From Fiber to Finished Yarn
Partnering with eco-conscious mills is an essential component of the Cascade Yarns process. For Rob and Shannon Dunbabin, it is equally important to offer high-quality, eco-friendly yarns that makers love and feel good about crafting with. That commitment is why they personally visit the mills that supply yarn for their family-owned business.
Earlier this year, the Dunbabins traveled to Peru for a hands-on quality assurance visit at a trusted Cascade Yarns partner mill. From fiber to finished skein, the yarn production is both thoughtful and precise, consisting of seven essential steps: sorting, scouring, carding, combing, spinning, dyeing, and finishing.
In celebration of Earth Day, we invite you behind the scenes to explore the meticulous steps and care that go into creating the yarns you love.
Step One: Sorting
Once the alpaca fiber arrives at the mill, it is sorted into coarse and fine categories. A single alpaca fleece typically yields two to three kilograms of fiber. Each fleece is sorted by hand to allow for deeper classification before moving on to the scouring process.
Shannon Dunbabin shares details about the sorting process for alpaca yarn at a mill in Peru.
Step Two: Scouring
During scouring, the alpaca fiber is fed into a machine that opens up the strands before they pass through a series of five warm baths. The water used in this process is heated by more than 1,200 solar panels.
The water used to clean the alpaca fiber is heated naturally to conserve energy.
The first three baths contain detergents that remove contaminants such as dirt and plant matter. The final two baths serve as rinses. Between each bath, excess water is extracted, collected, and reused to conserve water. The final bath is reused in the first bath with detergent. Once scouring is complete, the fiber is dried, resulting in cleaner, fluffier strands.
Water conservation is a key part of the five-step process cleaning process for alpaca fiber.
Step Three: Carding
After cleaning and drying, the alpaca fleece moves on to carding. This process further opens the fiber, removes any remaining plant matter, and eliminates irregular fiber lengths. The fibers are then aligned in a parallel formation, preparing them for the next stage.
Carding continues to clean and align the fiber in preparation for spinning.
Step Four: Combing
To prepare the fiber for spinning, the fleece goes through a four-step combing process that ensures the fibers are parallel. Combing smooths the fiber, removes remaining vegetable matter, and eliminates shorter strands. The fiber is exported, used for making heathers, or sent on to spinning.
Shannon Dunbabin demonstrates the final preparation stage before the fiber is spun into yarn.
Step Five: Spinning
During spinning, the combed alpaca fiber is drafted and thinned to the correct thickness. This multi-step process concludes with the fiber being steamed to set the yarn in position and to prevent it from twisting out of form.
After cooling for 24 hours, the strands are twisted and combined according to precise specifications and wound onto cones. The yarn is steamed and cooled once more before being placed into hanks for dyeing.
Shannon Dunbabin explains the intricate spinning process for combed alpaca.
Step Six: Dyeing
To achieve the rich, signature colors makers have come to love from Cascade Yarns, the yarn is then dyed. Undyed hanks are placed onto a rotating machine where dye is applied through small openings over a six-hour period. Once dyed, the yarn is steamed to help set the color.
For heathers, the fiber tops after carding are dyed and combined during the combing process to create the mélange effect. Once the heathered tops are formed, they are spun to the correct yarn specifications.
Cascade Yarns offers oodles of rich colors and undyed shades.
Step Seven: Finishing
The final step is finishing, where the yarn takes on the form makers recognize in shops. Each hank is twisted by hand, while balls and bullet skeins are created to precise size specifications using specialized machines.
It can take six to eight weeks to produce many Cascade Yarns lines, with fancy yarns requiring up to twelve weeks.
Thoughtfully Crafted, From Start to Finish
From the moment alpaca fiber arrives at the mill to the final finished skein, every step matters. For Rob and Shannon, that means choosing mill partners who prioritize renewable energy, water conservation, and responsible production. Through thoughtful decisions and hands-on quality checks at every stage, they ensure every detail meets their exacting standards. The result is exceptional yarn that makers can trust and love with every stitch.
Happy Earth Day from the Cascade Yarns team!