Luxury Mongolian yarn, from herder to home. ULA+LIA make yarn from cashmere, yak down, baby camel and Mongolian sheep wool, and every step from fibre to skein happens in Mongolia: washing, carding, dyeing, spinning, hand skeining and hand labelling. We're excited to be bringing their cashmere to Tribe.

How it started

Founder Jon Hetts first went to Mongolia with the Peace Corps in 2010 and volunteered there for two years. When he left, he brought his mum a cashmere scarf. She loved it, and that started the process that led to ULA+LIA. The first yarn batches were made in 2018, and the company still funds each year's fibre with a Kickstarter campaign. The herders harvest their animals' fibre just once a year, so the campaigns pay for the year's supply up front.

The cashmere

Mongolia's bitterly cold winters make its goats grow some of the finest cashmere in the world. The fibre is combed from the goats as they shed in early spring, which doesn't harm them. ULA+LIA say the cashmere they use averages around 43mm in length, compared with 34-36mm for Grade A cashmere. Longer fibres mean a yarn that holds its shape better, and is less likely to pill and shed. They also spin it with a slightly lower twist to keep it durable and very soft.

Yak, camel and wool

Their baby yak yarn uses only the soft down layer of 1-3 year old yaks, with the coarser guard hairs separated out before spinning. Baby camel is the rarest fibre found in Mongolia, and almost as soft as cashmere. Their Mongolian sheep wool, on its own or blended with cashmere or yak, gives you some of that luxury at a friendlier price.

A small footprint

ULA+LIA buy their fibre from sustainability-focused herding cooperatives and keep the whole process in Mongolia. That means no shipping raw fibre around the world between production steps, and more of the value stays in Mongolia. They say most of the country's cashmere leaves in its raw or washed state, which is only the first step of making it into yarn.

Looking after it

The yarn still has a little spinning oil in it when it arrives, and the cashmere can keep some of its natural smell for a while. A good wash after knitting removes both and leaves your piece even softer. Quality cashmere gets more supple the more you wear it.