Knitch Magazine

You can trek around town in your $2,000 Nano...or turn heads on the highway in a $1.7 million Bugatti Veyron.

You can run to the store in your everyday Keds...or walk the red carpet in $50,000 diamond-studded Air Force 1 Supreme Max runners by Nike.

You can keep comfortably cosy in an $8 acrylic sweater...or be cuddled and caressed by the exquisite softness and warmth of Vicuna.

Whichever you choose, one maxim always applies: Luxury has its price. For knitters, that price can be as high as $300 per ball. That's the cost of just 28.5 grams of Vicuna, the most expensive -- and considered the most luxurious -- fiber on earth.

Photo left: Vincuna is the most precious fiber on earth.

Many knitters wonder why certain yarns cost what seems to be an outrageous amount. And, more than that, they wonder who on earth would ever buy these fibers?! You may be surprised to know it isn't only the wealthiest among us who treat ourselves to such luxuries. A lot of knitters save up to buy their one cherished ball of luxury yarn from which they create an heirloom. So what might be an insanely pricey extravagance to some becomes a timeless investment for others.

Why do these fibers cost so much? There are several factors involved including availability of the fibers, the processes by which the yarns are actually created, and the regions in which they are manufactured. A lot of the quality wool yarns are produced and manufactured in the UK, Europe and Canada so you're paying Western rates that can be fairly expensive. These prices are tempered, however, by the economy that results from an increasing amount of mechanization and the commoditization of sheep and goat wools. Acrylic fibers that come from China are made with synthetic materials by workers who earn far less than the typical North American or European, so these fibers cost less. But for the luxury fibers like qiviut, the raw materials are very rare with only a few thousand kilos of yarn being produced each year, the fleeces are harvested by people living in the northern regions of the continent where the cost of living is extraordinarily high, and the delicate fibers must be processed and spun by hand in order to preserve their quality.

Fernando Alvarez of Jacques Cartier Clothiers tells us, "If you mechanized the process in the pursuit of lower cost, you would compromise the quality of the fiber."

Luxury yarns inspires knitters of every skill level

When asked why she chose to produce luxury yarns, Iris Schreir, who is known for her top-of-the-line creations from Artyarns tells us, "I've chosen to specialize in this area because I believe that the yarns Artyarns produces will drive excitement and inspire more people to knit."

Photo right: Iris Schreier presents her Artyarns creations.

"It's something I've seen time and time again--a positive outcome with a lovely luxury yarn will inspire the knitter to come back for more, even if it is just for one-skein projects," She says. " I want people to see our yarns in a yarn shop, perhaps not buy them immediately, but have dreams about what can be made with them. Then, they'll return to purchase them because they can't get them out of their minds. That is true excitement, and what is needed to sustain the craft in this world where there is so much noise and competition for leisure time."

Natalie Redding, who is a shepherdess as well as a yarn producer at her own Namaste Farms says, "The one thing I can say about expensive yarns is that if you use beautiful yarn, you don't have to be a great knitter to produce a fantastic knitted item. The colors and textures that come from handspun yarn like the ones I produce make stockinette stitch look regal and garter stitch look incredibly organic instead of common."

These two renowned fiber artists who have entirely different approaches and styles agree on one key point: If it doesn't feel and look utterly amazing, it isn't a luxury yarn.

Quality from the beginning

Yarns that bear the heftiest price tags are typically produced using rare fibers, and are always produced to the highest standards. Natalie Redding, of Namaste Farms, tells us that, "Value in yarns should be determined by quality of fleece and method of processing. That is, rare breeds versus commercial breeds, and commercial fiber processing versus hand processed or hand spun. The value of raw fiber greatly increases the cost of the finished yarn."

Photo left: Natalie Redding spins yarn using the fleece from her award-winning goats and sheep.

