High in the tallest Himalaya mountains the Pamiri villagers of eastern Tajikistan raise a rare goat called the Cashgora, a hybrid between the Angora and Cashmere breeds. As a result of the crossbreeding and the cold temperatures, the goats produce a luxurious yet durable fiber that combines the shine of mohair with the softness of cashmere. This combination ensures that the yarn they produce from the fiber will be very similar to cashmere but much more durable and less likely to pill. The Pamiri villagers don’t shear the goats but instead comb the fibers out. This process ensures the fibers are softer without the cuts. The goats naturally start to shed in the spring as the goats no longer need their winter coats and the villagers help the process along. One female goat can produce about a pound of the precious downy fiber. The villagers then sell the fiber to buyers who sort and send it to neighboring Afghanistan, a country that has a large fiber milling industry. There the fibers are scoured and milled to dehair out the coarser fibers that may remain. Then the cleaned fiber is sent back to rural villages in Pamir mountains where groups of women hand spin and hand-dye the yarns made available to you. Those women have formed collective spinning groups to not only earn money by sharing the profits from the yarn they make, but also to take a break from their homes, socialize, and bond with other women.