Afghanistan Cashmere

Afghanistan Cashmere provides women the opportunity to work in war-torn Afghanistan. The yarn is spun by Afghan women from their homes and they are paid a fair wage for their labor. So, in between doing house chores, dealing with kids and getting dinner on the table, they are spinning raw cashmere into beautiful skeins of hand-knitting yarn. Some of them are even using a drop spindle! It can take up to 5 days to get through one kilo.

In the Early Fall 2012 edition of Vogue Knitting, there is a great article about what it takes to get cashmere from the goat to people like Kate Spade, J. Crew and handknitters like you. “Afghanistan may be the third largest cashmere producer in the world but first somebody had to tell the shepherds.” and then get them the production machinery and then find a way to get the word out.

It is cashmere, so of course it is soft and warm.  We often think of cashmere as elegant and fragile, but this has been handspun in only natural shades so there is an earthy richness and durability to it as well.

I’ve made a pair of fingerless gloves with a simple cable which I love.  My next project will be a lace cardigan, because this yarn is really worth the investment.