Last night I was in Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft store and a 100 gram skein of Kashmira by Sensations jumped in my basket. Sensations is a house brand for Jo-Anns, so I was not too thrilled. How could something like that appeal to a yarn snob like myself?
It is about gansey weight - 260 meters for 100 grams - nothing special there.
Is is 10-ply!, constructed as 5 x 2-ply. Ya, it is special.
The fibers are about as fine as those in Frangipanni and Wingham's, but are longer. Long fibers are good. The wool has some luster - that is good.
The density is high enough that it is a very warm yarn, but not so dense that the fabric is heavy. This yarn produces the warmest fabric for its weight of any yarn that I have tested. On my #1 needles it produced about 7 spi, and that is how I would knit it.
If you want to knit a garment that is very light weight, but very warm, this is the yarn. I do not know how fabrics from this yarn will stand up to life, but it is an amazing yarn.
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Edited to add on 8/29/2011: I have not been observant. I have been spending too much time spinning and not enough time shopping for yarn. There are a number of (new??) highly structured yarns (lots of fine plies) that should fun to knit and provide outstanding fabrics.
It is about gansey weight - 260 meters for 100 grams - nothing special there.
Is is 10-ply!, constructed as 5 x 2-ply. Ya, it is special.
The fibers are about as fine as those in Frangipanni and Wingham's, but are longer. Long fibers are good. The wool has some luster - that is good.
If you want to knit a garment that is very light weight, but very warm, this is the yarn. I do not know how fabrics from this yarn will stand up to life, but it is an amazing yarn.
______
Edited to add on 8/29/2011: I have not been observant. I have been spending too much time spinning and not enough time shopping for yarn. There are a number of (new??) highly structured yarns (lots of fine plies) that should fun to knit and provide outstanding fabrics.
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4 comments:
Aaron -- are they marketing this as a worsted weight? I can't quite see their recommendation for needle size, is it 7?
This is excellent to know, seeing that I can't spin my own yarn yet. Thank you!
Thanks for the technical analysis of Kashmira. I came across it a couple of years ago. Since then, I've knit a pair of mittens using, as I usually would for mittens, much smaller needles than recommended. They are much warmer than mitts or gloves I've knit previously. Can't say how durable they are--I just finished them last spring. Regardless, I really liked the Kashmira.
Piquita,
They say size 7 or 4.5 mm for 20 stitches and 26 rows.
It does not seem to be a yarn with a lot of "fill". At 5 spi it is not going to be real warm - just a wonderfully light yarn with very good stitch definition.
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