Pilling...

Those frustrating little balls of fluff that always appear and emphasize the areas of your body that rub when you do ordinary activities (like swinging your arms when you walk) - these are the areas that scream "Take me to the gym and concentrate here!"

Good news though. Cashmere pilling is temporary! They only appear on new fibers (or so they say). Before washing your garment, remove the pills. Now, pulling the pills off is stretching more fiber out that will pill on the next wearing. Using an old disposable razor (my favorite method) can be tricky because, let's face it, razors are sharp and can cut what you didn't intend to cut (happened to me only once many, many years ago). Sweater (pumice) stones are too rough on cashmere - and I've noticd that sometimes they leave "sand" behind. Ideally, you want a "Comb". I think these went under th brand name "De-Fuzz-It" for a while, but all I found here in the states so far was the batter operated kind.

Once your knitted cashmere item (scarf, sweater, etc) has been washed a few times, it shouldn't pill anymore! :)