Herders to Home 2024: Luxury Mongolian Yarn and Fiber

Thank you for another succesful campaign! What's next and our dyed cashmere
4 months ago – Tue, Jul 02, 2024 at 09:59:08 AM

Hey Everybody,

Just a quick update from me to thank you all again for joining me in another campaign! I'm sure some of you are very happy that you won't have to see my ads any longer, but big thank you to everybody that shared the project and help spread the word.

Backerkit

Just to get everybody that backed in the last couple of days up to speed, the next step is to wait for Backerkit to open. In 14 days, you'll receive an email inviting you to your own account on Backerkit that will be preloaded with your pledges from Kickstarter. There, you will select your yarn colors, weights, add shipping information, and also add on any extra items and packages that you would like. Until then, there's not much to do!

Cashmere Dyeing

As for our soft stuff, we're already getting moving. Our yak wool and camel wool should be in the city shortly to start the washing and brushing (guard hair removal) processes before spinning. I plan to get some photos and videos of that process. Mongolia celebrates their summer festival (Naadam) in mid-July, so there will be a bit of a pause around then.

We have already received our cashmere and the natural colors (cream and warm gray) are set to start spinning this week. Our Robin's Egg has already been dyed and our Azalea is in process right now. Here's a video and a couple pictures of the process!

This was actually the first time for me seeing everything in motion, so it was pretty cool. They do it in 50kg batches.

The lighting in the factory is challenging to say the least, so don't judge the fiber too much on the color. We're still right on compared to our swatches! And yes, it is indeed absolutely beautiful in person.

That's about it for me for now. You'll hear from me again when Backerkit surveys are about to go out in a couple of weeks. As always, please send me an email at [email protected] with any questions.

Thank you!

-Jon

Final 72 hours, and we've got our cashmere!
4 months ago – Fri, Jun 28, 2024 at 09:19:49 AM

Hey Everybody,

Almost to the end of the campaign but just getting started with the season! Everything has been going great and we're definitely going to make all of our origional and stretch goals. It looks like we had everything planned out pretty close!

Colors and Weights

These colors are in additon to the robins egg cashmere, moss camel, evergreen yak, dark chocolate yak, and aegean sea wool blend. We're also going to spin more of some natural colors to make sure we have enough in stock, so we're doing another batch of the natural sand camel wool and cream cashmere as well. I'm hoping to get some more platinum gray yak wool as well, but that's not completely confirmed yet.

Everything will be available in fingering and DK weight. For the lace and bulky options, here is the final lineup:

Lace Options - Warm Gray Cashmere, Evergreen Yak, Moss Green Camel, Aegean Sea Sheep Blend

Bulky Options - Robin's Egg Cashmere, Evergreen Yak, Moss Green Camel, Aegean Sea Sheep Blend

Getting our Fiber!

And a bit ahead of schedule, we already have our cashmere! We're getting the base for the azalea and robin's egg sent out on Monday for dyeing, and our warm gray and cream cashmere will start spinning next week. Not the most glamourous of the fiber showing up, but here's what we've got!

Larger amounts of fiber are sometimes pressure packed for easier transfer, which is what you see in the last photo. That's about 75kg where the other bags are around 10kg. The writing translates to '1 - Color', as white cashmere has the code 01. Tan is 02, and warm gray is 04.

I missed the washing and dehairing of our cashmere, but yak and camel will start processing at the beginning of July, so I'll be sure to visit the factory for videos and pictures of that process. I'm also trying to arrange to be at the dyeing factory to show that process. Our sheep wool will be last to process in August.

What's Next? Extra add-ons and Backerkit

The campaign will end on July 1st. 14 days after the campaign ends, you will get an email invite to a pledge management program called Backerkit. In Backerkit, you will select your yarn weights and colors, as well as add on extra items if you'd like at the same prices offered through Kickstarter. This is also where you will provide shipping information for your purchases.

For those that haven't been through the process before it can sound a bit strange, but it's really very straight forward.

That's it for now! You'll hear from me shortly after the campaign ends and then again when Backerkit is about to go live. Feel free to send me a message or email at [email protected] if you have any questions in the meantime.

