Cashmere Top

Cashmere top is the embodiment of refined fiber luxury — exquisitely soft, airy, and beautifully prepared for effortless spinning. Unlike roving, cashmere top features carefully aligned fibers, allowing for smoother drafting and greater control when creating delicate, high-end yarns.

The Ultimate Luxury: Cashmere Yarn at Paradise Fibers

If there is a fiber that represents the absolute pinnacle of softness and luxury in the yarn world, it's cashmere. Cashmere yarn has been prized for centuries for its featherlight warmth, its impossibly soft hand, and the way finished garments drape and feel against the skin in a way that nothing else quite replicates. 

At Paradise Fibers, we carry cashmere yarns for knitters, crocheters, and handspinners who understand that some projects deserve the very best fiber available. We've been sourcing quality fiber since 1997, and cashmere holds a special place in our collection because the response from our customers every time they work with it tells us everything we need to know.

Where Cashmere Yarn Comes From

True cashmere comes from the fine undercoat of cashmere goats, combed or collected during the spring molting season when the animals naturally shed their winter coat. The finest, softest fibers from the undercoat are separated from the coarser guard hairs and processed into the raw material that becomes yarn cashmere producers work with. Because each goat produces only a small amount of this precious undercoat fiber per year, cashmere has always been a relatively rare and valuable material. The best cashmere in the world is exceptionally fine, measuring as low as 14 to 16 microns in diameter, which places it among the softest natural fibers available at any price point.

The fiber's unique structure gives it a subtle, elegant halo and a warmth-to-weight ratio that outperforms virtually every other natural fiber. A lightweight cashmere shawl or sweater provides genuine warmth without bulk, which is one of the qualities that makes it so treasured for garments intended to be worn close to the skin.

Our Cashmere Yarns Collection

We carry cashmere yarns in several forms to serve different crafting approaches and project types. Here's what you'll find in this collection:

  • Pure cashmere yarn for knitting and crochet, available in laceweight through fingering weights where the fiber's extraordinary softness and drape can be fully appreciated. These are the skeins for heirloom shawls, luxury accessories, and next-to-skin garments you intend to keep for decades.
  • Cashmere and merino blends bring together the softness of cashmere with the elasticity and durability of fine merino wool. The result is a yarn that's easier to work with than pure cashmere, more forgiving of imperfect tension, and still exceptionally soft against the skin.
  • Cashmere and silk blends add luminous sheen and fluid drape to the cloud-soft warmth of cashmere. These blends are particularly stunning for shawls, wraps, and garments where you want the fabric to move beautifully and catch the light.
  • Cashmere top for handspinning, combed and aligned for smooth, controlled drafting. Spinning your own cashmere yarn from top is one of the most rewarding experiences in fiber arts, and the perfectly prepared fiber in this form makes the process as enjoyable as possible. Spin it pure for unmatched luxury or blend it with silk or merino for added strength and interesting texture.

The Best Projects for Yarn Cashmere

Cashmere is at its best in projects where the qualities that make it special can truly shine. Next-to-skin garments like lightweight sweaters, cardigans, and fitted tees benefit most directly from the fiber's extraordinary softness. Shawls and wraps in laceweight or fingering cashmere have a fluid, elegant drape that feels genuinely luxurious to wear. Fine accessories like berets, gloves, and cowls in cashmere yarn make exceptional gifts that communicate real care and generosity. Baby items in cashmere, while an investment, produce finished pieces of heirloom quality that families genuinely hold onto for generations.

For handspinners, cashmere top spun into laceweight or light fingering yarn opens up a world of fine spinning that rewards patience and a delicate touch. The resulting handspun cashmere yarn is incomparably personal, and projects made from fiber you've spun yourself from cashmere top carry a depth of craft and intention that's hard to put into words.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cashmere Yarn

Is cashmere yarn worth the investment?

For the right project, absolutely. Cashmere yarn produces finished garments and accessories with a softness, warmth, and drape that no other fiber fully replicates. A handmade cashmere shawl or sweater, cared for properly, can last for decades and often becomes a treasured heirloom piece. The investment in quality fiber is rarely the most expensive part of a handmade project when you factor in the time and skill that goes into making it, and starting with the best material makes the whole process more enjoyable and the finished result more meaningful.

How do I care for cashmere yarn projects?

Cashmere requires gentle handling to maintain its softness and shape over time. Hand washing in cool water with a gentle wool wash is the safest approach. Avoid wringing or twisting the fabric and never hang a cashmere garment to dry since the weight of the wet fiber will stretch it out of shape. Lay it flat on a clean towel, reshape gently, and allow it to air dry away from direct heat and sunlight. Stored properly in a cool, dry place with cedar blocks or lavender to deter moths, a well-made cashmere yarn project will remain beautiful for many years.

What is the difference between pure cashmere yarn and cashmere blends?

