Herders to Home 2025: Luxury Mongolian Yarn and Fiber

Backerkit is OPEN!
8 months ago – Fri, Jul 25, 2025 at 08:44:27 AM

Hey Everybody,

Very soon you should be receiving your invites to Backerkit the email you used to sign up for Kickstarter. If you haven't received it by Saturday, please check your Spam folders. If it's still not there, please send me an email at [email protected] from the email used on Kickstarter and we'll get it worked out. Additionally, you can go to this link and get another survey link.

I forgot to mention this during the campaign, but if you used an privaterelay/appleID email, please email me and let me know. Otherwise, you won't get your Backerkit survey and other updates.

All Colors and Options

Between past production's inventory and all the colors and weights we have available, here's a cheat sheet that shows the available colors and options. At the end of the update, I will have all of the color sheets that show color swatches of the available colors as well.

I try to only offer past options that will have enough inventory to not run out during Backerkit, but it's possible that some past production options may sell out during the campaign. Past production items are marked with an asterisk *

Cones (and switching to and from them)

Yarn on cones is only available for 2025 production and is marked as such on the cheat sheet. If you would like to order from past production, you will need to choose the skein packages. If you need to change your pledge, you can do so on the welcome page to your Backerkit survey. 

Directly below the green "Get Started" button, there is a link to "Switch your Pledge Level". After clicking that, you can switch the equivalent skein package where you will be able to choose options from past years.

This process also works in reverse if you selected a skein package and would like to switch to have your yarn on a cone instead.

Selecting Options for Skein Packages

Because you can mix and match your skeins for a skein package, you will be asked what seems like the same question multiple times. For example, if you choose a 4x Yak Wool Skein package, you will be asked 4 times to choose your yarn weight and color. If you get confused about where you're at and what you've selected, your selections will be listed on the right side of the screen.

When selecting additional skein packages in the add-on page, you will be asked to select your colors and weights for the additional skeins much in the same way AFTER leaving the add-on page. It'll work out, just keep clicking next!

Early Lock Dates for Fiber, Cones, and Hand-Dyed Black

As these either need to be pulled before dyeing, before spinning, or before plying, I will be stopping orders for spinning fiber, cones, and Black on August 15th.

All other orders will be locked October 1st, and credit cards will be charged for additional addons on October 14th. All of your Kickstarter purchases and pledges have already been charged, so there will only be additional fees if you add on extra items in Backerkit.

But I think that's about it! If you have any issues with your survey, please send me an email at [email protected]. If you need to get back to your survey and lost the invite email, you can get another through this link.

THANK YOU ALL! I will have more updates of production and fiber coming in the next update. Have fun in Backerkit!

-Jon

Update #4 - Final 24 Hours, Dark Blue Yak, Hand-Dyed Black Expectations, Backerkit
9 months ago – Thu, Jul 10, 2025 at 08:08:24 AM

Hey Everybody,

I wanted to squeeze in one last update for the last 24 hours of the campaign to fill you in about the new yak color and some expectations for the hand-dyed black incase anybody wants to switch up their rewards.

Here's the vlog update for those interested:

What's Next - Backerkit

Two weeks after the campaign ends, I'll send you an invite to your account on Backerkit. Backerkit is a website that makes it easier for people to manage their Kickstarter pledges. All of the information reguarding the reward you selected on Kickstarter will be imported there. You will click through some questions to select your yarn colors and weights, as well as add on any extra items (at the same Kickstarter prices). You will also add detailed shipping information for me to send you your items.

It might sound confusing if you've never done it before, but it's very easy to navigate. It's very similar to any other online shopping experience. 

Other than that, we've still got a bit of time before production starts in earnest, but it seems like most of our cashmere is going to be ready for dyeing and spinning by the beginning of August, and most of the yak, camel, and sheep wool will be ready for spinning by the beginning of September. I'll do my best to get videos and pictures of the washing, dyeing, and spinning!

Hand-Dyed Black Expectations

After doing some more testing, I wanted to be a bit more clear about what to expect (or what not to expect) for the hand-dyed black option. In short, I would not expect it to be completely and consistently solid black, and I also wouldn't expect it to be streaky. I would expect something between a vintage black and a solid black, but not 100% consistent from skein to skein. I think it will be great for single skein projects, but you may run into consistency issues in larger, multi-skein projects.

I'll be dyeing the yarn in 400g batches. In one recent example, I did two skeins of camel (one fingering, one DK), one skein of sheep wool, and one skein of cashmere. One skein of the camel (the DK) had some slight shadowing to it. The others seemed to be dyed consistently.

Here are some cell phone photos of the skeins and a swatch. These are well lit, and rather bright. Shadowing is more obvious the more light there is. 

I guess in short, please do not select the black if you have very specific expectations for the uniformity or depth of black, either in a single skein or especially between skeins. My goal is consistent, dark, solid blacks, and as I narrow in on my system for high-output dyeing, results may be more consistent, or they might not! Please keep that in mind when selecting options in Backerkit.

Blue Dyed on Dark Chocolate Yak

Results are in! Thank you for everybody that participated, but we will be making the dark blue. Still need a name for this one... Midnight Navy? Twilight Navy?

It's definitely dark and quite dependent on the lighting it's in. We'll see how 'dark' our dark chocolate is this year. If it's much darker than our sample, we might add some milk chocolate or gray in there to make sure we still get a decent blue from the fiber.

The red, teal, and green were close behind in the results. We should have some good choices for next year as well.

Yak Wool Development in Mongolia

A bit related to dyeing on the dark chocolate, I wanted to continue to share about the last trip I made to the countryside. (One of the sections I think is better told through video. Here's the direct timestamp for the section if you'd like to watch it.)

On the last stop of the trip, I visited Nyambuu, who has goats, yaks, cows, and sheep. In the past, we had procured yak wool from a cooperative she was involved with. It's a bit of a tradition in Mongolian culture to bring small gifts to families when visiting, especially in the countryside. Usually it's small things like candies, drinks, fruits, and maybe toys or other similar things if the family has children.

During my trip, I was field testing some of the hats I've been making, and had given a few as gifts. I had one make from yak wool that came from the yak wool that her cooperative had provided, so it was fun to give back. I think it might have been a bit small though!

She is also very skilled at making dairy products, especially aaruul, which is like a dried curd. In the summer, dairy products (like aaruul) are a huge part of the diet in the countryside. She has entered and won many competitions for different dairy products, from her aaruul to cakes.

Here's a quick video of some of the processing, although this is a different type/style at a different family:

A bit rambling, but she's wonderful and makes some wonderful and beautiful products. She's also a knitter! I had some skeins with me for product photography, but since she was the last stop on the travels I was able to leave some.

But something that I learned through this trip is that a lot of herders don't harvest their yak wool. In her and her husband's case (and many others) it takes more time and energy to brush yaks compared to goats, and the price of the fiber also isn't as high

Connecting markets of buyers to the herders is also an issue, and this is where (good) cooperatives help. If there aren't reliable cooperatives that can connect herders to consistent buyers, herders don't have anywhere to sell their fiber. 

I put the 'good' in parenthesis because it seems that yak wool markets aren't as efficient as cashmere markets are, at least in the sense that prices are stable or easy to predict. I've been in the situation many times where the cooperative offers a price and we make contracts and give deposits, only for the price to go up later. This results in the cooperative taking a loss, or me paying more. It's always been the latter, but there's something more difficult about yak wool markets than other fiber markets, or the management of yak wool cooperatives isn't as good.

When cooperatives offer a price but don't accurately predict transportation or processing costs, it can result in a loss like any other business. This could also reduce the remittance to the herders for the remaining balance of the fiber they sold.

In the future, I plan to increase the offer price for yak wool purchases as it doesn't seem like the current market is in equilibrium.

I think it leads a bit into a wider conversation about sustainability in Mongolia, but we'll leave that for another (or a few other) updates as the campaign goes on!

Closing

But that's it from me! You'll hear from me again in two weeks when Backerkit opens up. In the meantime, feel free to send an email to [email protected] or leave a comment with any questions.

If you'd like to switch your reward, you can visit the project page and click "Manage your pledge." From there, you can select "Change your pledge," and choose a new reward tier.

THANK YOU!

