That looks soo nice, it has to be faulty, I might not be an expert but I’m not being heavy handed.
I agree it’s too fragile to hold together, I don’t think it’s spun tightly enough 
I suppose that’s what you get on ebay, though I’ve never had problems with them before on the few occasions I’ve bought from them 
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Ebay is quite variable. There are some brilliant sellers on there, but there are some dodgy ones too. It’s a mixed bag, so caution is the word.
Sam x
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Are you casting on with the slingshot method (one needle and two ends of yarn)? If so, as each stitch is formed the yarn untwists a complete rotation. That makes the yarn weaker. If your yarn was two (or more) ply the untwisting process would leave you with the still-twisted individual plies and they still have strength. This yarn is one-ply and you are gradually creating the equivalent of Lopi wool. The yarn looks reasonably twisted to me, but a couple of dozen un-twists of one-ply yarn makes it very weak - it may also be short-staple wool so would easily fall apart. (Lopi is long-staple and that prevents it falling apart so easily). What you should try is using a different method of casting on - cable method, or knitting-on - these do not untwist the yarn and they keep its strength. Or you could crochet a chain of sufficient length and pick up the back loops again for an interesting start to the scarf - this would match the cast-off at the other end. The yarn looks adequately spun to me. Alternatively, if you really want to use the sling-shot method it is a good idea to hold the needles high and let the wool end spin itself tight again every few stitches. It’s a lovely colour and a real shame to ditch it!
I am a knitter and a hand spinner. It looks like the yarn doesn’t have enough twist, so it isn’t holding together. If you are not able to return it, you could try ‘fulling’ it. This is a felting type of process that I use on all my hand spun yarns. Fill up your kitchen sink with hot water and a bit of dish soap (like Fairy liquid). Wind the ball of yarn into a skein, and tie the skein in a few places with another piece of thread (loosely), in order to hold the skein in shape.
Then put the skein into the hot soapy water and swish it around a bit. This will slightly felt the wool and alpaca fibre together to help it hold its shape. Then drain out the water, and refill the sink with cold water. And rinse the skein out in the cold water. The hot and cold water dips will help to strengthen the yarn.
@WoollyWoodlanders thank you for your reply. I’m not sure which method I’m using , it’s with 2 needles, I did manage to cast on but half way through the first line the yarn broke off, and I was being very gentle. I might investigate other methods, as it does look such a lovely wool, and I love the colour.
@Paivatar I know nothing about yarn but this was my thinking, as I thought it broke free far to easily. I will try once more with casting on a different way, then will try the fulling method - thanks for this info, as like you say it might be enough to hold it together, and I’ll be able to use it - it’s really lovely!
I did manage to get a partial refund for the wool as the postage to return it was over £10 tracked , the seller agreed this was too much , so refunded me for the wool alone, which I was happy with as I still have the wool - whether I will be able to use it remains to be seen!
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