Cashmere: Knitting Properties
Cashmere is the down undercoat of cashmere goats — extremely soft, exceptionally warm, and proportionally expensive. A small percentage of cashmere blended into a wool yarn transforms its softness; 100% cashmere is the luxury benchmark of hand-knitting.
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Fibre characteristics
Cashmere fibres are very fine (14–19 microns) and short (35–50 mm). The fineness is what makes cashmere exceptionally soft; the shortness makes it pill more than wool.
Cost and availability
100% cashmere yarns are 5–10x the price of comparable merino. More commonly, cashmere is blended with merino, silk, or BFL at 5–30% to lend softness without the full cost.
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Best uses
Luxury accessories: scarves, neck warmers, fingerless mitts. Lightweight sweaters worn next to the skin. Baby items where softness is paramount and the small project size keeps cost manageable.
Care
Hand-wash with extreme care. Cashmere felts easily and stretches readily. Dry flat. Store folded with cedar or lavender deterrents — moths love cashmere.
Abbreviation reference
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CYC | Craft Yarn Council |
Tips
- A small percentage of cashmere (5–20%) in a blend lends most of the softness with much of the durability of the base fibre.
- Hand-wash cashmere — even superwash treatments do not eliminate the felting risk.
- Store with moth deterrents; cashmere is moth candy.
In depth
Cashmere has been the luxury fibre of hand-knitting for centuries. Its softness comes from the fineness of the fibre; its cost comes from the small amount each goat produces (about 250 g per goat per year). A single cashmere sweater represents the down from 4–6 goats.