-Jon

Update #3 - Adding a Dyed Dark Yak Color, Hand-Dyed Black Trials and Tribulations
9 months ago – Sun, Jun 29, 2025 at 04:04:41 AM

Hey Everybody,

As we've passed our last stretch goal, I wanted to send out an update. I also decided to add one color of yak wool dyed from the dark chocolate base as there seemed to be quite a bit of support after showing off some options the last update. We've also reached our last stretch goal for hand-dyed black yarn. More info on both of these in this update!

For those that have recently joined the campaign, please do catch up on the project by reading the first two updates, especially if you are new to Kickstarter (and ULA+LIA). This will answer many of the questions you might have about choosing colors, weights, Backerkit, or other questions about the campaign in general.

Update 1

Update 2

Here's the vlog version of the update for those interested:

Click HERE for the link to the dyed dark yak color survey.

General Update

All good in the hood over here! Not a whole lot to update on production quite yet. Our warm gray cashmere has been dyed to Oxblood, but still waiting for everything else. Our yak wool is in town and is waiting for washing, which will still be a while. Other than that, not a lot to report with fiber, but this is as expected.

As all stretch colors are unlocked, here are the final list of available colors:

Cashmere - Natural Vanilla, Oxblood, Desert Sage, Midnight Ash

Camel Wool - Natural Brown/Red, Juniper Shadow, Dark Harbor Blue

Yak Wool - Natural Platinum Gray, Natural Milk Chocolate, Burnt Sienna, Dyed Dark Yak (TBD)

Sheep Wool - Natural Stone Fleece, Lilac Mist, Autumn Teal

Please check the campaign for the color pictures/swatches!

Dyed Dark Yak

After the feedback received last update when posting about the dyeing experiments I did with the dark chocolate yak as a base, I decided to add one option for this year. As a short recap, we generally use milk chocolate yak wool as a base for dyeing, but dark chocolate is by far the most available yak wool color. By finding more use for the dark color as a dye base, we can expand the use of wool for herders and make our sourcing a bit easier.

I did a few more experiments, and here are some more colors I pulled from the dark yak as a base. 

I will say though that all of these colors are DARK. When in shadows, the color doesn't show much. The color comes out substantially more when playing with the light. Which one do you like most? Let me know on the survey HERE! 

Hand-Dyed Black

We've unlocked the final stretch goal here and will be making hand-dyed black yarn in the natural fiber bases we're making (Vanilla Cashmere, Milk Chocolate yak, Dark Brown/Red Camel Wool, Sheep/Yak Blend) in Fingering and DK weight.

The testing and learning curve for this has been a bit more difficult than expected! The vlog really shows this better and it starts at the 6:18 mark, but I'd like to share my thoughts on this and some of the issues I've gotten through (and perhaps anticipate going forward).

When I first did some preliminary tests with rather small fiber amounts, I had pretty good results on all bases. Here's a quick video of some dyeing and how they came out:

When moving up to larger amounts and full skeins, I started running into some issues. 

The largest equipment I have is enough to dye about 1kg of yarn at a time, but I found out that the heating elements I have don't have enough power to heat that much water (around 20 liters). In a small apartment, managing a huge pot of hot water that's 20kg (45 pounds) probably isn't the smartest thing to do either. But when dyeing, I wasn't getting even dye absoption because the water wasn't holding temperature, probably in addition to some other techincal problems.

Kind of a cool look, but not something I'd ever deliver to customers.

After moving back to my smaller equipment that can heat properly, I also made a mistake of tying hanks too tightly. This caused issues in not getting dye absorption where I had the ties. Using zipties instead of wool yarn as ties probably exacerbated the issue:

So another lesson learned there! Although this dye 'technique' did end up making a pretty interesting fabric when I used the yarn to make a hat.

But obviously, still not black. In the end, I finally made the needed adjustments and got a final black on some sheep wool I'm happy with. Here's a skein all labeled up:

In the end, we have black, and a black that I'm happy with delivering. That being said, depending on how much demand there is for this color, I may have to find somewhere in UB that can hopefully dye yarn in hanks. If I have to do something like 40 or 50kg at home, it might be a bit much, especially if I can't consistently get results I'm satisfied with.

