A Little Rant

 Does everyone else get annoyed when some "famous" designers lend their names for products that the prices shoot up like there is no tomorrow?

First I get an email from LoveCrafts regarding "Made With Love by Tom Daley" I thought OK great, he's very creative let's have a look. Hmm, every kit is with super chunky yarn, not for me. I actually hate super chunky yarn. The needles hurt my hands. Then the cheapest is a hat for £35 and the most expensive is a blanket and the XXL sized sweaters and cardigans for £145. Yes it's merino yarn. But when you look closely it's a very loosely spun merino which just screams for pilling. And I really don't want to know how much Tom actually gets from the sale. Peanuts probably.

And this morning I had an email from Deramores "McIntosh at Deramores."

CALM® by McIntosh is award-winning wool - with each cake of CALM lovingly hand-dyed in the UK. CALM is a mixture of 80% Extrafine Merino at only 16 microns and 20% pure cashmere, and has been spun with 'Z' and 'S' twists for a stronger stitch definition.

Extrafine Merino at only 16 microns? Merino wool is between 12 and 24 microns. So what?

Now here comes the issue, cashmere is a very delicate fibre and it breaks easily. Trust me I know I have knitted with cashmere and one wrong move with your needles and snap. Now if you add the delicate merino with a staple length of  90-115mm and cashmere with a staple length of 25-90mm it helps when it's spun in a Z and S twist to make it stronger. That it gets a stronger stitch definition is just a bonus.

To be honest this bit in the description is far more important to the welfare of the animals and I am glad to see it.

"non-mulesed Merino"

But why merino? Why not use British wool? All his other yarn is made of Bluefaced Leicester with or without silk.

McIntosh