Cashmere and Tuesday's Child

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As we round the corner heading into the final stretch of 2012, gift giving season comes up once again.  Many of you know Tuesday's Child Boutique and TuesdaysChild.com as a place to get your children's clothing but not many of you know us as one of the premier websites where you can get Cashmere and wool scarves and other knitwear that make wonderful gifts this time of year and all Winter.

What is Cashmere?

Before we discuss the purchase of cashmere it's imperative to understand what cashmere is, when is it good and why is it so expensive.

While one might often refer to cashmere as a wool ("cashmere wool"), in fact we need to understand that its not a wool which comes from sheep, but a hair from the goat found in the Asia regions. Your typical sheep is a domestic animal and is usually only exposed to typical mild weather elements, therefore it doesn't need to have overly warm covering.  But while your typical sheep is exposed to mild weather, the goats of Kashmir by contrast have to withstand the extreme temperatures of the regions that they are habitat.  This can mean weather WELL BELOW  -30 Degrees Celcius. (-22 Farenheit)

Farmed Cashmere Goats photo courtesy of Devon farms

Cashmir Goat in the wild

Cj Roberts / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

That being said not all hairs from the Cashmere Goat are created equal.  The outer layer of the hair is called the "guard hair" and is not the best for warmth.  The under layer is the cashmere hair that is used to make fibers for garments.  Of those hairs,  the longer the fibers, the less likely they are to pill (or better yet the less pilling you will have) because longer fibers use less of those fibers to make a thread and pilling is in essence the ends of each fiber unravelling.  Longer fibers are therefore more costly.  In addition, the undercoats fibers are thinner than the outer guard hairs and thinner fibers means a softer hand (touch).  In the shearing process which usually takes place at the end of the cold season the quality hairs must be divided from the guard hairs by a process known as de-hairing.

At Tuesday's Child we for the most part  have two companies that we purchase from, Lanificio Colombo and Scottish Producer Alex Begg now Known as Begg of Scotland.  The Scottish are synonymous with Cashmere production so I will not get heavily involved with them and their history which you can read on their website or by googling Alex Begg Cashmere.  Suffice it to say that their Wool/Angora Blend scarves are as soft as most cashmere that you have seen from other companies.  Imagine how the Cashmere must feel!

We do have some residual Murray Alan sweaters but alas, that century old company went out of business and into receivership about 5 years ago.
 

Our Italian Cashmere Sweaters and Scarves are supplied by Lanificio Luigi Colombo, a mill that is comparable to the more known brands of luxury fibers like Loro Piana and is best known for its art of processing and attentive selection to the most famous fibres: Cashmere, Guanaco, Vicuña, Mink, Chinchilla, Ermine and Camelhair.

A passion for high quality fibres serves as inspiration for adventurous raw materials research, which is still expertly conducted entirely in person and includes travel to the most remote locations, while always respecting and protecting the cultures of the places visited.

Their mission as listed on thier website is to create fine garments of unparalleled quality.  Allow us to tell you that they have succeeded!

In comparison, the Alex Begg are of a fluffier nature and a slightly softer hand, however I personally prefer the more firm nature of the Colombo Cashmere.

In either case, your gift recipient will be quite pleased, and so will you!

Next up, some of the Cashmere Styles we have in stock.