A Troubled Relationship

It's official.

I can no longer work with alpaca fiber.

A couple of years ago I was the spinning judge for an alpaca show, and apparently 6 weeks of working with alpaca fiber samples (up to 6 hours/day) pushed me into a full-blown allergy. Since then, alpaca fiber feels like bailing twine - even though in my mind I can remember how soft and wonderful it was when I first purchased it.

In the last couple of weeks I've tried to do two separate projects with alpaca yarns from my stash. Within a matter of hours, my hands start to itch and burn...and I have to stop. I had thought at first I could get away with working with it a little bit at a time....but in the way of allergies it gets worse each time I pick up the project.

Sigh.

With that in mind, I've decided to destash all of my alpaca yarn. If any of my knitting readers are interested, you can find them listed on my Ravelry Destash page. I don't have a lot - but some of it is really nice stuff.

I'm actually quite sad about this development. Alpaca is a wonderful fiber that produces some lovely, lovely results. It's highly irritating to not be able to work with it.

But oh my goodness...

I'm so glad I don't have problems with sheep.

Comments

Paula said…
Join the club. The Daybreak that I made in Blue Sky Alpaca/Silk nearly drove me crazy. When I put it around my neck it felt like needles pricking my skin. Fortunately I can sell it to a friend who admires knitting and wants a special gift for his wife. I hope she is not allergic too.
angela said…
Wow, that sounds like quite an allergy. I think a friend of mine mentioned just those symptoms too. She too is stubborn and doesn't want to give up the fiber. It is so silky soft...but bamboo is too. There's such a broad field of fiber left.

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