At Riversong Farms we concentrate on
producing top quality cashmere fibre. We continually monitor the quality
of our fleeces and selectively breed for fineness, style, and yield. Our
animals are all "fibre tested" by laboratory analysis to confirm the quality of
our cashmere.
 We
believe it is our attention to quality, plus our high latitude,
and our cold Canadian climate that helps us to produce some of the finest
cashmere available anywhere. For more detail on our stock, and the prizes
they have won, visit our
Breeding Stock page.
We hand comb the cashmere as it sheds
naturally from the goats. This happens somewhere between January and March,
depending on the goats. We hand comb up to 200 goats each year.
After the harvest is done, our clip is sent to the mill, where
we have it cleaned, dehaired, and made into pure cashmere cloud, pencil roving, and yarn. This we can offer to you at “farm direct” pricing
- at substantial savings for this luxurious fibre!
Quality Assurance
"Good quality cashmere feels like
butter in your hand - you can't tell where your skin ends and the cashmere
begins"
 When you
drape our cashmere over your hands, you will know what this means. We are
fortunate in that we have total control over the quality of the fibre we sell -
from hoof to hand, so to speak. Unfortunately, the internet does not (yet)
allow you to touch the product, but be assured if you are not delighted
with our cashmere you can return it for a full refund.
Comments from some of our customers
"Your yarn arrived today, and I am blown away.
It is the most wonderful thing I have ever touched, and I have touched a lot of
fine wools and cashmere too. Congratulations on producing such a wonderful
product. I have dyed it now, and have dropped one of the skeins into
the hands of people who I know appreciate yarn. The most frequent reaction
is "Oh my God!"
Virginia van Santen - V.S. Painted Yarns, Edmonton Alberta
"Your cashmere is the best I've seen." - Judith
Mackenzie. "Of all
the cashmere I've seen and felt and dealt with, and that's a lot, yours is
absolutely the best quality. It is also excellent value."
Lynne Anderson, Knitopia Wools Company, White Rock, BC.
"The yarn came today, and I'm
stunned by its beauty! Its softness and lustre are unbelievable. I'm
a relatively new knitter, but I think that now the bar for the yarn quality I'll
be seeking has been set impossibly high." Margaret Norris, Los Angeles,
California "Diane
- I feel terrible that I haven't emailed before now to THANK YOU for that
wonderful yarn. I am just finishing a scarf for my husband Scott (who
hates wool because it's so scratchy) and he said to tell you that it's so soft
it's nearly obscene (!) "This comes from a goat??" I showed it to my
mother and she said she had never felt anything so wonderful in her life (and
she's 85). So thank you very much for all your hard work - all the work
that it took to get from your animals to my hands (and Scott's neck hahaha).
Ellen Jamieson, Burlington, Ontario
Yes, cashmere comes from goats!
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We are often
asked about how we harvest our cashmere. The cashmere sheds out in the
early spring - before the guard hair shed. If you catch it just right the
cashmere comes out quickly and easily, leaving almost all of the guard hair on
the goat. This makes for clean, high quality fleeces to ship to the mill.
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Arial patiently waits to be combed (and for
her grain I might add) |
The first pass of the brush - we use a
straight rake. |
5 minutes later - the front 1/4 is done! |
From fuzzy to smooth coated, in 20 minutes.
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And only 149
more to go! Now we can offer quality fibre direct from our farm.
Did you know it
will take a goat about 4 - 6 years to grow enough cashmere to make a
sweater? |
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Our Pricing Policy
Our goal in selling farm-direct is to offer our
customers a superb quality product at farm-direct or wholesale pricing.
Our prices are based on the costs of hay, grain, maintaining the herd, and
processing the cashmere, as opposed to "what the market will bare". Some discounts are available for volume orders.
Buying for someone else?
Ask about our gift certificates! |
Pencil Roving
Ready to spin. The roving
makes spinning cashmere way less intimidating, for even the novice spinner.
The feedback we've had from our spinning customers is really positive on this
roving.
Available in white only:
Canadian $18.50/oz( 28.3g) + GST
(Sorry, sold out) |
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| Yarn
- skeins are 2 oz (56.6g)
Available in 3 weights:
2ply, at 3200 ypp, (400
yards/skein)
Available
in soft grey-brown.
2ply, at 4480 ypp (560 yards/skein)
available in white. (sorry, sold out)
2 ply, at 3520 ypp (440
yards/skein) available in creamy white. (SOLD OUT) Canadian $39.00/skein + GST
Wondering what to knit? Check out
the patterns below, especially selected for use with our cashmere yarn.
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So what can you
knit from an ounce of cashmere?
