NFA Merino Silk Yak

Our Merino Silk Yak fingering weight yarn base is a luxurious yarn for a special project. Silky soft yarn with a beautiful light drape that is perfect for shawls, cowls and garments that you would like to wear next to your skin.

The yak fibre in this yarn is natural grey in colour which gives the dyed effect a lovely grey undertone or a moody look and yak is also a very warm fibre. This fibre is sourced from farmers in Tibet and Mongolia. The silk gives a slight sheen and beautiful drape and the Merino is from non mulesed flocks of small farms in Argentina and Uruguay which is then often collected together and processed on a larger scale.  The mill producing this fibre are very conscious of supporting these farmers and their families, even providing a small school in the highlands (Mirasol School) to ensure the local children get a good education.

Even though the Merino in this yarn is a superwash Merino, due to the yak content, although only 20% of the fibre, it is considered a non superwash yarn and therefore should only be gently hand washed. The yak fibre is so short which can cause felting and also some piling on heavy wear areas. Piling is always a side effect of a soft yarn. The softer the yarn the more it will pill however despite being beautiful and soft this yarn only pills very slightly. In my grey cardigan, top centre photo, I get a very light pilling under the arms (after 2 years of use), but I also wear this cardigan almost constantly during cooler weather.