Alaska News

Photos: Palmer Musk Ox Farm

With 73 animals and more arriving every year, Palmer Musk Ox Farm takes its mission seriously -- "the domestication of the musk ox and to the promotion of qiviut production as a gentle and sustainable agricultural practice in the Far North."

The prehistoric animal creates an amazing fiber that's about eight times warmer than wool, softer than cashmere and finer than the best merino wool. It has no barbs like sheep's wool, so it doesn't shrink in hot water, allowing it to be handwashed easily. It is not itchy like wool, and is hypoallergenic, with very few people having allergic reactions to the yarn.

A musk ox sheds 4-8 pounds of qivuit each spring, which, for a mammal weighing up to 1,000 pounds, is minimal. By contrast, a Peppin Merino ram, bred to produce abundant amounts of wool, can produce up to 40 pounds annually. Limited production keeps qivuit rare.

At the Palmer Farm, musk oxen are combed in May, and the soft underlayer of qiviut is separated from the shaggy outer hair, called guard hair.

Once the qiviut is spun into yarn, it is knitted into hats, scarves, mittens and anything else that will help keep people warm during the winter months.

Recommended: Read how musk oxen came back from the brink to start a unique cottage industry.

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