journey mitts

Monday, September 25, 2017

These mitts truly are journey mitts.  Journey Mitts are made from a cashmere that works perfectly with cables or any other interesting stitch combination you would want to work with.  The yarn begins it's journey in Kyrgyzstan where it is gathered from goats of small family farms goats.  It then travels to Britain where it is finely spun.  From there it lands in Maine at the Saco River Dye House.  What a wonderful Journey it has had before it even lands in the hands of those who love to work with yarn! To me, it wasn't the typical cashmere "feel".  So, I decided to check in with the fine folks over at June Cashmere so that I could understand what this yarn was all about.  I reached out through email and a phone call (a little stalking happened) and received the most wonderful reply from Amy.
Here is what she said:

I'm happy to tell you about the yarn. We have the yarn spun in England and Scotland where care is taken to mill the yarn as tightly as possible. Being a short haired fiber (like cotton), we gain strength and durability in the yarn by spinning it tightly. This, along with the plying, add firm stitch definition that pops in cabling, textured patterns, and lacework. The garments we have made from the yarn spun in this manner have not pilled. I have noticed that other, more loosely spun cashmere yarn begins to pill even before knit, so this is a choice on our part to create a yarn to make heirloom projects that will last and last.

For dyeing, we choose organic dyes at the Saco River Dyehouse in Maine. Because cashmere is a short fiber, the yarn will still have the short ends along the yarn that we may not see but can feel. What we do not choose - but have been offered - is to have the Dyehouse finish the yarn with a chemical that will in essence smooth and 'fill in' those short fibers so that the yarn feels softer. We are opting for a product that is the most 'natural' that it can be. 

To answer your question, yes--when you wash your finished garment, it should bloom and soften and you should be able to own your garment for a long time.

I wanted to share so that you, too, will know that this yarn is a cashmere that will show and hold the love and joy that went into each and every single stitch for many, many years.

Pattern:  Journey Mitts
Yarn:  1 skein  DK June Cashmere  in Slate.

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5 comments

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Is the yarn less soft because of the tight twist and ply? Do the mitts still feel like wonderful cashmere?

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  3. The cable definition is amazing!

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