Except that the OP said she has unlimited access to alpaca fiber, for free, and she would (presumably) have to pay for sheep's wool. I was in sort of the same position several years ago. Not "unlimited", but I was given the shearings from 4 alpacas from 3 years - that is a lot of fiber! It was divided up into "best", "good", and dirty tag ends. The dirty, short bits ended up in the garden as mulch; I practiced with the "good" fiber, and, you're right, made some pretty ugly yarn. But there was (and still is ) enough of it to keep on practicing till I got better. And I have done some nice yarn with the "best". I have never spun sheep's wool. Several people said that I should put aside the alpaca till I was more proficient, as wool is so much easier. But I had lots of one, and none of the other, so I just went at it. And, I figure by the time I am through the myriad boxes that are stacked in my sewing room, I will be able to spin anything. (I'll also be too old to think about starting something new )Blaundee said:I would suggest you learn to spin using wool first, then move to the alpaca. Take the poster above up on the offer to trade some sheeps wool for alpaca fleece, learn to use the wool, then start using the alpaca fleece- it is far too valuable to be used for practice! Your first couple of balls of yarn will be pretty ugly, and you could have sold that expensive alpaca fleece for far more than enough to buy the wool you'll use to make that ugly yarn. Once you're good at making yarn, THEN go to the alpaca.
The reason I haven't commented on this thread before is that I had access to carders - both hand and drum - through an acquaintance, and so have no experience with using substitutes.