Comments on: idea we love: recycled cashmere blankets

By: Making Stuff: Cashmere Baby Blanket | This Mama Makes Stuff

Making Stuff: Cashmere Baby Blanket | This Mama Makes Stuff — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:45:39 +0000

[...] in 2007 I spotted these upcycled cashmere baby blankets and I sent the idea to the “I’d like to make something like that” file in my [...]

By: Elegant Linens

Elegant Linens — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:42:08 +0000

If you’re looking for the perfect gift for someone who has everything, visit http://www.cashmereblanketshop.com/. We offer a beautiful selection of Cashmere Blankets and cashmere blend blankets available in a variety of colors and styles. We also offer cashmere throws and shawls. Our products are made only from the highest quality materials to ensure softness that will last a lifetime. Our sales associates are available to answer any questions you might have.

By: Elegant Linens

Elegant Linens — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:52:53 +0000

What a clever idea and I like the idea of recycling, but I would check out http://www.cashmereblanketshop.com/ for some really beautiful Cashmere Blankets. They offer 100% cashmere, but also wool/cashmere blend that is still quite soft and a little less expensive. This is a great website!

By: betts

betts — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:37:21 +0000

I too find the price for these items both outrageous and to add my granddaughters term “greedy.”
I have been making these for several years now, they make great gifts and cost very little when everything comes from a thrift store.
ANYONE, repeat ANYONE can make their own…or pay someone to put it together after you find the sweaters and prepare them for sewing.
It is important to support the crafters and artist in our respective communities and in the online community, they bring such fun and creative things into our lives and most of them keep their prices within a reasonable range for buyers, this however is ridiculous.

By: GlobalNomad

GlobalNomad — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:14:03 +0000

I agree, this is a very simple DIY project for a rainy afternoon. But the idea of giving someone a special gift of cashmere is great, so for a nice gift to give someone special, I found a super soft cashmere scarf in a box set at http://www.redlanternstyle.com that presents really well.

By: somethin else

somethin else — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:13:13 +0000

i am very familar with crispina’s blankets and while i have always loved them, they have been out of my price range. this company is new to me and i agree, the prices sem to be a bit unreasonable. i understand that raw materials are quite costly and time is valuable. crispina produces everything in massachsetts, so there is the real cost of labor involved.

By: melanie watts

melanie watts — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:32:18 +0000

very interesting post. I made a wool blanket out of old merino, angora and lambswool sweaters, my own and thrifted. I blogged about it here. I was inspired by "Alterknits" which I got for Christmas and the Crispina recycled wool blankets I saw on Treehugger. It cost me less than $30 to make.

By: miranda

miranda — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 07:57:22 +0000

I’m pretty sure that the book I mentioned above is Leigh Radford’s “AlterKnits” – which is wonderful and stylish, by the way.

By: birgit

birgit — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 20:53:00 +0000

I bought one of the baby blankets when I was pregnant because I really like the patchwork of colors….my son is now 3 months old and loves being wrapped in it to fall asleep. Seeing him rub his face against the cashmere while his eyes are starting to close…somehow that is well worth the money.

By: miranda

miranda — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 05:37:08 +0000

This is insanely, scandalously easy to do. At my local Goodwill, a cashmere sweater (usually with some moth-holes) goes for around $3.

The only thing that comes close to justifying the price for these blankets is that, unlike some other DIY versions of this that I’ve seen, there seem to be a large number of different pieces used in each blanket. I can’t remember which book has a pattern for a similar blanket made of recycled sweaters, but the patches in it are fairly large and you only need something like six sweaters. It might have been an issue of “ReadyMade.”

If you’re not hell-bent on using cashmere, you can usually find many more lambswool and merino sweaters at thrift stores in areas that actually have a winter. (Not in Florida, where most of the sweaters on offer are cotton or light acrylic.) They make a nice blanket too.