Advice on seaming 100% cashmere yarn?

[fish_echo]

Sometimes I leap into things without thinking all the way through, without reading all the instructions, or without thinking ahead for all what the instructions might be...

Which is why I now have a patchwork blanket made with a variety of yarns to piece together, and I'm looking at the patches made with 100% cashmere yarn, wondering what to do next. I reclaimed the yarn from a jumper at a second hand store and the shoulder seams were reinforced with some non-cashmere yarn. Of course, it's not until now, when I've knit everything up, that I'm wondering if maybe that means that seaming is complicated when working with 100% cashmere yarn. (My original plan was to use blanket stitch on all the seams.)

So, does anyone have advice on what I should be doing with regards to seaming the 100% cashmere patches?

Cheers!

x-posted to fish-echo and knitting

Comments

No seaming isn't complicated with cashmere yarn

[jazzypom]

Cashmere yarn is a softer yarn, true, but if this blanket is going to be laid flat and not moved around, that should be fine. What other fibres are you knitting the cashmere with? What sort of stitch do you plan to do (Mattress? Backstitching? Whipstitching? etc)?

Re: No seaming isn't complicated with cashmere yarn

[fish_echo]

Well, it's going to a household with toddlers, so I rather assume that it'll occasionally get abused...

The other patches are wool or woolen blends (variously with alpaca/llama, silk, synthetic). I'll use one of the wool yarns for the actual seaming. I was planning on blanket-stitch, both for the edges and for the intra-blanket seamings.

So perhaps I ought to reinforce the seams around the cashmere blocks... /ponders

[indeliblesasha]

Shoulder seams are a special case, as they support the full weight of the sweater when worn, and it's very important they keep their shape. I would imagine that is why the shoulders were reinforced.

I think that unless this blanket is likely to be drug around by toddlers and used for building forts you are probably just fine. Maybe take a little extra time on the cashmere pieces to make sure they are secure and stable, and do some research on seaming and have a few options before you get started.

[fish_echo]

Good point about the structural purpose of shoulder seams. Sadly, there will be toddlers (and judging from myself as a child, saying 'no playing fort with the blanket' would accomplish exactly nothing with regards to preventing fort construction). So I ought to reinforce the cashmere seams, I suppose. And go do some reading on seaming. Although I'm now feeling a bit more positive about my ability to actually incorporate the cashmere blocks into the blanket. 'Twould have been a pity to have to exclude them :)

[indeliblesasha]

Ha ha ha ha. I have actively taught my toddlers to build the forts, so I have only myself to blame LOL

Something that just came to mind, do you have enough of the cashmere blocks to make something smaller...a lap throw or such?

[fish_echo]

:) Blanket+pillow forts are awesome! :D

I do have enough cashmere blocks (+ unknit yarn) to make a lap throw, which was the backup if seaming was inadvisable. But I'd really rather incorporate them into this blanket -- I like how the variety of colour and texture works with the cashmere included. And I'm a little bit impatient and don't want to knit replacement blocks! ;P

[indeliblesasha]

Oh yes, knitting replacements when you already have lovely pieces finished would be soul-sucking kind of work. *nods*

I wish you the most luck, and hope you will post pictures here once you're finished. I'd love to see it. :)