This cashmere yarn is spun by Afghan women using fiber from local cashmere goats. The spinners purchase the fiber from the dehairing factory in Herat, Afghanistan. They send the finished yarn to Tajikistan where it is dyed and shipped to Portfiber together with the Tajik cashgora yarn.

• 355 yards/352 meters
• 3.52 ounces / 100 grams
• handspun in Shughan, Afghanistan.
  

The Tajik and Afghan spinners were supported by a 4-year development project funded by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) and managed by AKF (Aga Khan Foundation). The objective was to create earning opportunities for rural women in remote areas of Tajikistan and Afghanistan by helping them process local fibers into high quality yarns and linking them to the global marketplace. The project was successfully completed in spring 2017 and the spinners now collaborate with Portfiber (portfiber.com) on marketing their yarn.

The spinners and PortFiber guarantee that this product is the best handspun yarn on the market, produced in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable way by fairly paid artisans who are fully in charge of their business. They share the belief that strong personal ties between producers, buyers and customers make a better product and promote an ethical, not-just-for-profit business that empowers women and links spinners and knitters from different places and cultures.

The spinners live in some of the most isolated, traditional communities in the world. They want to learn about the women who knit with their yarn. Perhaps you will also be curious about the woman who spun your yarn. Please check out her bio. The chances are she had to confront poverty as well as constraints of traditional, patriarchal culture. Your purchase will make her life just a little easier and having her own money will make her just a little more powerful. Her yarn will allow you to knit a unique, luxurious product.  Thank you for making this happen.