Composition and characteristics
Composition:
97% recycled cashmere, 3% extra fine merino woolYarn weight: about 300 meters for 50 g / 328 yards for 1.8 oz
Type of yarns in category: Baby, Sock, Fingering.
Knitting gauge swatch: 30 stitches e 40 rows in stockinette stitch for 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4 in.
Crochet gauge swatch: 27 stitches e 35 rows in single crochet for 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4 in.
Description
For over a century, regenerated fibers have been one of the symbols of our textile district. The renowned “rigenerato pratese” (Prato regenerated wool) is born from recycled wool produced through cenciaioleria, the traditional craft of sorting, recovering and transforming textile waste and used garments.
What began as a system driven by economic necessity has, over time, proved to be a true forerunner of the circular economy: in Prato, large‑scale textile recycling was already a reality long before sustainability became a shared global value.
Today the district is recognized as one of the world’s leading hubs for textile recycling, thanks to advanced technologies that carry the regenerated tradition forward in a modern, highly specialized way. And it’s not just wool that is regenerated anymore: even precious fibers like cashmere can be reborn.
CASHLOVE is made precisely from these fibers, because beauty and sustainability can go hand in hand. The yarn is made of two fine plies twisted together softly and evenly to achieve a perfectly balanced handle with no stiffness. The result is a versatile yarn, pleasant and easy to work with: it flows naturally through your fingers and creates knits with a defined, harmonious look. The fabric grows evenly and precisely on the needles, with edges that stay flat and well defined.
It’s rare to find a yarn capable of bringing together so many qualities: softness, warmth, elegance and a crisp final look, combined with the ease of working it in all kinds of stitches and patterns, whether you knit or crochet.
Techniques
Cashlove is worked with fine knitting needles and crochet hooks, in proportion to the yarn, so around size 2½, to achieve the right fabric. For a lighter, more transparent effect you can use larger sizes, while for an even denser result you can go down by half a size.
With knitting needles, stocking stitch, which highlights the basic stitch pattern because it is so clearly defined, can be replaced with any other stitch pattern, whether textured or lace, including ribs, cables, bobbles and other fancy stitches, where the designs will appear clear and distinct. The structure of the yarn which, despite its softness, remains nicely defined, makes it possible to obtain neat, straight edges.
With crochet, single crochet is used to achieve a very compact fabric, but taller stitches can also be worked without any difficulty, because the structure of the yarn means you can keep several loops (i.e. yarn overs) on the hook without problems. You can therefore create raised textures and a variety of stitch patterns.
This yarn seems naturally suited to garments, for all kinds of womenswear and menswear knitwear (dresses, pullovers, jackets, vests) and accessories (gloves, hats, bags, backpacks).
With the loom: we worked the yarn using a reed-heddle loom with a 48:10 reed (5 ends/cm). For twill weaves, a denser sett is recommended. Despite being a delicate yarn, it does not tend to fibrillate or break during processing.
It is also perfect for weaving, macramé, needle punch and tufting projects.
Tips
When you buy a yarn for a hand‑knitting, crochet or machine‑knitting project, whether it is a garment or an accessory, it is important to always keep the ball bands, the cone or at least the inner label until the work is finished. In this way, you can keep the dye lot and/or batch number of the yarn close at hand. This information will be useful if the yarn is not enough to complete the project: you will need to ask your supplier for a ball from the same dye lot or batch to avoid colour differences. Using yarn from different dye lots in the same piece, in most cases, causes the so‑called “striping effect”: subtle shade variations which, although they may seem invisible when you compare the balls, become obvious once they are knitted or crocheted up.
:
