Cashmere - best yarn for your knitting

Cashmere is a fur hair of the Cashmere goats.

The popularity of cashmere grows with every day in the world. In different countries, cultures and trends of fashion it is invariably associated with something truly unique, delicious and precious. Someone is charmed with the areol of luxury and elegance, which this material is winnowed, while other people prefer cashmere, searching all the best that the market of natural woolen fabrics offers today. And both of them make the right choice, because the cashmere is unrivalled so in the world of high fashion, as in issues of comfort and environmental compatibility which are relevant nowadays.

Cashmere is the most high-quality, valuable, and therefore expensive natural material. The history of cashmere began in the 15th century in Europe, when the cashmere shawls were presented to the European Princes as a luxury gift. These shawls didn't yield in value to the gold and brilliants. That’ why the impression that the top of popularity of cashmere peaked in our century is deceptive. It was also very popular in the 19th century, where it was the subject not only the pride, but the outrageous also.

The legend of cashmere, connected with the name of Napoleon and Josephine, is also extremely popular, when the cashmere shawl became the military trophy of Bonaparte.

Cashmere goats are wide-spread primarily in the Highlands of Mongolia, Persia, Afghanistan, and the Himalayas. Cashmere of the highest quality is produced in Mongolia.

Many attempts have been made by breeders in farming of cashmere goats in other places, but all of them had failed. The precious cashmere couldn’t be obtained either in Scotland or in Australia and New Zealand. This is because the animals need a severely continental climate to preserve the highest quality of their undercoat. At the height of about five thousand meters where the cashmere goats have been bred by centuries, the climate is particulary severe. The temperature varies from -40 C to + 40 degrees here .

In these extreme conditions only amazing wool of cashmere goats helps them to survive . It protects them in cold, and drought, and heavy rains. And all because of the fact that the hair-coat covering of these animals has the dual layer: the softest fur hair inside and rougher wool on above.

These animals are not sheared due to such features of the cashmere wool. During the moulting only fur hair is combed out from their thick hair. The quantity of fur hair gained from each cashmere goat is very little, no more than 100-150 grams. But even such a small amount of raw materials gives an extensive palette of colours during the sorting. As a rule it depends on the breed of goats: from white, the most popular and highly rated, to gray and brown of various shades.

After a procedure of the hair removal (removal of the coarse hair from the material), cashmere turns into the most expensive and valuable type among all known kinds of natural wool.

Long ago the word «cashmere» has stopped to be just a specific term and title of textile for modern man. The meaning of it has become a definite symbol, metaphor and a sign of a special superiority. And the best praise for every thing is to be compared with cashmere.

Those who consider that expensiveness and excitement around the cashmere are only an attribute of fashion and popularity, unjustified by anything except its "exotic" status, are seriously wrong. First of all, cashmere is famous by the uniqueness of the material and its properties which are beyond comparison with other materials or their imitation of cashmere.

Products from cashmere are distinct in exceptional lightness and excellent ability to conserve the warmth. No other fiber can be so soft and gentle as cashmere. It does not cause allergies, so it is ideal for adults and children.

Cashmere is not only a taste for expensive fashionable things, it's a comfort and convenience that are incomparable with anything. These fibers, which are amazing for their softness and warmth, are the favorites of everyday and evening clothes.