THANK YOU!

-Jon

Awesome first week!
4 months ago – Sun, Jun 09, 2024 at 12:28:10 AM

Hey Everybody,

Thank you again to everybody that joined the campaign and got us off to a great start. We've already unlocked most of our extra colors and I'm definitely expecting to reach the other goals. Here's the updated stretch colors!

Fiber Buffer

I will say after the crazy first 24 hours I decided to ask the coops if it was too late to reserve some extra fiber. I'm trying not to carry as much inventory this year, but I did sign up for some extra camel, cashmere, and yak wool to make more natural cream cashmere, natural sand camel, and (hopefully/maybe) platinum gray yak wool if we need it. I also picked up a bit more yak wool to increase batch sizes of the mahogany and evergreen if needed, as I have the least yak wool inventory from past seasons.

Adding extra rewards and Backerkit

For those that are interested in adding extra items to your order, you will be able to do this after the campaign ends in a pledge manager called "Backerkit". Two weeks after the camapign ends, you'll receive an invitation to your personal Backerkit account via email. This will have record of your Kickstarter pledge. You will first select the colors and weights for the yarn you purchased on Kickstarter as well as provide your shipping address. Then, you will have the option to purchase additional yarns/packages at the same prices offered through Kickstarter.

For those that haven't been through the process before it can sound a bit strange, but it's really very straight forward. But long story short, all colors/weights/options/extra items will be selected in Backerkit after the campaign ends!

That's about it for now! As always, please reach out if you have any questions either through Kickstarter or directly via email at [email protected].

THANK YOU!

-Jon

Price Reduction for Variety Pack Backers!
4 months ago – Wed, Jun 05, 2024 at 10:27:37 PM

Hey Everybody,

Although this update is pubic to all, only those that backed the Kickstarter variety packs are getting email nofications. In short, I made a mistake calculating and didn’t include the 10% discount for these items. It’ll be a refund of $9 for the 400g packs and $18 for the 2x packs.

There are two things we can do to get the pricing correct!

Option #1 - The easiest: Automatically get credit for add-on purchases on Backerkit

If you are planning to purchase more items in Backerkit after the campaign ends, it's easiest to just do nothing and wait! It's an easy process for me to issue credit to those that pledged specific rewards, so your extra credit will be waiting for you in your personal Backerkit account after the campaign ends for more yarn or other addons (like socks, hats, and spinning fiber). If you'd like to chat you're free to comment or send an email to let me know, but this will be the default automatic action and you don't need to let me know this is your choice!

Option #2: Change your pledge

If you do not plan to add more items in Backerkit, I’d suggest changing your pledge level to the properly priced package. In order to change your pledge, the process is slightly different depending on your device.

On a computer or mobile browser:

There will be a green button on the top right of the page when viewing the campaign to ‘Manage your pledge’. On the next page, click the blue ‘Change your pledge’ button at the bottom of the page. You’ll then be able to select the same reward (Kickstarter Variety Pack 400g or 2x Kickstarter Variety Pack 800g) with the updated pricing.

On the Kickstarter app:

Click the blue button at the bottom of the page labeled ‘Manage’. On the top right, there will be a 3 button menu. In the menu, select ‘Choose another reward’. You’ll then be able to select the updated reward package.

Sorry for the confusion here. If you have any questions or issues, please send an email to [email protected]. If you'd rather not deal with switching your pledge around, I promise the credit will automatically be waiting for you in Backerkit to use towards other purchases as it's an easy process for me to issue credit to those that pledged specific rewards.

Thank you!

-Jon

We're gonna spin again!
5 months ago – Sat, Jun 01, 2024 at 10:43:34 AM

Hey Everybody,

Thank you again for another incredible start! Each year I get very nervous before launching and am then completely humbled by the response, so thank you again for your support! We have a lot of colors left to unlock in stretch goals, so please consider sharing the project with other yarn fans you might know that might appreciate our products and campaign.

I’m once again looking forward to getting our hands on fiber and showing our manufacturing.

Thank you!

-Jon