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Glossary · Knitwear

Lambswool vs Cashmere

Lambswool is wool from a sheep’s first shearing — soft, springy, resilient, and hard-wearing. Cashmere is the fine undercoat of cashmere goats — extraordinarily soft and warm for its weight, but the fine fibers are more delicate, pill more easily, and cost far more. The honest framing is a trade, not a hierarchy: lambswool wins on durability and value, cashmere wins on softness and warmth-to-weight. A cheap cashmere sweater is often worse value than good lambswool, because low-grade short-fiber cashmere pills fast. Judge by fiber grade and construction, not just the luxury word on the label.

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