Iris Schreier, who sources the finest quality fibers to create her exquisite yarns for Artyarns agrees, "The true luxury yarn is a pure yarn that is spun from the finest fiber and hand-painted lovingly to make it a special experience for the senses."

In other words, this isn't your mass-produced, commercial yarn. This is something rare and beautiful.

Those rare fibers that are considered most luxurious include the ultra expensive Vicuna, guanaco, qiviuk, silk, cashmere, mohair and even certain sheep wools. These fibers are rare, soft, warm, light and beautiful to look at.

That's why patterns for these very expensive yarns don't have to be fussy and intricate. The quality of the yarn is so overwhelming that even the simplest design looks absolutely breathtaking. The drape, the feel, the way it shimmers in the light; you can always tell when someone is wearing one of the more elegant fibers...even if it's used in a plain garter knit scarf or a simple t-shirt style pullover.

Fabric of the Gods

You won't find a more expensive fiber than vicuna. It's softer, lighter and warmer than anything else on earth and at 16 to 18 microns it's the finest fiber that can be spun. To put it this way, a human hair is 8 times thicker than the light, delicate vicuna fiber. It would be heresy to dye such a delicate fiber, so any vicuna yarn or fabric will bear the natural tan color of the animal.

So rare is this fleece that in ancient times only royalty were permitted to wear it. In the 1970s, vicuna was on the United Nations Endangered species list when its entire population had dwindled to about 5,000 animals. Today, thanks to magnificent conservation efforts in South America, that number has grown to over 160,000 vicunas in Peru alone. Today, the small camelids that are related to alpaca, live happily on the grasslands and plains in the high Andes in Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. But they don't like to be confined and they run very quickly, so harvesting the wool is difficult.

As if the small numbers of the animals weren't enough to make the fiber expensive, each animal produces just one pound wool each year -- and it can take 25 to 30 animals to produce one gentleman's overcoat (photo right). That overcoat, by the way, would cost about $20,000. It will likely be handed down from generation to generation and grow softer as time goes by. This isn't a fleeting fad. It's an investment for years to come.

Fernando Alvarez knows how cherished a garment of vicuna will be. A native of Peru, Fernando comes from the Cuzco region where Incas once raised the animals. Today, from his headquarters in Canada, Fernando uses their fiber for clothing that is found in elite boutiques, and for the Windy Valley Muskox brand of yarn that is sold throughout North America.

Fernando is committed to social responsibility -- not only protecting the animals whose coats provide fibers but also providing an income to the native peoples who harvest them. His company is involved in every part of the process, from cultivating the fibers to transforming them into a refined yarn, overseeing the weaving and crafting of garments in his own facility, and ultimately distributing garments to discerning shoppers worldwide through his company, Jacques Cartier Clothing, Inc.

Photo left: These sweet, skittish animals produce the most luxurious fiber on earth.

Responsibility and sustainability are of utmost importance to Fernando. "We are a small company with a large commitment to these values," he says of his organization that not only specializes in vicuna, but qiviut and guanaco as well.

Guanaco, the second-most expensive yarn you can buy, also comes from a member of the camelid family. The guanaco is a small animal, growing to about four feet high, but it has a thick, woolly coat that is finer than even the highest quality cashmere. It's another exotic fiber that is never dyed but is kept in its virgin state even when blended with other fibers such as merino wool and silk.

Qiviut (called "qiviuq" by the Inuialuit tribe who gather it) is harvested from the soft, downy underbelly of the muskox, enormous beasts that have thundered through the tundra for over 600,000 years now. Native to northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland, the global population of the musk ox is just about 180,000.

Photo right: The enormous beasts that produce soft, sumptuous qiviut stand in a line up when they are threatened.

Finer than cashmere and warmer than wool, qiviut naturally falls to the ground in soft gray clouds as the animal naturally sheds. Each muskox drops fewer than five pounds of qiviut each year, and about 50% of those fibers are lost in processing as the pointed guard hairs are removed. All that remains is a soft, light and ultra-warm fiber that is spun into one of the most coveted yarns available.With an annual production of just 4400 pounds (2000 kg) this is among the rarest natural fibers in the world.

