I have just had a very frustrating experience with Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere! I bought this wool a few weeks ago on an impulse, it is bright red and the idea of knitting something cosy in 100% cashmere appealed. (I’d seen Elizabethtown and fell in love with Kirstens bright red hat!)

On my shopping trip the other week I purchased a copy of the Pure Cashmere pattern book which had several hats and also a pair of handwarmers. I knitted several pairs of Fetching handwarmers at the end of last year which I sold for Breakthrough and have been meaning to knit myself something similar ever since. Particularly as one pair of Fetching was bought by a work colleague and I see her wearing them every day.

Friday evening I cast on to knit a pair of bright red, cashmere handwarmers - and about 2 hours later I was sewing them up. Very simple 2×2 rib squares with a button hole for the thumb just knit until the wool ran out. I wore them last night when we walked to a friends for dinner and they were incredibly soft and warm….

Photos taken under electric light so don’t show up as red as they really are. The colour is a true pillar box red. (as usual click on the photo to see larger and more photos in flickr)

…so, this afternoon I cast on to knit a simple Moss Stitch (US=seed stitch) Beanie which called for 2 skeins of cashmere - just what I had left. I knit the rib and then started on the Moss Stitch. I was rather surprised when the first skein ran out before the work measured 3″ from cast on as the pattern called for me to work straight until the work was 6″ and then work 9 decrease rows for the crown…I checked my tension (US=gauge) and it was spot on….oh well, I thought, maybe the rib takes more wool or something.

The second skein seemed to be disappearing very quickly and measuring my work it wasn’t getting anywhere near 6″…it eventually ran out when I had worked just over 5″ so 2″ short. I checked my tension again, definitely right. What was the problem?

I unpicked and decided to measure the wool - both skeins measured less than 37 metres yet the ball band states the skein should be 45 metres. No wonder I’d come up short, I had 16 metres less wool than I should have! I weighed the skeins on my kitchen scales, although I don’t have electronic scales (I have old fashioned balances with weights) so I can’t say exactly what they weigh the DEFINITELY weigh less than the stated 25g.

This wool cost me £28 including postage so I am not at all happy.

Just to end on a happier, fluffier note and for no reason other than I think he’s the cutest thing on four legs - here are some pictures of my cat, Simpson, indulging in his favourite activity - sleeping.

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 19th, 2007 at 12:17 am and is filed under Knitting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.