The Rocking Yak goes to great lengths to bring you the very best yak down fiber on the market. From Yak to Yarn learn how we make our yarn.

 

Our yak down fiber comes from Western China’s Tibet Plateau. Averaging twelve thousand feet in altitude our yak down is home grown in the foothills of the Himalayas. Yaks at these altitudes produce the very best down fiber the market has to offer. The fiber is collected from the yaks by gathering the raw fiber as the animals shed their undercoat naturally in the spring months.

We purchase our down fibers from a local factory that buy the raw down fiber from nomad yak herders. This factory uses expensive machines that clean, card and separate the yak down fibers so our yarn is completely de-haired.

We purchase the very best of those fibers to ensure the softest product possible. With an average micron count of 15-18 our yak down is as soft and fine as cashmere but much more rare.

When the wools arrive in the Tibetan area where we are working, a place called Shangri-La (yeah, I’m not kidding) we separate the wool into three kilos bags and distribute it to the five Tibetan villages we are currently working in.

These women spend the winter months spinning the wool into yarn.  To do this, the women use a drop spindle and bowl.  This creates a yarn that is unique in the inconsistent "thick and thin" pattern that is characteristic of hand-spun yarns.

They take care to work the fiber into a luxurious yarn that can be brought to the western market place.

All of the spinning is done in the homes of these women in order to preserve the family unit, which is tradition in the Tibetan culture.

Then in the spring, The Rocking Yak returns to these villages to collect the completed yarn for inspection.

It is then measured by length and weight, and balled by hand into sable balls and labeled to make ready for the market place.

Along with the unique properties of yak down, our yarn is hand spun. The yarn is available in fine, medium, and bulky weight. Currently the yarn comes in two colors, natural brown, and white. We will always strive to bring you the very best product possible that is our grantee.