Pure cashmere yarn offers the full, uncompromised experience of the fiber: maximum softness, lightness, and warmth. It's the most luxurious option but also the most delicate and typically the most expensive. Cashmere blends combine cashmere with other fibers like merino or silk to add elasticity, strength, and in the case of silk, luminous sheen. Blends are generally easier to work with, more durable in the finished piece, and more affordable while still delivering a large portion of cashmere's signature softness. For a first cashmere project, a blend is often a great way to experience the fiber without the full investment of working in pure cashmere.

Is cashmere yarn good for beginners?

Pure cashmere yarns are best appreciated by crafters who have some experience with fine fibers, since the delicate nature of the fiber requires a lighter touch and more even tension than a beginner might have developed yet. A cashmere blend with merino or silk is a more forgiving starting point for newer crafters who want to work with this fiber. For handspinners, cashmere top rewards a relaxed drafting hand and benefits from some prior experience with fine fiber preparation before diving in. That said, our team is always happy to offer guidance on technique for anyone working with cashmere for the first time.

Can cashmere yarn be used for baby projects?

Yes, and it's a wonderful choice for baby items when softness and next-to-skin comfort are the priority. Cashmere contains no lanolin, making it naturally hypoallergenic and gentle against the most sensitive skin. A handknit cashmere baby blanket, cardigan, or hat is the kind of heirloom gift that families genuinely treasure for generations. The main consideration is care since cashmere baby items will need to be hand washed gently. If the family receiving the gift prefers machine washable options, a cashmere and superwash merino blend is a practical middle ground that still delivers exceptional softness.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cashmere top is a combed, prepared fiber ready to be spun into yarn, not a finished yarn product. It is the raw material that cashmere yarn is ultimately made from. The fiber has been cleaned, dehaired (meaning the coarser outer guard hairs have been removed to leave only the fine undercoat), and combed into a smooth, aligned preparation that drafts easily onto a spinning wheel or spindle. When you buy cashmere top, you are getting the opportunity to spin your own cashmere yarn exactly as you want it - your chosen weight, your chosen twist, your chosen ply structure. For hand spinners who want to work with the finest natural fibers available, spinning cashmere from top is an extraordinary experience.

Cashmere top spins into yarn using the same fundamental process as any fine fiber top - you draft the fiber from the prepared length and allow your wheel or spindle to insert twist as the fiber attenuates. Because cashmere is an exceptionally fine and slippery fiber with relatively short staple length, it benefits from a worsted or semi-worsted draw and a higher twist per inch than you might use for a coarser fiber like Corriedale. A finer ratio setting on your wheel helps control the twist insertion without over-spinning the delicate fiber. Spinning cashmere lightly to a fingering or lace weight and then plying two ends together produces a beautifully balanced, smooth finished yarn. Take your time with cashmere - the fiber rewards patience and a gentle hand.

Cashmere top is not the ideal fiber for a brand new spinner, but it is absolutely approachable for someone who has a few months of spinning experience under their belt. The challenges are its short staple length, which requires careful drafting to avoid thin spots or breaks, and its slipperiness, which makes maintaining consistent tension more demanding than with longer, grabbier fibers. If you are newer to spinning and want to work with cashmere, blending it with a small percentage of merino or other fine wool can make the preparation significantly easier to manage while still giving you most of the luxurious softness cashmere is known for. Our team is happy to advise on blending ratios and spinning approach if you want guidance before diving in.

Both cashmere and fine merino are considered top tier fibers for softness, but they behave quite differently in spinning and in the finished yarn. Cashmere is generally considered softer than merino - cashmere fiber diameters run as fine as 14 to 16 microns, and the fiber has a distinctive silky warmth that even the finest merino does not quite replicate. However, merino has natural elasticity and a longer staple length that makes it significantly easier to spin consistently. Merino also has more spring and memory in the finished yarn, while cashmere produces a fiber that is denser and heavier for its volume. Many spinners blend the two - typically 70 to 80 percent merino with 20 to 30 percent cashmere - to get the spinning manageability of merino with the added softness and luxury of cashmere in the finished yarn.

The amount of top you need depends on the weight of yarn you are spinning and the project you are making. A general rule is that you lose approximately 10 to 15 percent of your fiber weight through spinning, with minor loss to unspinnable short fibers and joins. If you want to spin enough fingering weight cashmere yarn for a small shawl (roughly 400 yards), plan for around 100 to 130 grams of top as a starting point. For a full cashmere sweater, you are looking at significantly more - potentially 300 to 500 grams or more depending on the weight of your finished yarn and the size of the garment. If you tell us what you are planning to make, we can help you estimate a more precise starting quantity.

Cashmere top should be stored in a cool, dry, and dark environment, as with all natural animal fibers. The primary threat is moths, which are strongly attracted to fine protein fibers like cashmere. Store your top in a sealed bag or airtight container with cedar blocks or dried lavender nearby as a natural deterrent - avoid mothballs, which can leave a chemical odor that is difficult to remove from delicate fiber. Keep cashmere away from direct sunlight, which can degrade and yellow the fiber over time. If you are storing it for longer than a few weeks, check it periodically to make sure no pests have found their way in. Properly stored cashmere top remains in beautiful spinning condition for a very long time.