crimping, length, but also density expressed in veil weight and gloss.

^{Assessment methods}

Alpacas are famous for their beautiful, abundant fleece 
with exceptional properties. Breeders take care of its quality, using various evaluation methods.

Through touch We can feel the softness and softness of the fleece ourselves, by spreading the fleece we can evaluate the density, length, structure and shine. Manually we can take a small sample and watch the fleece on a black or white background depending on the color of alpaca fleece - light fleece on black, dark on white background. A skilled eye will be able to assess the thinness, the presence or absence of coarse hair and the alignment of the fleece.

At the exhibition “Fleece Show” we can give the fleece 
First class, lifted from the back of the alpaca, the so-called veil, will be evaluated by a certified judge, who will examine all the characteristics and fill in the evaluation card awarding points in each 
from category:

1. Length Alignment
2. Thinness and softness
3. Micron Alignment
4. Absence of coarse hair
5. Style: crimping and crimp density
6. Gloss
7. Color uniformity
8. Absence of pollution
9. Veil weight calculated per year of growth

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In order for the veil to be eligible to claim the title of Champion, it must score a minimum of 70 points. The selection of the winner of the entire exhibition “Judges Choice” takes place among the veils that received a minimum of 80 points.
We present a sample evaluation card from the exhibition of our male Slow Life Aspen Calvados, who obtained 86 points, the second highest rating in the entire PZHA “Fleece Show” exhibition, which took place in Michałowice in 2023.

Drugim typem wystaw, na których odbywa się ocena alpak to  “Halter Show”, czyli pokaz alpak w ringu. Podczas tej wystawy certyfikowany sędzia ocenia całą alpakę pod względem zgodności ze Wzorcem Rasy Alpaki Huacaya lub Suri, czyli budowy, ale i jakości runa. To też jest bardzo dobry sposób na zebranie wiedzy o jakości alpak danej hodowli.

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3. W profesjonalnym laboratorium - jest to najbardziej precyzyjne badanie próbki lub kilku próbek z jednej alpaki metodą OFDA 2000 lub OFDA 100 (optical fibre diameter analyzer).

We translate the most important parameters:

1. Micron/Mean fiber diameter (MFD) μm - the average thickness of the fibers expressed in microns. A micron is one millionth of a meter or one thousandth of a centimeter—a very accurate measurement in every respect. <br><br>We divide alpaca fleece in terms of thickness into compartments: <br>Ultrafine <18.00 μm <br>Superfine - 18.01 - 20.0 μm Fine - 20.01 - 23.0 μm <br><br>Medium - 23.01 - 26.0 μm Strong- 26.01 - 30 μm X Strong - > 30 μm

2. SD - Standard deviation - the standard deviation from the mean thickness measured in μm is a statistical measure of the variability in the sample. It tells us how much the fleece is aligned, and the dream of any grower is the maximum SD value of 4 μm.
Example: if MFD = 20 μ and SD = 4 μ, this means that 68% of all measured fibers are within +/- one standard deviation from the mean, that is, between 16 μ and 24 μm.
The smaller the number, for example, 2 or 3, the more uniform the sample.

3. CV% - Coefficient of variation - coefficient of variation in thickness measured as a percentage. It is an alternative description of the uniformity of the thickness of the fibers in the sample, allows the samples to be compared with each other and supports SD reading
Example: If MFD = 20 μm and SD = 4 μ then CV = (4/20) *100 = 20% CV values below 20% are highly desirable and reflect better fleece.

4. CF% - Comfort Factor - comfort factor - percentage of fibers below 30 μm. In general, we want 100% fleece to be in the range below 30 microns, because then the fleece will not scratch. 
A maximum of 5% of fibers above 30 μm is allowed - this means that about 95% of people will not experience a scratching sensation when the yarn comes into contact with the skin (CF = 95%) or about 95% of people will experience a scratching sensation when the yarn comes into contact with the skin if more than 5% of the fibers are above 30 microns. (PF = above 5%, Pricle Factor)

5. CRV - Curvature - Crimping expressed in dg/mm, i.e. the value of the fiber curvature account measured in degrees of curvature per mm of fleece length. The higher the value, for example, above 40, the more visible the carbix, especially when the alpaca is dense and the structure of the fleece is not destroyed by, for example, the rolling of the alpaca. <br>The frequency of crimping can also be measured as the number of notches per unit length.

6. SL mm - Staple Length - the length of the hair assembly, expressed in millimeters, tells us about the length of the growth of the fleece in the period from one haircut to another of the alpaca. The best alpacas achieve up to 13 mm of fleece growth per month, or 16 cm in one year, but this is a rarity. Usually qualitative fleece is an annual increment of more than 100 mm.


^{<span class="slow-life" style="text-transform: lowercase"><span class="alpacas-span" style="font-style:normal">Slow life alpaca fleece</span></span>}

We present two examples of the quality of the fleece: one of the best and weakest in our herd. Already at first glance you can see the difference between the graphs.

We want the column, or histogram, to be as narrow as possible, because this indicates a large alignment in microns and shifted to the left as much as possible, as this will indicate that the fleece is very thin.

The dream of any breeder is that the entire pistil ends before 30 microns, then the whole fleece is tender and non-biting.

Where do we test fleece? We send the samples to “Art Of Fibre” in the Netherlands.

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https://artoffibre.com/