Johnstons of Elgin Cashmere: Ply, Superfine and Donegal

Johnstons of Elgin cashmere is cashmere fibre sourced mainly from Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, woven at the house’s Elgin mill and knitted at its Hawick mill in Scotland. Each knit is sold by ply and yarn. Coveti stocks 433 pieces of Johnstons of Elgin cashmere and cloth, most of them women’s cashmere knitwear and men’s jumpers, with women’s crews such as the 2-ply Lunan Classic Crew Neck Navy Cashmere Jumper.

In short: the house buys its cashmere from certified farms in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, knits it in Hawick and weaves it in Elgin. It labels 2-ply yarn as lightweight and 3-ply as midweight, sells a finer line called superfine cashmere and a flecked yarn called Donegal cashmere, and blends cashmere with cotton, silk and wool.

Where the cashmere comes from

The house says its cashmere comes primarily from Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, and all of it from farms certified by the Sustainable Fibre Alliance. Johnstons helped found that alliance in 2015. It is a non-profit working with the supply chain from herders to retailers.

The numbers on the house’s philosophy page give a sense of scale. It says it uses fibre from the equivalent of around one million goats a year, and that a herder typically looks after around 200 goats. It also says it blends fibre from Mongolia and China to balance durability and hand feel, so the yarn in a Johnstons jumper is a deliberate mix. In 2019 the house set up its first course in sustainable pasture management, called Haraacai, the Mongolian word for swallow.

Cashmere has a long history at this mill. In 1851 the family bought a bale of cashmere fibre in London and, by the house’s account, became the first Scottish company to weave with it. Merino arrived the same year; today the house says its merino is certified to the Responsible Wool Standard and comes from Australian farmers.

Woven in Elgin, knitted in Hawick

Johnstons of Elgin runs two Scottish mills, and they do different jobs. The house says on its FAQ page: “Our woven goods are crafted at our mill in Elgin, while our knitwear is produced at our Hawick mill.”

The Elgin mill is Newmill, on the banks of the River Lossie, where Alexander Johnston founded the business in 1797. By 1811 it was a fully vertical weaving mill, raw fibre to finished cloth on one site, and the house says it still is.

Hawick, in the Scottish Borders, came later. The house opened its knitwear mill there in 1980, its move into making knitwear itself. Wikipedia records that the company bought Eastfield Mill, built in 1882, and that it uses Shima Seiki knitting machines.

Product pages say it plainly: Knitted in Scotland for knitwear, Woven in Scotland for cloth, and Made in Scotland more broadly. Of the 433 Johnstons pages at Coveti, 381 carry one of those three lines. People count too: the house says on its craftsmanship page that “between 32 and 37 might touch a jumper” before it is finished. Six pieces at Coveti also carry the line Traditionally linked by hand.

Ply, explained with the house’s own labels

Ply is the number of yarn strands twisted together to make the yarn a garment is knitted from. Johnstons prints it on each knitwear page as, for example, 2-Ply Construction. It then adds a weight label for two of its plies only: 2-Ply Yarns (Lightweight) and 3-Ply Yarns (Midweight). For 4-ply, 6-ply and 8-ply it gives no label at all, so neither do we.

Most of what Coveti carries is 2-ply: 195 of the 267 pieces that state a ply. That covers the Lunan crews and V necks for women and the Rory crews, zip necks and cardigans for men. The Rory Navy Classic Cashmere Crew Jumper is $1,090 at Coveti and is as plain a 2-ply crew as the house makes.

The 3-ply group is smaller, 53 pieces, and much of it is superfine cashmere (more on that below), plus the Blyth lambswool knits. The 6-ply pieces are the Pioneer styles, such as the Pioneer Natural Shawl Collar Cashmere Cardigan at $2,710 at Coveti. The 8-ply pieces are all Maggie reverse stitch jumpers, including the Maggie Reverse Stitch Grey Cashmere Jumper at $1,460 at Coveti.

One thing to keep straight: more ply is not better cashmere. It means more strands in each yarn, which suits a different kind of garment. The house does not rank one above another. Ply is also not the same as gauge. Gauge describes the knitting, ply describes the yarn; our guide to cashmere gauge explained covers the other half. The table below lists every ply Coveti stocks, with piece counts and examples.

