My Aberdeen Monday...

Cashmere...

the word alone sounds so decadent.
My voice lowers an octave when slowly pronouncing it 
in a Lauren Bacall scratchy voice.
Now you try it...
cashmere.

With 'mere⤺cash' you can wrap yourself in the pure luxury of jumpers(sweaters), blankets, scarves and such...
 milled at Johnstons of Elgin since 1797. 

Thankfully, I fought the urge to just shop, 
and toured the facility to learn the process of...

beginning with the raw product...

that arrives matted and coarse.

 Johnstons is one of the only mills that still maintains 

fibre to garment production.

  

We were shown the teasing, blending, carding, and spinning stages in the life of a cashmere garment. 

One of the most fascinating stages requires the teasel plant...

whose hooks, when wet, gently tease out the cashmere fibres.

Interestingly enough...

they have been unable to find a suitable replacement for this plant over the years.

No man made product can take the place of rows and rows of the humble teasel plant attached onto a large revolving drum...  

as it nears its final stage.
Don't you just love it when something God provided finds its unique purpose?
The integrity of this family owned company is admirable.

Elgin is a delightful train ride north, 
so I am wondering what took me so long to find my way there.
And now that I have seen the time and skill involved in producing cashmere, 
the extra money spent for such quality is not quite so painful.


Do you own a cashmere garment?

Happy Monday.