I've tried for three mornings in a row to get decent pictures to illustrate this post, and these are the best so far. I'm very sorry.
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This is a picture of a black goat. (Trust me. It is.)
Specifically, the part of a goat where the neck meets the shoulder.
I put a collar on the goat to help you envision this. Also, so you would believe that I am not just taking close-up pictures of bearskin rugs or something.
Now let's look a bit closer. Watch out for the horns.
See that wisp of fluff peeking out from the black hair?
This is a sight to gladden the heart.
This is what it's all about!
This is cashmere.
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Cashmere is the seasonal undercoat cashmere-producing goats grow to protect themselves from winter cold. They shed it in the warmer weather (which is not here yet, black goat!!) and the fiber is traditionally harvested - very laboriously - by combing the goats by hand when they are shedding.
Some of the outer coat is unavoidably combed out as well, and these coarser hairs must all be removed from the very soft cashmere fiber before the yarn can be spun.
Wow! More close-ups, now with arrows!!
Even though it is always exciting to see the first loose wisp of fiber that signals the start of harvest time, my reaction is mixed right now.
Actually, my first reaction three days ago was:
NOOOOOOO! TOO SOON!
The weather has been variable, with the occasional "warm" day in the high-30s (F), but there have also been many days and many more nights of single-digit cold.
And snow. And ice.
This week has been one of bitterly cold wind, blowing for hours and hours. For entire days and nights.
In my opinion, this is no time to be removing one's winter underwear.
Are you listening, black goat?
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| "Do I look like I'm listening?" |
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I've heard that some people now shear cashmere goats. I haven't seen it done, so I don't have an informed opinion about it. It certainly would be a incredible time-saver, but it would also mean the entire topcoat is being harvested, all of which would then have to be removed from the fiber as part of the processing. And my (uninformed) gut feeling is that shearing a goat would leave a very sensitive animal in a very unnatural state. But if anyone has first-hand experience with shearing cashmere goats, I would LOVE to learn about it, so please post a comment!
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The black goat is shedding the cashmere from her neck first (tremendously slimming, don't you know!) so very little hair came with it. When I start combing her body, there will be a lot more hair mixed in with the cashmere.
In this picture you can see the individual black hairs mixed in with the cashmere fiber:
You can also see how I came up with the name
Cloud Harvest Cashmere
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What an interesting post Quinn - but what an awful amount of work to get your cashmere! I loved the line about it not being the weather for removing your underwear! xx
ReplyDeleteThe goats have a second job, which is knocking back the invasive plants that have taken over here. They are VERY good at that, and require no toxic chemicals or special tools. Oh, and they are my Home Entertainment System. I think that is their specialty! :)
DeleteNeat! I learned something new today :)
ReplyDeletehere I am putting ON my clothes...this morning, my undershirt was a cashmere sleeveless tee then I started layering. we're expecting 1 to 2 inches of ice tonight/tomorrow...WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH.
ReplyDeleteThat's me crying.
Ugh, that's tough! Snow makes things difficult but ice makes things downright dangerous :( Be careful!
DeleteThis is so cool, I did not know any of it. Must be a lot of work though.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking exactly that and then read your last sentence :-)
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that your goatie would allow you to brush him/her. Love that he's able to eat the invasive plants without your having to use chemicals. Goats are very useful :)
ReplyDeleteIt takes lots of patience (and sometimes frequent short sessions) but most of them enjoy or at least tolerate gentle combing. It can be kind of a meditative bonding time. :)
DeleteI never knew how cashmere was harvested, Quinn. What a process.
ReplyDeleteGosh had no idea it was so manually time consuming to harvest the cashmere..........I assumed it would be a shearing like sheep.
ReplyDeleteHope that the chill winds keep the undercoat firmly where it is for now, hate to think that black goat will end up with a chill! lol
I know...I'd feel silly putting a scarf on a goat. And besides, she would probably expect a cashmere scarf! :)
DeleteBeautiful puffs of cloud you are about to comb! :)
ReplyDeleteSo here is the thing...
I have a basket of goaty fibre undercoat generously provide by one of our Boer girls last spring, is this cashmere too or a different type of fibre?
The other question is..how on earth does one remove all of the individual outer hairs from the cloud harvest? Tweezers? We parted ways with our goats last week and I would love to make something from the fibre I have sitting here. Any ideas?
Technical definitions of cashmere vary somewhat, I think. The Eastern (US) Cashmere Association webpage has a brief description of "what exactly makes this fiber 'cashmere'?" (scroll down) and for more info, check out the "Standards" page.
Deletehttp://easterncashmereassociation.org/cashmere-industry/
A couple of goat people on rav have mentioned cleaning small amounts of cashmere by hand, but I haven't tried it. And several people have mentioned spinning goat undercoat (whether it's technically "cashmere" or not, I don't know) so if you have fiber you like, it may be worth giving it a go? If you do a search on rav and come up empty, let me know and I'll try to find the posts for you - I'd love to see your experiments!
Thanks Quinn!
DeleteOh I do love posts like these ... lovely jubbly fiber harvested by someone who cares about how it's done.
ReplyDeletePlease don't even consider shearing your goats! You end up with way too much guard hair, and if you send it to a mill to be dehaired, it costs a lot more! Not to mention the cashmere has to be run through the machine more times, possibly shortening the fibers. I know this first hand, since I have a machine and I've dehaired quite a bit of shorn cashmere. Not cost effective for the producer at all. Plus, it takes a lot more time to dehair shorn as opposed to combed. Then there is the fact that you have a bald goat that feels very exposed to the world, and cold. :(
ReplyDeleteAlso to the comment above about the fiber off the boer goat:, if it's at least an inch and a half long, and the micron count is under 19, it's cashmere. It probably is cashmere, I had some boer/nubian crosses a few years ago that had excellent cashmere! Anyway, even tho shearing only takes a few minutes compared to an hour or more spent combing, it's better for the goat and your pocketbook to comb. ☺
Thanks for sharing this info, Ann! I admit I have never considered shearing my goats, but that decision was made from the goat-comfort angle than from any processing issues. Now I can understand the negative processing aspects from someone who knows firsthand.
DeleteI think the micron count is one thing that varies a bit; the ECA calls for 18.5 instead of the industry standard of 19, but I don't know if it's lower (or higher) anywhere else.
Again, thanks!