As it turns out, the acrylic yarn feels gross, splits, and doesn’t show any kind of pattern. After I switched to cotton yarn; and made three small dishcloths in different patterns, I tried the acrylic yarn again. It is soft. And I like the color. I still think it feels yukky and is difficult to manipulate. I knitted about ten rows of a ribbed scarf pattern before I made the final decision to chuck the yarn. So, into the donate pile it goes.

I got the circular knitting needles that I ordered for my birthday, from Knitpicks. They are every bit as wonderful as Marne, and the ladies from the knitting group have said. Saturday, one of the other ladies in the knitting group had her set, also pretty new, so I got to preview them and oh and aw. Mine arrived Saturday evening – of course.

DD is completely interested in the knitting, in all things crafty really. But she’s just learning to write. So I don’t want to try to teach her to knit or crochet yet. As she will probably get frustrated and hate it. I am on the lookout for one of those knitting/weaving devices made specifically for children her age who are interested, but need a bit more growing up before they can move on to crochet hooks and knitting needles.

I remember making all kinds of ugly potholders on one of those things when I was a preschooler. God bless my mother for telling me they were so wonderful. Though, she may have been just thankful that I was occupied for hours.

I got the No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights
book on Saturday too. It has all these fantastic patterns that are totally over my head, in addition to lots of non-wool fiber information. It has a whole section on hemp yarn, which I find terribly scratchy. But I don’t find cashmere scratchy. And I think alpaca feels nice. Though I haven’t tried to wear it yet.

What? by Jayegirl99

I am going with the long fiber and scale theory of itchiness – that it is the length of the fiber and occurrence of scales that makes something itchy or not, rather than that it came from a plant or animal. I’ll find out anyway. My plan is to buy several random cotton blend, linen, and alpaca blend yarns and see what itches or doesn’t, how it holds a pattern and then try to make something simple.

Aware of my novice knitting status, several people helpfully pointed out this weekend that cashmere comes from a goat. And that alpaca is a completely different sort of animal. Which is really funny, since I wore cashmere for years and thought it came from a special breed of sheep. And I insisted on DH driving a certain way home so he could identify the weird animals near our house – which turned out to be alpacas.

So that’s my plan, to purchase some random yarns this coming weekend. And then try them all out. And definitely, definitely chuck the acrylic yarn.

Related posts:

• Learning to Knit
• Fried Turkey

Cashmere goats by cramsay23

This has not carried over into yarn so much, or specifically sweaters. I used to crochet (not well enough for sweaters). And DD and DH both have blankets that I crocheted for them. DDs is very cute. DHs is an odd color combination to me. But he picked it out. And he likes it. So there you go. Both of those are acrylic, which is not my favorite. Because after a while, it pills and can look very cheap. And if I can choose something not a petroleum product, I will.

So here is what I found out about fabric/fiber and eczema:

• Cotton is king. (I knew this.)
• Silk is queen, because it has hundreds of microfibers and is very smooth. But it can have resins in it that are irritating to some people.
• Bamboo and rayon are breathable, natural fibers. They rank next.
• Wool is the number one itch offender. But not all wool is created equal. Wool is classified by microns, which is the thickness of each strand. The thicker the strand, the scratchier the surface. The finer the strand, the smoother the surface.
• Cashmere, angora, and alpaca are names of animals. I’m sure you knitters and lovers of animal husbandry say duh. But I did not know until recently. I thought cashmere and alpaca were types of sheep, not different animals altogether.
• Since cashmere is finer than many wools and comes from a goat some people who cannot tolerate wool can wear it.
• Alpaca, an animal, not a sheep. Finer than wool, potentially tolerable.
• Angora, from a rabbit and claims to be hypoallergenic, even to those with very sensitive skin.

Obviously, these things are somewhat subjective. But I post it here in case it can be useful to somebody else, and for commentary.

Close-up of baby alpaca by m_morgavan

I read more than one article by dermatologists claiming that silk must be dermablend, the kind that is antimicrobial and used in hospitals. But I have always found ordinary clothing silk to be pretty skin friendly, especially if hand washed.

My experience with bamboo has not been the best. The bamboo fabric I’ve encountered has been extremely thin knit and has run. I’m thinking this may have been a fluke. I can’t see it having become so popular if it ran all the time. It was not at all itchy. I’m thinking I will give it another try.

I’ve had very good luck with wool blend suits that are lined. They wear well. And if they are blended with rayon or something and lined seem to always be comfortable.

I can’t even be in the room with an angora sweater. I don’t know what that’s about.

I am about to give up on lining these three sweaters that belonged to my grandmother. They are 100 percent wool. And even lined, they itch me like I am on fire. I find this so sad. They fit me perfectly. And I really prefer to keep them.

I wonder if I can justify consoling myself with a cashmere sweater or a silk scarf.

Related posts:

• Acrylic Yarn is Yukky

Cotton Tablecloth

I was able to find a nice gold Provencal pattern.

Provencal Pattern

Oh, and I found complimentary chair cushions too. Yeah.

New Linen

Related posts:

• Acrylic Yarn is Yukky
• Cotton and Other Natural Fibers