Final Words/Warnings About Hand-Dyed Black

I don't know in general how consistent dyes will be batch to batch. I'd expect there to be variations, and I wouldn't expect to be able to make multi-skein projects without at least having to alternate skeins between rows. I don't expect the yarn to be perfectly uniform like it is with our other colors. Depending on demand, there is a chance I attempt to have them dyed somewhere that can do hank dyeing. Please keep that in mind if you select it as an option!

But I think that's about it! Here are some yaks doing yak things in the countryside:

Feel free to leave a message or send an email to [email protected] if you have any questions. If you'd like to select more than one reward, you will be able to do so after the campaign ends in Backerkit, which is where you will also select your yarn weights and colors.

If you'd like to switch your reward, you can visit the project page and click "Manage your pledge." From there, you can select "Change your pledge," and choose a new reward tier.

You'll hear from me again around the end of the campaign!

THANK YOU!

-Jon

New Baby Cashmere Option, Yak Wool Dye Samples, and Cashmere Trip Update!
10 months ago – Fri, Jun 13, 2025 at 04:10:05 AM

Hey Everybody,

Two weeks in and wanted to send out an update. Here's a video update for those interested in watching along that includes all the photos and videos from the update, but I'll still have everything written out for those that prefer reading.

Adding Another Baby Cashmere Option

One of the things I'm quite excited about this season is the baby cashmere option. It's a little bit tricky because eventhough I ordered more of this than any other color, I can't pull from other colors to add more to the baby cashmere if demand ends up being quite high. For example, we're making juniper and dark harbor blue camel wool. If juniper is much more popular than the blue, I can make less of the blue and more of the juniper. Not possible with the baby cashmere.

This has led me to being a bit cagey about the baby cashmere because I don't want to hype it up too much! I don't think I can say the exact fashion houses that source the same baby cashmere, but if you search for the Italian brands selling baby cashmere sweaters for $2500+, it's the same fiber! So it's going to be awesome. I was starting to get slightly stressed after the huge response to the launch of our campaign and decided to add more to my order. 

Although the sourcing from the original batch is finished, another one of the cooperatives in our coop network has a 70% baby cashmere, 30% cashmere (from female goats) blend.

All things being equal, usually the finer a fiber, the shorter the fiber as well. Although the 100% baby cashmere will be the softest, I can't say for sure it will be as durable as our other cashmere. In theory, the 70/30 blend should give the best of both worlds, so I'm excited to see how this all turns out. And we're going to have plenty! We almost definitely would have been fine without having some extra fiber, but I'll sleep a little easier not having it sitting in the back of my mind until backerkit opens. And I'll have another coop to visit this summer!

Cashmere Trip Update

Last week I went to Arhangai Province and visited a few families that we get our warm gray cashmere from. It was a great trip in a beautiful area (and people). Here's a few photos!

Here are a couple of the black goes that provide the warm gray cashmere, although I think both of these were born just this spring, so they won't give cashmere until next year.

I didn't know that this was the breed in the Arhangai region. It's generally more popular in the northern region of the country near Huvsgul Lake, which is a quite popular tourist destination. Apparently it's being used a bit further south because it's know for it's soft and supple cashmere.

The name of the goat breed is called "Erchimiin Har". The 'Har' means "black" in Mongolian. As for the first word, Erchim can be translated to 'powerful' or 'energetic' and I thought that's where the name came from, as I've also heard the black goat breeds are a bit more hearty. I asked ChatGPT to confirm, and it told me first that Erchim is the name of a region up North (near the lake I mentioned) and is the name of a small tributary to a larger river in that same region. That being said, I can't find it on any maps, so I don't know that I completely trust ChatGPT on the meaning. I'll try to find out more about the 'Erchimiin Har Goat' lore!

I'll share more about this trip in the next update.

Dyeing on Dark Chocolate Yak Wool

This year our Burnt Sienna is being dyed on our milk chocolate brown base. We've never dyed before on the dark chocolate base. I always knew that gray wool was the most rare, but I didn't know that the lighter brown yaks were also relatively more rare. In total, about 80% of yaks are black, producing the dark chocolate wool.

