April | 2010 | debby weighs in

Hey there, my cold-handed friends. Here I thought the best part of the last post was my restaurant-ordering success, but most of you picked up on the little bit about my hands being cold all the time.

Maybe you all know this, but thought I’d pass along a little knowledge I have from my days of spinning and knitting.

Did you know that angora (rabbit wool) is seven times warmer than wool? Cashmere is sixteen times warmer than wool! And of course wool is much much warmer than cotton. Silk is also much warmer than cotton. You notice I’m not giving stats on manmade fibers. Because they are warm, most of them, even if they are not supposed to be. Because they can’t ‘breathe.’ Yes, I am a natural fiber snob. I can really tell the difference when I wear natural fiber, and I always prefer it.

Anyway, you might look for some angora or angora blend socks and/or gloves. A word about angora. The reason people think they are allergic to it is because when it is commercially harvested, they shave everything off the rabbit–short hairs along with the long. And so when it is spun, the short hairs just shed and shed out of the yarn or garment. If you are so lucky as to know a hand-spinner, you would find a remarkable difference in the yarn spun from ‘prime angora.’ All the fiber is hand-plucked (when the rabbit is shedding) so each fiber is the same length, and will stay nicely in the spun yarn.

There is some cashmere out there, but it is usually pretty pricey, and not all cashmere is the same. The reason some of it is cheaper is because it is coarser, and might even have some ‘hair’ in it. That is why it might be itchy or unpleasant to wear. Again, prime cashmere is a ‘whole ‘nother animal.’

I am sensitive to ‘itchy’ natural fibers, but I have noticed that they don’t bother me on my hands and feet. After the ‘cold hands and feet discussion, I dug out an old pair of gloves that I had dyed, spun, and knit for myself a long time ago. I wore them last night and this morning on my walks with Noah–heaven!

Here’s a couple of pictures I snapped as I was driving out through the snow the other day. There was a herd of about six deer and one turkey–was the turkey showing off for the deer???