Cashmere

Lesley recently presented one of her stunning, handwoven Devon cashmere shawls to HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. This was dyed using lichens from the Ancient Woodland on the farm and was a wonderful shade of soft pale green. Shortly afterwards a letter arrived from Clarence House saying that HRH was delighted with the shawl and had in fact worn it that same evening!

We now have a small exclusive stock of shawls woven to the same design available. Please contact us for details.

To be graded as cashmere the undercoat of the Cashmere goat must be finer than 18.5 microns. All our fibre has been graded at less than 15 microns and is equivalent to Fine Inner Mongolian cashmere. We are committed to quality in our breeding flock and fibre test every young goat when it reaches maturity. Unlike mohair and wool cashmere fibre quality deteriorates only marginally with age and we have animals of 7 producing fibre as good as a 1 year old!

Cashmere is combed in the spring by hand - a labour intensive job! The goats don't mind and often nod off on the combing stand. It's also a good opportunity for us to give them a thorough health check. The fibre is then washed and dehaired to remove the long coarse guard hairs which form the outer part of the coat. We separate into three colours for processing and spinning. White, Ecru and Dark.

Cashmere is available as finished yarn in 25g hanks of approximately 95metres 4-ply weight. 18g is enough to make a pair of baby booties. The woven shawl in the photo used 200g plus silk for the warp. Please contact us for current prices and availability.