Superfine cashmere

Superfine cashmere is the house’s finer, lighter line, and its product pages name the yarn as 100% Superfine Cashmere. The pages give no further figure, so here is what the catalogue shows.

Coveti carries 78 superfine pieces: 52 women’s and 26 men’s. Thirty of them print a ply, and all thirty say 3-ply; the rest give no ply. For women the styles are Beatrice, Effie, Honor, Euna, Elise, Dee, Finola, Ella and Coira, with Forsyth cardigans for both women and men. For men the line is the Fin jumpers, V necks and polos, plus the Mack polo.

The shapes lean towards layering pieces: T-shirts, scoop necks, funnel necks, long cardigans and knitted polos. The Honor Navy Superfine Cashmere T-Shirt is $950 at Coveti, the lowest price in the line. The Beatrice Brown Superfine Cashmere Jumper is $1,180 at Coveti, and the Elise Grey Long Superfine Cashmere Cardigan is $1,510 at Coveti, the top of the range. For men, the Fin Superfine Cashmere Polo Shirt in Clyde Blue is $1,370 at Coveti.

Donegal cashmere

Donegal tweed is woven in County Donegal, Ireland, and is best known as a plain-weave cloth with small pieces of coloured yarn woven in at irregular intervals, which gives a heathered look. Cloth with that flecked look is often labelled donegal with a small d, wherever it is made. Johnstons uses the term for its own flecked cashmere yarn, printed as 100% Donegal Cashmere, with colour names such as Light Grey Donegal and Navy Donegal.

Coveti has 20 Donegal pieces, 9 women’s and 11 men’s. For women there are the Cairn jumpers and the ribbed Norah jumpers and cardigans; the Cairn Grey Donegal Cashmere Jumper is $1,220 at Coveti. For men there are Tiree, MacKintosh roll necks, Kinnaird half zips and the Monteith exploded argyle; the Tiree Grey Donegal Cashmere Jumper is $1,320 at Coveti. The Donegal pieces that print a ply are 2-ply. Our full guide to Donegal cashmere and how to wear the fleck goes into styling.

The blends: cotton, silk, lambswool and merino

Not every Johnstons knit is pure cashmere, so read the composition line.

Cashmere and cotton comes as 78% cashmere and 22% cotton, in 19 pieces at Coveti, mostly 2-ply. The Bay marl jumpers and cardigans are the women’s core; the Bay Grey Marl Cashmere & Cotton Cardigan is $1,590 at Coveti. Men get Murchison and Donachie in the same yarn.

Cashmere and silk is 74% cashmere and 26% silk, brushed, in 8 pieces. The men’s Paxton Grey Brushed Cashmere-Silk Jumper is 3-ply and $1,320 at Coveti; for women there are the Boyce jumpers and cardigans and a Mack cardigan.

Lambswool, at 100%, covers 17 pieces, from the Blyth cardigans and jumpers to the men’s Craigie crews and Rusky argyles. The Blyth Grey Lambswool Cardigan is 3-ply and $840 at Coveti. Merino appears as 100% superfine merino in six women’s pieces, the Greer vests and Ina trousers. Woven coats use 90% wool and 10% cashmere, among other mixes.

How to care for it

The house’s care advice splits by how the cloth is made. For knitted cashmere, comb the surface gently to lift small balls of fibre, hand wash with a shampoo made for cashmere, reshape after rinsing and dry naturally. Never tumble dry. Store it in a drawer, a box and a breathable bag with cedar wood balls. Our guide on how to wash cashmere at home follows the same order.

For knitted merino and lambswool, the house says hand wash at 40 degrees C with a mild detergent, rinse in lukewarm water, never wring, reshape while damp and dry flat on a towel. Woven cashmere, such as scarves, stoles and throws, is a dry clean job; between cleans, shake it and hang it so dust falls away, and spot clean marks with a soft cloth and mild detergent.

Always fold knitwear; never hang it. Tailored outerwear is the exception and goes on a sturdy shaped hanger in a breathable garment bag, never plastic. For knitwear that needs more than care, the house works with Cashmere Circle, a Scottish aftercare company, on a repair, revive and recycling service.

