Cashmere Bliss

I've been dabbling in recycling sweaters made of luxury yarns from sweater back to yarn for a few years now.  I've found alpaca, merino, silk, cashmere, even yak.  Cashmere is my favorite.  It comes from the cashmere (kashmir) goat that lives in some seriously mountainous, cold and rugged terrain.  It has outer guard hairs, but it is the soft downy undercoat that is the prize, it is what the luscious yarn is made of-super fine and extremely warm.  It is also very spendy - just the yarn for a sweater would be about $250.  I have frequently found and reclaimed cashmere sweaters in the past, and it is such a pleasure to knit with, but the yarn is very, very fine and can be difficult to unravel, I usually think the extra effort is worth it.

It is rare to find a 100% cashmere sweater made up in anything other than a laceweight or fine gauge yarn.  A dk or worsted weight is sort of the holy grail for cashmere loving sweater recycling yarn junkies such as myself.  After years of searching (and five dollars at the thrift store) I've finally found one, and it is mine, all mine!

This lavender cabled turtleneck is going to be transformed into about 1200 yards of scrumptiousness.  I wanted to get the photos taken first before I deconstruct it.  I don't know if I'll keep it lavender or if I'll dye it, but I know I want to make a wrap/shawl out of it-sort of an adult blankie to wrap around me when things get chilly, or hard, or I just need a hug.

This stuff is sooooo thick and sooooo soft.  It will be a treat to transform it into something I'll love forever (that would not be a too tight turtleneck sweater).

My best guess, before disassembling, is that it is worsted weight.  That's a nickel there, about an inch across, and it is measuring about 4.5 to 5 stitches per inch.

New To Me

I did a round of my favorite Thrift Stores recently, and found some new ones up in Martinsburg WV to visit-the result was a lighter wallet and a few very nice items and a pleasant couple of hours treasure hunting. I got three handmade baskets that are already put to use, tidying up the kitchen and dining area, I've shown my favorite here.

A cast iron enameled skillet also made it's way to the kitchen. It's navy blue and heavy, with a cast iron gridded skillet surface. It cleaned up beautifully but I haven't used it yet, I still have to season the inner surface.

I was fortunate to find a few beautiful cashmere sweaters that will be unraveled and turned into more beautiful cashmere yarn for me to knit with. I found aqua, black and dark red cashmere sweaters that will yield a lot of laceweight yardage.

I was most tickled by my sterling silver (stamped .945) ring with an (allegedly) amethyst faceted stone in a unique bezel setting. It was my most expensive splurge at $20. I've got it on right now, and it fits perfectly.

There were other things; cookbooks, bestsellers, needlepoint reference books and some Pyrex refrigerator containers. Of course the best thing of all was the flexibility timewise and workwise to be able to thrift (yes, I use it as a verb) midday coupled with the thrill of a treasure hunt. Many, many days I leave with nothing, but not always.