The Cat ate the Cashmere!

Kevin, looking cute despite being a holy terror.

It was a grey, cold, wet and windy day.  I had finally started my level 4 homework.  I spent the summer playing around with trying to spin Lopi type singles, practicing with cotton on both a takhli and the wheel and then pretending that I like to spin novelty yarns.

  Finally, I felt energetic enough to start my homework.  After the fiasco of the 3 ply spiral attempt, I set to spinning Cashmere.  My first assignment was 100% cashmere, which turned out nicely, despite my not really liking it much.  It's soft, fluffy and lovely, but not something I'd really use much of as it's way too expensive to use for weaving,  too expensive to make into mittens for the  wool sensitive menfolk around here and too frou frou for anything I'd use such a fine yarn for.  However I washed it up and it turned out even better than I expected.  I set it to dry.

100% Cashmere yarn with lots of Kevin chewed ends

Then Kevin decided he wanted to go outside.  He's still not putting weight on his hurt leg, despite the passing months, so he's not allowed outside yet.   Then he wanted to sit by the screen door to gawk outside, but it was, as above, cold, wet and windy; not a day conducive to leaving a drafty screen door as the only protection against the elements.  I shooed him away and shut the door.  Then Kevin wanted to play in the Icelandic fleece I was sorting and prepping to wash.  I had to pick him up and move him away.  Finally, he grabbed the prepared packets of sorted wool locks that I was ready to wash.  He started wrestling and rolling around with them.  I took them away and started to wash them.   Kevin wandered off sulking.  In a few minutes he came back, rubbed up against my legs and went off to take his morning nap.

When I went to set the packets of wool locks to dry, this is what I found.  The darned cat chewed up my 100% Cashmere yarn.   Don't tell me they don't have some sort of miserable thought processes which seek revenge or try to make a point.   I'm going to have to spin a whole new 100% cashmere skein.  I hope I have enough fibre left.

Polwarth/Cashmere yarn which is delicious.

I mixed up two blends with the Cashmere, one Merino and the other Polwarth.  The Merino turned out to be too long to really work as I'd hoped.  However today, I finished plying the Polwarth/ Cashmere blend, which I love.   It's soft, bouncy and yummy.  I've way more than I need for a sample, but not enough to really do anything with.   I'm keeping the details on how I spun it so that once I'm done with the rest of my Cashmere homework and have a bit of time, I might be able to spend a bit of time spinning up more.  It would make an awesome shawl.