What is so special about 100% cashmere? Well cashmere is one of the softest, most luxurious fibres on the market and once you’ve felt it in its purest form, nothing will ever compare.

These days, many of the top designers and knitwear labels will admit to hardly ever using 100% cashmere yarns. The cashmere is often watered down with more cost effective fibres such as wool, lambswool or merino wool and sometimes even synthetic fibres such as polyester, nylon and acrylic. Cameron taylor* knitwear however, is always knitted using the highest quality 100% cashmere yarns available - although we do admit to using a fine merino wool and cashmere blend for our hand knitted Collection!

There is also a difference between certain ‘100% cashmere’ yarns depending on the length of the fibres used. Higher quality cashmere - such as our Cameron taylor* cashmere which has been spun in Kinross (Scotland) - is manufactured using Grade A cashmere. 

Grade A cashmere is 14 microns (14 millionths of a metre) thick but fibres can go up to 24 micron for Iranian weaving cashmere. The finer it is the more expensive it is, but the softer it feels. Grade A cashmere ranges in length from 34mm-36mm, the longer fibres give higher tensile strength when knitting and better durability in the end product. Meaning that the yarn is less likely to snap whilst knitting and the garment will pill (or bobble) less.

Poorer quality fibres are shorter and thicker making them feel scratchier. Popular high street brands are known for using this poor quality cashmere and using very low amounts of the fibre in what they’d call a ‘Cashmere Blend’, so always check the content label and don’t be caught out!

Shop 100% (Grade A) Cashmere at www.Cameron-taylor.com