Saturday, October 03, 2009

Alpaca Rash?

I've been playing with some Misti Alpaca of the Super Chunky variety.... working on a scarf/cowl sorta idea, with short rows. (I think I'll call it a Scowl since by the time it's cold enough to need a giant cowl, that's what I'll be wearing on my face.)


After three or four hours of on-and-off knitting, and wrapping the piece around my face and neck, I noticed that my eyes were itchy, and there was some redness on my cheek.

This disturbs me no end.

The yarn is a 50/50 wool and alpaca blend. It doesn't seem very sheddy, but I did feel like there were little hairs coming off it as I worked.

If I have to choose, I'd rather be allergic to Alpaca than wool, but it's not a choice I want to have to make.

I spent half an hour or so with it a couple of days later, and nothing untoward seemed to happen, but I am a still a bit worried.

4 comments:

Sel and Poivre said...

I read somewhere that to determine sensitivity to a fiber, just tie a short length to your bra strap, leaving the ends inside the cup. On this very sensitive area you will difinitively know whether you are allergic (it will get red and rashy) or whether its just scratchy yarn (your skin will feel itchy but won't otherwise react)

mmj said...

It's allergy season right now. It is possible that an airborne allergen is bothering you and it is being expressed topically via your knitting.

OK - clearly I'm pulling this out of my ear. I'm just optimistic, is all!

kate said...

I suggest you reserve judgement until you have given it a gentle bath and blocked it. So often we think we are allergic to the yarn
when in fact it is the finishing agent used in the processing of the yarn. A gentle bath in Eucalan http://www.eucalan.com/index.php might just do the trick!! We can hope can't we!

TracyKM said...

Is it possible the ball was dusty?