As we made the natural dark chocolate last year, I didn't reserve any dark chocolate for this season. I was asked by the cooperative why I didn't order the dark, as that's what most of the wool is. After my explanation, it got me thinking and I did some experimenting with dyeing on the dark base. What do you think? It almost certainly wouldn't be for this year, but are these colors you'd wear in the future? If we could use more of the dark yak wool, it would be a lot better for the herders and make it easier to source our fiber.

I made a red (with cashmere dyed on warm gray base in the same bath for reference)

And I did a blue as well, with a white sheep wool swatch in the same dye bath for reference. At first I thought it turned out just black, but as it dried it started to show color. In low lighting or shade, it still looks rather black.

Here's everything together:

So not for this year, but maybe next? The red could definitely replace the mahogany yak we currently have in stock.

Questions, Comments, Concerns?

Feel free to leave a message or send an email to [email protected] if you have any questions. If you'd like to select more than one reward, you will be able to do so after the campaign ends in Backerkit, which is where you will also select your yarn weights and colors.

If you'd like to switch your reward, you can visit the project page and click "Manage your pledge." From there, you can select "Change your pledge," and choose a new reward tier.

In the next update I'll have some videos of dyeing our different fibers BLACK for those interested in the $150,000 stretch goal. 

THANK YOU!

-Jon

P.S. This baby yak is my spirit animal

We're funded! And we're already processing our cashmere!
10 months ago – Mon, Jun 02, 2025 at 06:29:51 AM

Hey Everybody,

A big thank you to everybody that joined us for the launch and helped us meet our funding goal in just a few hours! This project truly wouldn't be possible without the funding needed to secure our fiber purchases each year. I'm excited for another campaign!

Vlog Update

Would you prefer watching an update rather than reading it? I cover everything written here in the video if you'd prefer that format. I include the videos of the factory in the video as well. Otherwise, you're not missing anything by reading along!

Addons, Extra Orders, and Backerkit

There were a few questions about adding on extra items. Kickstarter only allows people to select one reward. To get around this, we use a service called "Backerkit". After the campaign ends, you'll get an invite to Backerkit where you will choose your yarn colors, weights, and provide your full shipping address. In Backerkit, you'll also have the option to add yarn packages, spinning fiber, and other items if you'd like, and they will be at the same prices as on Kickstarter.

A Note About Cones

As cones are a new addition this year, I'd just like to restate that cones will only be available for the colors and fibers we produce this year in DK and Fingering weights. If you'd like the items from past stock (as noted on the color sheets in the campaign) please choose the non-cone packages. In the non-cone packages, you'll also be able to mix and match your colors and weights to make up the pack, so please choose that option if you'd like more than one color.

A Trip to Yak Land

Last week I went on a trip through the Gobi to see the people and animals that we get our camel wool and some of our cashmere from. The original plan was to also go to the highland regions from where we get the rest of our cashmere and yak wool, but we ran out of time, so we're visiting them this week. I'll either be back in Ulaanbaatar on Friday or Sunday. I may be slightly out of signal until then, so I appoligize in advance if I fall a little bit behind on messages. I think I should mostly be in areas with signal though. I'm looking forward to sharing pictures and videos from the trip!

Cashmere Dehairing

Cashmere processing happens first and quickly! We're already processing the warm gray cashmere that we'll be using as a base to dye our Oxblood. I missed the washing (but I'll get some videos of that when we process our camel wool and yak wool) but we're in the next step of dehairing. Here are some videos and pictures!

Before washing and dehairing, there's also hand sorting that takes place. Large chunks of guardhair, fiber of the wrong color, and debris is thrown away before the washing. 

I'd like to mention that this isn't cashmere from our cooperatives. It's actually quite a bit heavier with debris, guard hair, and dandruff than what we receive from the herders we work with. A cleaner raw material makes processing easier, creates a higher quality and more consistent final fiber, and increases the yeild (and therefore price) for the herders. It's a direct result from the organization and training from the cooperative programs.

So that's it! I turned out having more to share than I expected for the first update. If you need to change your pledge, you can do so by visiting the project page and clicking the “Manage your pledge" button. On the following page, select "Change your pledge", then select your new reward.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions! Email is usually best at [email protected].

THANK YOU!

-Jon