Since cashmere is so fine it hardly
weighs anything, 1 ounce is actually quite a lot of fibre. One two ounce
skein of 2 ply spun at 3200 ypp is enough to knit two 3' scarves or one 6'
scarf!
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Shipping is 10% (min. $10.00) on all
orders under one lb.
On orders over 1 lb, contact us directly for
shipping costs.
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"The Little Felted Hat" made
of 100% pure cashmere felt. These little hats look really cute on
everyone, as you can see here, where they modeled by some of the Bad Women of
Nazko. (long story behind the group's name)
These hats are hand made and come in
natural white, natural cream, or hand painted with shades of green, blue, red,
purple, and yellow. They are hand finished and embroidered with a variety
of coloured yarns.
These little hats are sooo soft, and light,
and incredibly warm. And they are totally unique!
Farm-direct price:
C$65.00 + shipping/handling/GST
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Patterns
These are some of the patterns
we have found which are lovely in cashmere. Pick one to go with your yarn
for the perfect kit or the perfect gift for the knitter in your life!
The Cloud Scarf by Lucy Neatby - $6.00 (Ca)
(Intermediate)
1oz of cashmere (3200 yarn) will knit 1 of these
scarves. With one skein you can knit 2 of these beautiful scarves. (or one
longer one!)
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 "Send-a-Hug"
Bears by Infiknit - $5.00 (Ca)(Very
easy crocheted)
These adorable little bears are made from the
3200yarn in white with contrasting coloured cashmere clothing. I skein of
white yarn will make roughly a dozen little bears.
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 "Estonian
Garden Wrap & Scarf" by Fiber Trends - $8.00 (Ca)
(Intermediate)
The wrap is 19" by 66" and takes 850 yds of yarn;
the scarf is 10" by 66" and uses 485 yds of lace yarn. Simply gorgeous.
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 Lace
Moebius Scarf by Fiber Trends - $7.00 (Ca)
(Intermediate)
"A Moebius strip has only one surface, and only
one edge. Intriguing to knit, this geometric oddity makes a beautiful yet
functional scarf"
450 yds - (recommend 3200 wt) |
 "A
Trio of Lacy Scarves" by Catherine Vardy - $6.00 (Ca)
Old Shale, Vine Lace, and Fuchsia Lace, these
scarves are lovely. Yarn requirements are 350 to 450m. |
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"Cashmere Hat & Scarf to Knit" by Dovetail Designs - $7.00(Ca)
"Absolute luxury, superbly soft, and
very easy to make. Knit this hat and scarf with a subtle square-in-a
square motif around the hat and down the center of the scarf"
Hat 300 yds, Scarf 900 yds of the
3200 wt yarn.
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 "Charlottes
Easy Lace Shawl" by Lily Chin (Fiber Trends) - $7.50 (Ca)
This delightful shawl is very easy to make, and you
can make it as large or small as you like. Yarn requirements will vary,
depending on the size and gauge you use. One skein of the 4800 wt yarn sill make
a very large shawl.
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Special Offer - November 2007
Each year at combing time we keep aside a few of the most
extraordinary fleeces. These fleeces are saved for the cashmere fleece
competitions in the US and Canada. We off you the winning fleeces so you can make that
extraordinary item of pure cashmere from the "best of the best"
Please note - these are raw fleeces, and will contain a small
amount of debris and some guard hair. However, because we hand comb our
animals the amount of guard hair is minimal. These fleeces are roughly 80
- 90% cashmere. They are available for $C16.00/oz. These
fleeces make a very special and unique gift for the fibre enthusiast who
appreciates quality.
RSC Fancy Feet: 7.2 ounces, soft taupe, 1st place
at Eastern Cashmere in Virginia, 1st place and Reserve Grand Champion
Fleece at the Canadian National. $115.20
RSC Bijoux: 5.4 oz, soft taupe . 3rd place at Eastern Cashmere
Association in Virginia. $86.40(SOLD)
RSC Ebony: 5.5 oz, soft taupe. 2nd place at Eastern Cashmere in
Virginia, and 2nd place at the Canadian Nationals. $88
RSC Anika: 8 oz, soft taupe. 2nd place at the Eastern Cashmere
Competition in Virginia, and 1st place, Grand Champion Doe, and Best
in Show at the Canadian Nationals. $128.00(SOLD)
To order please e-mail us directly, or you
can phone at (250) 249-0245.
In the interest of keeping our prices as
affordable as possible, and passing on the savings to you, we have decided to stick with
the old fashioned methods of payment - cheque or money order. I know it is
a little less convenient, but it saves you 10%.
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