Funny, I also didn't plan on any xmas knitting this year. it's too much of a stress factor for me. In fact i'm just not gifting this year, save for my son and a friend in England that always sends me something.

Who will be the lucky recipient? Cashmerino is so nice to work with!

My list was going to be so EASY this year, a cardigan for my husband's grandmother and a pair of knee socks for my mom. I started the cardigan early, had to rip it out because of gauge issues, and now it's December 5th and I am all panicky that I'm not going to get everything done! Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!

I also planned on none this year, but then realized I had to knit a scarf for my work Secret Santa because I have for the past few years and I don't want this year's recipient to feel left out...

I NEVER knit gifts for Xmas (at least not since the late 80's-early 90's when I knitted my mom an Aran vest). In fact, I rarely knit for others with the exception of my grandkids. So why am I knitting this year? Got me - but I am knitting hats for my 2 great nephews (the great Elann pattern for sock yarn), elbow length fingerless gloves for the 10 year old great niece & a Wallaby for the 20 month old great niece. And felted oven mitts for the adult nieces & nephews & something (I haven't decided what yet) for my sister. I don't know what got into me - maybe the fact that the little ones are SOOOO appreciative - they absolutely love anything I make for them

You know, there's like no cashmere in the DB cashmerino, don't you? See the Knitters Review forum topic at http://www.knittersreview.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=66581
It's been awhile since all this was discovered and discussed, so I'd thought all the knitbloggers would know by now.

Yes, Anne, I work at a yarn store and we definitely heard of the controversy. It's a difficult issue to take an absolute stand on since DB and KFI don't really acknowledge that there's any sort of problem and the whole thing blew over so quickly. The yarns that the one store tested could have been improperly spun. There might be cashmere (possibly less than claimed) in the properly spun yarns. This is certainly the claim of the distributor. Or perhaps they've come up with a microfiber that imitates the feel of cashmere and have been passing it off as genuine cashmere.

Cashmere or no, I absolutely love the yarn! It feels fabulous and is priced the exactly the same as other similar quality yarns like Cashsoft and Aurora 8, so I'm perfectly satisfied with it. And the pattern is called "Man's Cashmere Scarf", so the fiber content of the yarn I use won't change that. (That kind of title always annoys me, for example when I knit the Children's Cotton Hats from LMKG, I have to call them that so folks know what the pattern is, but I've never used cotton for them!)

Now if you want to get outraged about Debbie Bliss Cashmere, look no further than the DB Pure Cashmere which may have less yardage in it than it claims to. Everyone I know who's knit something from the Cashmere book has had to use many more skeins (and more yardage when subbing) than the patterns call for. A quick measurement of a skein or two in our store and we found 20% fewer yards than indicated on the ball band. These skeins may not have been representative, but at $15 a skein and at the small yardages that luxury fibers are put up in, it seems even more crucial to get those yardage details and pattern requirements right.