Question: What is the fair price for a good quality cashmere sweater ?

Answer:  A fair price is a very arguable and relative thing, as it depends on many different factors, tangible and not. Still as this question is being asked frequently, as one can find a cashmere sweater offer starting from 70 Euros and going over 800 Euros, we can just try to provide some aproximative numbers that can help to avoid overpriced or fake cashmere garments.

A fair cashmere yarn ranges from 100 to 200 Euros per kg, a sweater weights more or less 250g, the production (work) of a cashmere sweater in EU ranges more or less from 40 to 70 Euros for a simple garment, you will have to apply a minimum of 150% from fabric to what you see in a boutique counting different people that have to get payed including the creatives and the fact that the retailer usualy applies not less than 100%. After a simple math work, we will come to a minimum of  200 Euros for a simple garment that carries the mark “made in Italy” or “made in Scotland”.  Paying less than 200 Euros can lead to a poor production quality or poor yarn quality, unless you buy directly from the manufacturer. It is somewhat like wine, you can never buy good wine for less unles you know the winery... When paying more than 400 Euro for an ordinary looking garment you are entering the "risk to pay too much" zone and it is good to know what are you paying for…(e.g. brand name, niche yarn quality,  trendy extraordinary design,  niche quality, handwork etc. etc.)

Question: Why is cashmere yarn so expensive ?

Answer: The true cashmere comes from goats (Capra hircus) who have adapted over centuries to the extraordinary climate of the Gobi Desert in the northern provinces of China and the southern reaches of Mongolia. Efforts to breed the goats elsewhere have been unsuccessful. A cashmere goat grows only four ounces of fiber a year and that is enough to keep it warm through the severe winters of the Gobi Desert. That's why cashmere sweaters provide warmth without weight. It takes the fleece of four goats to make one sweater. Each one has to be combed by hand and then the fleece has to be sorted by hand for color and fiber length.

Question: How can I distinguish a good cashmere garment ?

Answer: If you are new to cashmere the only guideline that we can recommend is just to touch and see whether you love it. A good cashmere should feel hefty and substantial even if it is lightweight. If a cashmere garment doesn’t feel smooth, soft and luxurious, don’t buy it. The other critical factor is density/weight. Pull the sides of the sweater apart and then let them go. The sweater should snap back to its original shape.

Question: How long will last my cashmere sweater ?

Answer: That depends on how you ware, how you take care of it and of course on the quality of the sweater. A fair quality garment will last many years.

Question: What causes pilling ?

Answer: Pilling is caused by the abrasion of short fibers into small balls on the surface of the fabric. As a guideline, some pilling usually occurs in new sweaters, especially if you ware them under  other garments. But the problem will not persist in a sweater after the initial cleaning. Continuous pilling can be result of a high percentage of short  fibers combined with a loosely knit fabric. Low quality manufacturers use  shorter fiber because it is cheaper. They also knit loosely reducing the amount of used cashmere to a minimum. To make  these low quality garments feel better, they are produced with a significant  amount of surface fiber which leads to pilling troubles in long term.

Question: What is pashmina ?

Answer:  Pashmina is a term applied to the wool, and products made from the wool, derived from the undercoat of the Capra hircus goat, a domestic breed raised primarily at high elevations in Central Asia, particularly Mongolia. "Pashm" is an old Parsian word for fine wool. "Pashmina" is derived from Pashm. The common Pashmina shawl is a luxurious mix of the finest, softest Pashmina cashmere and silk. The cashmere comes from the the underbelly of Capra Hircus goat, which grazes high in the Himalayas. The wool is spun and then hand woven with the silk, and finally fringed with twisted silk tassels. Pashmina can only come from goats raised in the Himalayan mountain region. The Himalayan goats produce such exquisite wool because of the elevation at which they live. It is an interesting occurrence in Nature, that the animals which live at higher elevations have much finer and more delicate fiber coverings. These fine fibers, which are protected by coarser exterior hair, are in fact the greatest insulators one can find.

Question: What is a Single Ply, Double Ply

Answer:  Years ago, yarn was referred to by the number of strands (plies) twisted together. This wasn't a problem at the time, because crocheters and knitters understood that a two-ply yarn would be much thinner than a four-ply yarn. Today, however, yarn sizes can range from the finest gossamer threads to extra-bulky yarn. Ply refers to the number of strands twisted together to make a particular yarn – it no longer describes a weight or class of yarn. The diameter of these plies is what determines the weight of the yarn. A very fine yarn can consist of several tiny plies, while a heavy yarn may only consist of one unspun ply.

Question: What is Gauge ?

Answer:  Gauge is the number of stitches per inch and the number of rows per inch a crocheter or knitter gets when stitching with a particular size of yarn and a specific crochet hook or knitting needles.

Question: Is double ply yarn better than single ply ?

Answer:  Yes. Two ply is better than one.