Green Options » down http://greenoptions.com/tag/down Posts tagged 'down' Thu, 22 May 2008 15:11:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Yearn Worthy Yarn: Bijou Basin Ranch http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/05/22/yearn-worthy-yarn-bijou-basin-ranch/ http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/05/22/yearn-worthy-yarn-bijou-basin-ranch/#comments Thu, 22 May 2008 15:11:32 +0000 Kelly Rand http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/05/22/yearn-worthy-yarn-bijou-basin-ranch/ yak yarn For those of you who have been following Yearn Worthy Yarn, you know that yarn is made from many different fibers and it’s not just sheep that get sheared (see: alpaca and musk ox, yup musk ox.) But did you know that yak are good for their fleece as well? Me neither!

I happened upon Bijou Basin Ranch at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and couldn’t believe my eyes. Here was yarn made from yak fiber!

Yak fiber is combed from the yak once spring rolls around and they start to shed their warm winter coats. The fiber is downy and super soft and a yak can produce between 1 and 2 pounds of down per year. The fiber is then cleaned, washed and carded so it is ready for the spinning wheel. The result is very similar to that of qiviut, in that it is soft like cashmere and warm like wool.

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