White
Fawn shades
Brown shades
Black shades
Grey shades
Patterns
Alpaca color basics
- Alpacas have the widest natural color range of any fiber animal — industry charts recognize around 16–22 named shades plus patterns.
- Color is controlled mainly by genes that set the type and distribution of dark (eumelanin) and red-brown (pheomelanin) pigment, plus white-spotting genes.
- Grey is a pattern of mixed colored and white fibers, usually with a darker head and legs.
- Blue-eyed white alpacas have a higher rate of deafness; this is linked to white-spotting genetics, not to white color itself.
- Natural colors need no dye — a selling point for eco-conscious knitters.