Johnstons of Elgin cashmere around the world

In the UK, a 2-ply crew earns its keep from October to April: alone on mild days, under a coat when it turns cold. In the US the same piece is a sweater, and in the northern states it works best as a layer under outerwear. EU buyers in cooler cities can treat it the same way, with a shawl collar cardigan such as the Pioneer worn in place of a jacket indoors.

GCC buyers spend most of the year in air-conditioned rooms, which suits the lighter end of the range. Superfine T-shirts and 2-ply cardigans make sense for evenings and travel, and for cool interiors. Sizes run in letters from XS to XXL, with some styles in XXS and some in double sizes such as XS / S. Prices at Coveti are shown in US dollars, and Coveti, based in London, ships worldwide.

Which to buy first

If you own no Johnstons yet, start with a 2-ply crew in a colour you already wear. It is the house’s most common construction, so it is a fair way to judge its cashmere. If you live somewhere warm and want the house’s lighter line, start with superfine. If you want texture, a Donegal jumper gives you the fleck in one piece and goes with plain trousers. If you want a cardigan to wear like a jacket at home, look at the 6-ply Pioneer shawl collars.

Before you order, check the garment measurements on the product page; our Johnstons of Elgin size guide shows how to read them. For the men’s line in full, see the Johnstons of Elgin menswear guide, and for the mill’s history, who is Johnstons of Elgin. Everything else is in the full Johnstons of Elgin collection at Coveti, and every piece is 100% authentic.

Every ply in the Johnstons of Elgin edit

By yarn

How we measured: ply is the figure Johnstons of Elgin prints on each product page (‘2-Ply Construction’). We grouped the 267 live Coveti pieces that state a ply on 1 November 2026; 166 pieces, mostly woven coats, shirts and trousers, give no ply and are left out. The weight labels come from the brand’s own bullets, ‘2-Ply Yarns (Lightweight)’ and ‘3-Ply Yarns (Midweight)’; the house does not label the other plies. The yarn table counts every composition carried by at least five pieces.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Johnstons of Elgin cashmere come from?

The house says its cashmere comes primarily from Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, all from farms certified by the Sustainable Fibre Alliance. It blends fibre from Mongolia and China to balance durability and hand feel. The fibre is then woven at the Elgin mill and knitted at the Hawick mill, both in Scotland, so the yarn is sourced abroad and the garment is made in Scotland.

Is Johnstons of Elgin cashmere made in Scotland?

Yes. Woven goods are made at Newmill in Elgin, which has been a vertical mill since 1811, and knitwear at the Hawick mill in the Scottish Borders, opened in 1980. Product pages print Made in Scotland, Knitted in Scotland and Woven in Scotland; 381 of the 433 Johnstons pages at Coveti carry one of those three lines.

What is the difference between 2-ply and 3-ply cashmere?

The difference is the number of yarn strands twisted together: two in 2-ply, three in 3-ply. Johnstons labels 2-ply yarn as lightweight and 3-ply as midweight, and gives no label to its 4-ply, 6-ply and 8-ply. More ply does not mean better cashmere; it suits a different garment. At Coveti, 195 pieces are 2-ply and 53 are 3-ply.

What is superfine cashmere at Johnstons?

Superfine cashmere is the house’s finer, lighter line, printed on product pages as 100% Superfine Cashmere. Coveti carries 78 superfine pieces, 52 women’s and 26 men’s, including the Beatrice, Honor and Elise styles for women and the Fin jumpers and polos for men. Thirty of the 78 print a ply, and all thirty are 3-ply.

How should I wash Johnstons of Elgin cashmere?

Hand wash knitted cashmere with a shampoo made for cashmere, reshape it after rinsing and let it dry naturally, never in a tumble dryer. Comb the surface gently to lift small balls of fibre. Woven cashmere such as scarves and stoles should be dry cleaned. Fold knitwear for storage and keep it in a breathable bag with cedar wood balls.

Which Johnstons cashmere piece should I buy first?

A 2-ply crew is the plainest place to start, since 2-ply is the house’s most common construction: the Lunan crew for women and the Rory crew for men. Choose superfine if you want the house’s lighter line for layering, a Donegal jumper if you want flecked texture, and a 6-ply Pioneer cardigan if you want a shawl collar to wear like a jacket.