Yarn of the Month: Nordic Yarn Eco Cashmere

The yarn of the month this time is one of my favourites: Nordic Yarn Eco Cashmere.

Nordic Yarn is a Finnish family owned company that produces it's yarns close to Firenze in the industrial area pf Prato, which is one of the biggest yarn producing areas in Europe.

Ecologial and ethical

Eco Cashmere is the crown jewel of Nordic Yarn, and it's their most popular yarn. But why is it called Eco cashmere?

Nordic Yarn Eco Cashmere is 100 % cashmere, but 50 % of it is virgin cashmere and 50 % of it is recycled cashmere. The recycled cashmere comes from the leftovers of textile industry, for example cutting waste. The recycled material is sorted by color and used in the yarn already dyed. New virgin cashmere is imported from Mongolia, where it's combed from the goats, sorted by quality and wasted. In Italian factory it is dyed with ecological colors and then combined to recycled fibres and spun into a yarn.

This is how Eco Cashmere yarn is produced. This process gives the yarn it's special ecological value. In this process is been used 76 % less water, 66 % less energy and produced 78 % less carbon dioxides compared to a yarn that's 100 % virgin cashmere. So the difference is significant.

Also ethical issues are been taken into consideration when producing this yarn. Cashmere is world widely very appreciated and sought after finer and the producers have lots of pressure to produce it more efficiently. The fibre to this yarn is sourced from shepards with traditional nomadic lifestyle. This way it's assured the wellbeing of animals and human beings.

Feel

Eco Cashmere feels wonderfully soft and light. It's breathable and warm. It's these qualities that make it so appreciated and valued. It's also worth to mention that due to the special production process where short fibre from recycled cashmere and long fibres of the virgin cashmere are being spun together, this yarn is less pilling prone that virgin cashmere. When pillin occurs, it's easy to remove with cashmere comb of a lint remover.

The gauge of this yarn is 22 stitches per 10 cm or 4 inches. You can use it to make accessories that come close to the skin. It's perfect for beanies, scarfs and gloves for example. And it's my absolute go-to yarn for pullovers. But don't use it for socks, it's too soft and you'll end up having a hole in your sock in no time. On a cold winter day it's wonderful to wrap yourself in a warm and soft cashmere sweater and let it hug away the cold winter frost.

Quality

One thing that's important to remember when you're buying cashmere is that it's a luxury yarn. Cashmere is very valued yarn for it's superlative qualities. But there's only a limited amount of cashmere available every year, because the cashmere goats produce the undercoat in a limited area, mostly in the mountains in mid Asia. This means that cashmere is not a cheap yarn, and it's not supposed to be cheap. If you find cheap cashmere, it's either a blend or low in quality. When you buy cashmere, you buy quality, which is also a part of the ecology of the yarn. A cloth made of good quality cashmere is basically forever, when you remember to care for it. Eco Cashmere is a very high quality cashmere yarn and it's worth every penny. Try it, and you will see it yourself.

Rating

Ecology and ethics ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Feel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Quality ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Where Can You Buy It?

Nordic Yarn Eco Cashmere is available in my web shop (click here). I use it a lot in my designs. In my web shop there's also Knit Kits with this yarn. Knit Kits include everything you need to make the design: yarn, needles, tag and instructions. And these designs are not available elsewhere. See all Knit Kits here.

Next Week I Will Publish a Free Patter For This Yarn

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