Grr...

It's October 1st. I figure that means I get to wear my knitwear, right. Just a couple problems with that.

1. All of my wearable knit items are accessories, hats, gloves, scarves, but no sweaters,
2. It's currently 80 degrees outside,
3. Apparently I have the worst skin a knitter can have.

Here's the story. Before I knew what the temperature was, I threw a commercial cardi over my tank top (I knew it was pretty warm and shouldn't layer too much) and since the cardi was grey, I figured I could throw on my grey and white mobius scarf made from Cascade Eco Duo. This yarn is 70% alpaca and 30% merino. By all accounts it should be amazingly soft right? Well I had it on for about 60 seconds before it started itching.

I always figured that my issues with sweaters were just due to the awful acrylics being made in the early 90's. But since I always found sweaters itchy as a kid, I didn't really wear any until I started working. Even though I knew how to knit at this time, I was spending my time and energy on classes, subbing, and eventually working, so I still didn't knit anything myself, and I was no where near using natural fibers at this point, so all my sweaters were commercial acrylics, but over the 20 years I spent not wearing sweaters, manufactures had solved many problems and I didn't have any problems anymore. Every now and then my mom would get me a nice merino sweater, and I think she even got me cashmere once or twice, but they always felt itchy, so I wore them infrequently and only with a camisole or tank top underneath...

It seems that my wool issues are fairly confined to my torso as I can wear wool gloves, socks, and hats with no problems. This makes me think that chances of a local allergy are very slight.

I have always had very dry skin, and have noticed fewer problems with natural fibers when I use lotion for several days, but this is not a strong suit of mine.

Maybe this has contributed to my lack of sweater knitting. I have knit a long sleeved shrug out of commercial yarn from Michaels, and the fibers started pulling apart and feathering while I was blocking it. This experience has left me resistant to knitting an entire sweater out of acrylic yarn.

So I'm a bit frustrated by my skin's lack of cooperation today. I'd love to hear about anything that has helped any of you with sensitive skin issues, or with acrylic blocking tips.

Until next time, I'm going to ignore the thermometer and bundle up with my knits and maybe some ice cream.