Camel and yak: the fibres beyond cashmere

Cashmere is our signature fibre, but it is not the only one on the floor. We also process sheep wool, camel, yak and custom blends.

Camel and yak in particular are worth understanding, because they behave identically in the spinning mill and completely differently in the dye house — and that difference decides whether either fibre fits your range.

Identical in the yarn, different in colour

Camel and yak run the same counts:

Note that 22/2 belongs to camel and yak alone — sheep wool stops at 16/1, and cashmere is spun two-ply at 26/2 and as singles at 14.5/1 and 16/1. The 22/2 count therefore identifies the fibre on sight; the finer counts do not, so always state fibre and count together.

The colour question

This is where the two diverge sharply, and it is the thing to settle before you design.

Our standard card runs to 81 colourways. That full range applies to fibres that scour to near-white — cashmere, sheep wool, and our blends. Camel and yak both start coloured.

Camel — the full card, with a step

Camel is a warm tan in its natural state, but it can be brought to white first. From white it reaches the whole 81-shade card and any Pantone beyond it. The extra step is quoted with the colour.

So camel is not colour-limited — it is cost-limited. You can have any shade you want; you just pay for the bleaching stage to get there. If your palette is pale or bright, budget for it.

Yak — genuinely limited

Yak down is naturally brown, and dye can only take it darker. There is no route to white.

Yak therefore runs to seven colourways: four natural browns, plus Black, Dark Navy and Charcoal. That is the complete list, and no amount of budget extends it.

This is the single most useful fact about yak for a designer. If your range needs yak in a mid-tone or a colour, it cannot be done. If your range is dark, yak is an excellent and distinctive choice.

Both fibres are also offered undyed in their natural tones — which, for camel in particular, is often the more interesting option. A natural camel piece has a colour no dye lot reproduces.

Choosing between them

• Your palette is pale, bright or specific. Camel, with the bleaching step quoted in. Yak is out.
• Your palette is black, navy, charcoal or brown. Yak works directly and skips the extra step.
• You want a natural, undyed story. Both, in their own tones — and this is the route with the shortest lead time, since no dyeing is involved.
• You want the finest hand available. Cashmere, at 15–16.5 micron.

Minimums and lead times are unchanged

Camel and yak follow the same commercial rules as everything else. In a colour we stock, garment minimums start at 10 pieces per size, per colour. If the colour has to be produced, the minimum is 100 kg of yarn in a single fibre and colour.

Note the phrase single fibre. A 100 kg lot cannot be split across camel and yak — they are separate lots, each with its own minimum. A range using both fibres in produced colours starts at 200 kg.

Lead times also follow the standard pattern: yarn ships immediately from stock, or takes about a month to produce. Where camel needs bleaching before dyeing, expect that step to sit inside the produced-colour window rather than alongside it; exact timing is confirmed at quotation.

Blends

Our current standard blend is 70% wool / 30% cashmere, and we develop others to specification.

Blended yarn is never stocked. It is made to order every time, at a minimum of 100 kg per blend, per colour, and dyeing adds a further one to two weeks.

Testing

Composition and blend ratio are tested at an accredited laboratory at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology as standard, alongside fibre identity and fineness, yarn count and twist, and colourfastness. For a multi-fibre blend this matters more than for a single fibre, because the declared ratio is exactly the thing an importing authority will ask you to evidence.

Sampling

A fibre sample is $25 and a 100 g yarn swatch $50, both shipping immediately from stock; larger cone quantities are quoted on request. For camel and yak, a fibre sample is genuinely worth ordering before you design — the natural tones are difficult to judge on screen, and for yak the natural browns are most of the available palette.

Send your fibre, count and colour requirements through the quote request and we will respond within two working days.

Related guides

• Cashmere yarn counts explained: what Nm 26/2 means
• Combed, not sheared — and what 15–16.5 micron means

See also camel yarn, yak yarn, and the colour card.