Just one ball of vicuna, guanaco or qiviut can become a treasured piece that enhances any wardrobe. Jacques Cartier creates beautiful, lacy patterns for those who want to experience the sensory exhilaration of working with one of these utterly elegant fibers.

Photo left: Windy Valley Qiviut is available in a rich selection of colors.

Soft, sumptuous silk

Originally produced in China as far back as 2600 BCE, silk remains one of the most popular luxury fibers today. Its production techniques were kept secret for almost three thousand years until silkworm eggs and mulberry bushes -- upon which the silkworms feast -- were smuggled out of China in 300 CE. The secret passed from Persian monks to the Roman Empire in 522 CE, and after silk was finally produced internationally.

Man's first attempts at developing synthetic materials were a feeble attempt to reproduce the luxurious qualities of silk. And try as they might, they have yet to produce any fiber as sensually seductive as the original.

There are many varieties of silk yarns available, but none are more beautiful than those produced by Artyarns' Iris Schreier.

"Silk is an incredible yarn to knit with," she says. "It takes to the body's temperature and keeps you warm in the winter and cool in the summer, because it is always just right."

"This property makes it the yarn of choice for the most incredibly beautiful garments," Iris says. "We offer two options in silk, both Regal Silk and Silk Pearl. Regal silk is an open single-ply yarn, which is a well-priced silk perfect for all garments. We highly recommend Silk Pearl for special occasions, with its chain construction that give it that crisp clean hand that never pills."

If simple, pure silk weren't enough, Iris has found a way to make it even more luxurious. She creates a 60% kid mohair and 40% silk mix, which gives an amazing halo with a silk core. It's soft and warm, without having the "itch" factor that often mohair with less silk or with nylon can have.

Photo right: Artyarns produces exquisite yarns using cashmere, mohair, and silk.

"Artyarns combines the fibers in unique combinations," Iris tells us. Her company offers Silk Rhapsody (a Silk Mohair combined with Regal Silk) and Ensemble (Cashmere 1 Ply combined with Regal Silk).

"We also add embellishments for true top-of-the line luxury," Iris says. "Our most popular yarn for embellishments is the Silk Mohair, which is combined with a strand of beads and sequins to make Beaded Mohair and Sequins, or a strand of interval spaced beads and sequins for Mohair Splash, or a strand of just beads, for Beaded Mohair."

Every Artyarns yarn is crafted to the highest quality, and then hand-dyed by Iris who has become respected throughout the yarn industry for her exquisite colors.

Goats with luxurious coats you'll want to wear

Iris is not only passionate about her silk, she's equally enthusiastic about her cashmere yarns. She tellus us that Artyarns Cashmere is incredibly soft because it's spun evenly from the best quality fibers by master spinners in Italy. Artyarns Cashmere is available to knitters in a variety of weights, and is comnbined with a strand of wool/nylon to create strong and washable Cashmere Sock Yarn.

"Our Cashmere 1-ply yarn comes in a skein of 510 yards, so it makes it reasonable for many price ranges," Iris says. "I was able to knit a cashmere lace jacket with one skein of 1-ply Cashmere, a fairly modest investment for such a luxurious garment. But be forewarned: this cashmere is addictive!"

An up-and-coming yarn producer, Natalie Redding of Namaste Farms, is also a shepherdess who boasts awards for her champion goats and sheep. "All my fiber is from very valuable animals with equally valuable fleeces. My sheep and goat breeds are rare and their raw fleeces sell for astronomical amounts. In addition, they are almost all champions having won many coveted titles."

Natalie, who has degrees in science to back up her knowledge of animals, tells us that as an animal ages, their fleece tends to coarsen. "In Longwool sheep as well as Pygora and Angora goats, the first fleeces are the softest and most valued -- to me personally maybe not to someone else. There is nothing like a lamb or kid fleece. In Longwool sheep, the lamb fleece has purling which means the curls are tight with small ringlets; perfect wool "corkscrews."

