Behind the scenes of launching a new yarn
Do you wonder what goes into launching a new yarn? Here's a behind-the-scenes look at some of the steps.
Fiber
In this case, it's a 100% camel fiber, an offering that originated from the de-hairing facility in Kyrgyzstan. With the mill's ability to work with additional fibers, our founder Sy Belohlavek sourced Bactrian camel fiber from Central Asia. Few camels are in Kyrgyzstan today even though the camel is necessary for nomadic life as a means of travel, carrying goods, and providing meat and dairy, as well as fiber for shelter and cloth.
Bactrian camels are found in desert regions in the Far East (Mongolia/China) and Central Asia. They have two humps that allow the storage of fat (not water!) to sustain them during hot, dry spells. They also survive in high altitudes with cold temperatures. Dromedary (one hump) camels are found in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Middle East. As you progress through Central Asia toward the southern part of the world, you'll begin to see a mix of the two camel types.
Research and Development
The downy undercoat that is used for yarn naturally molts off the camels in spring and can be combed, collected off the ground, or shorn. Camel down is a soft, lightweight, smooth hollow fiber, much like cashmere. The fiber is very short, often around an inch or so. When you process the fiber to remove all the long outer hairs, dirt, and debris, you end up with only 20-25% of the original weight of fiber you purchased! It takes more processing through de-hairing equipment to ensure that only the downy undercoat is sent on to be milled. This meant additional de-hairing machines were needed to handle the extra processing steps.
After de-hairing, the fiber is shipped to the mill in England where different plies are tested. Once a yarn weight is chosen, the yarn goes off to the dyer. Camel yarn takes dye beautifully; the fiber is not bleached but rather dyed on top of its natural, caramel color. Choosing colors is another matter. A palette is considered and samples are sent to the dyer who runs multiple tests to achieve a set of exemplars to choose from. It's a time-consuming process.
Getting ready for retail sale
Once the looooonnnnngggg wait for the arrival of the yarn is over, many more steps are needed before the yarn can be sold. First, there's chaos to organize: We unbox the inventory, then count, sort, and check it for quality control so that it can be stored properly. Meanwhile, the final processing, shipping, and customs bills roll in. We can determine pricing only after the cost per item is established and compared to the existing market.
The yarn then is tested for all of its knitting specifications. What needle size produces the nicest fabric? Does the fabric change after washing? Is there a halo? If so, does it shed? Does the yarn yield nice stitch definition and drape? How do you determine all of this? By hand knitting several swatches, of course!
Labels, packaging, and marketing materials
Next we finalize the new color names (a fun but tedious process) and order the name stamps for the labels, which also must be designed and ordered (did you know that printing costs have doubled since 2020?). Finally, we purchase any necessary packaging, such as bags for the camel spinning fiber. When those items arrive, we label and package the yarn and fiber.
To the market we go
Finally, we configure our website with new product photos and descriptions so that all is available to our beloved community of makers.
What a process! There's a lot of learning that goes with a new yarn launch so that information can be shared with consumers and used in marketing. It won't be long now before our new camel yarn (and our restocks of cashmere) are available for purchase. And if you're not a maker, remember that we're branching out with new finished products soon, too. To take part in all of our product launches, be sure to join our community to receive our weekly emails.
Until next time, may you find joy in making with our yarn! - Warmly, Amy