Photo left: Namaste Farms animals are raised in ideal conditions to produce outstanding fleeces.

Nutrition and exposure to the elements also can coarsen a fleece, so if you want to harvest the best fleeces, you want to ensure the best food and living conditions. Natalie's animals have ideal pastures and dine on fresh vegetables in California sunshine, and Namaste Farms is USDA Animal Welfare Act Certified #93-C-0892.

"The most expensive fleeces come from young animals from rare breeds known for fineness," Natalie says. "Fineness is highly heritable so you look for fleeces from breeders who are concerned with micron count and little kemp. Most of these types of breeders will feed high quality nutrition which only increases the cost of the raw fiber to make yarn."

"In Angora and Pygora goats, the kid fleece can have less lock formation (curls), but is so incredibly fine in texture, it 's like touching clouds of cashmere. In both sheep and goats, white fleeces are generally finer than colored fleeces."

Of course, that doesn't stop Natalie from dyeing her fleeces brilliant rainbow hues and deep, rich jewel tones for her luminescent Ohm Pygora Kid Mohair yarn.

Like Iris Schreier of Artyarns, she can't resist gilding the lily. "The most expensive yarns I produce would be some of my heavy weight fringe yarns with .925 sterling embellishments," she says. "I have sold many $170 skeins that were 40 yards. That said, I really try to make most of my yarns retail for between $44.95 and $70. For the person paying $10 for a skein of commercial yarn, that seems very high. What they don't realize is that I do everything myself, including shearing."

Don't believe her? Watch this video in which she explains the process.

Treat yourself to a small bit of heaven

Iris Schreier believes, "The yarn should do the work and the knitting pattern can be incredibly simple but produce incredible results. Asimple stockinette shawl knitted in any of the yarns I've mentioned will be an incredible cover-up for all seasons that can be used over and over again."

In conclusion, she says, "I believe strongly that the process of knitting should be pleasureful and that the lovely knitted outcome is something to be proud of. If you can't invest in large quantities of luxury yarns, make some small projects to enhance your knitting, whether they are neckwarmers, wristers, or a hat, spend your knitting time in pure enjoyment. All the Artyarns yarns are guaranteed to give the pleasure during the process. In fact, the yarns will spoil you for all others."

Natalie Redding shares the same sentiment, reiterating that her yarns are expensive only because they're of the highest quality. "My yarn is art and is not supposed to mimic commercial yarns. I tell people that my yarns are not for everyone. But neither are Bentleys or Prada bags."

"I don't mean this in a cynical or insensitive way; I mean it very literally. It takes me at least 45 minutes to spin a skein of handspun yarn. I don't spin from roving, but from the actual curly lock. This is very time consuming, but gives you the natural texture of the fiber. "

Because her animals are bred for superior quality fleeces and raised under ideal conditions, the natural texture is unparalleled by commercially produced yarns. She says, "If you consider the shearing, handwashing and dyeing time... it all adds up. My yarns are useable and wearable art that have my heart, soul and passion spun into each one. I am not just saying this, it's true. Each skein has a story about the animal it came from, the mood I was in when spinning it; like a who, what, where, when. Honest!"

Natalie has produced a video introducing the Pygora goats who recently contributed their coats for the creation of uber-luxurious and ultra-rare Limited Edition Long Locks yarn (photo right). She also shows us how she spun the pricey, but undeniably premium-quality yarn.

So while these yarns may be expensive, producers like Iris believe in the democratization of luxury yarn. She says,"Knitters of all levels should be confident that when they invest in the best quality yarn, their knitting time will not be wasted. The outcome will be uniquely lovely."

If you'd like to learn more about fibers, I strongly recommend The Knitters Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes. I refer to my copy constantly.