I found some %100 hand-died Angora hanks at my LYS this weekend. $50 for 90yrds. It was softer than I had previously imagined, almost supernaturally soft.
Unfortunately, after handling some of the hanks my nose felt a bit itchy then worse then worse. It felt like I had hairs all over my face and I just couldn’t get them off no matter what I tried. It took several hours to recover.
Perhaps I have a mild allergy. Anyone else have this problem? I’m almost glad as it saved me at least $50. :teehee:
ooooooooooooh bunnnnnnnny fur…i probably did experience it when i was using it but honestly, i don’t think i cared cuz it was just so soft to pet!
I have the same problem. I also end up feeling like I have tiny hairs in my eyes too =(
Usually I wash my face before handleing yarn, rabbits, fur, or any other furrry critter. It helps a lot. I think makeup and dirt, and oil act as glue!
If you do get fur on you, I usually just use some powder if I don’t want to disturb my makeup or am too lazy to wash my face. I suppose you could use baby powder or talc.
I don’t really wear a whole lot of makeup these days. :eyebrow:
Is anogra always so pricy? $50 for 90yr is out of my budget.
I’m told that $50 for 90yrs of hand-dyed %100 angora is actually a good deal.
sadly most of what I have found really is a splurge kinda thing. Even though I think it is worth the price, I still don’t think that it would be something I could knit with a lot…just too 'spensive… :verysad:
Just a little note here, the owner of my LYS, A lady i’ve really come to love (she is as sarcastic and snobby about yarn as I am), briefed me on Angora.
She told me that here in the dry climate of AZ, angora is extremely difficult to preserve as it gets eaten by our pests in short order. She told me the only way to be sure it’s protected is to keep it in the freezer. :teehee:
well that’s convenient isn’t it…lol
Ooh, brand new to this forum and a question I can answer.
I knitted the Featherweight Fantasy shawl from Best of Knitters’ Shawls & Scarves in the original yarn. It was a 100% angora from Fingerlakes Woolen Mills. After just a little bit, I could feel it at the back of my throat. If I worked with it too long, my eyes would get red. And I don’t have any animal allergies. It was just too beautiful to stop, though.
It wasn’t too awfully expensive. I’ve certainly seen worse. $16/180 yds. Took three skeins for the shawl I made, about $45.
It was amazingly strokeable, though.
Troy in NJ
Yea, I’ve never, knock on wood, had any problems with allergies to anything in the past. I’ve even been to an allergist, he poked me with what seemed like thousands of needles. In the end he said I had no allergies to anything.
BTW: welcome to the forum NJTroy.
If it makes you feel any better, anytime I use mohair or angora I feel like a cat with a hairball. But that usually doesn’t stop me using it ! :wall: I’m a hardhead.
Seems a lot of people are sensitive to those little hairs, regardless of prior animal allergies (I’m not allergic to cats or dogs, for instance). I try to avoid using them if it’s for a project for someone else unless I’m positive it won’t give them a hairball, too. :roflhard:
Yea, I’ve never, knock on wood, had any problems with allergies to anything in the past. I’ve even been to an allergist, he poked me with what seemed like thousands of needles. In the end he said I had no allergies to anything.[/quote]
It’s possible to develop allergies. I never used to have season allergies until the last couple of years. And sometimes people will eat something for years and all of a sudden get a food allergy.
But if it’s really sheddy, like it sounds, then it probably just sheds little fiber bits that get everywhere and irritate your eyes and nose and stuff.
Ooh, brand new to this forum and a question I can answer.
I knitted the Featherweight Fantasy shawl from Best of Knitters’ Shawls & Scarves in the original yarn. It was a 100% angora from Fingerlakes Woolen Mills. After just a little bit, I could feel it at the back of my throat. If I worked with it too long, my eyes would get red. And I don’t have any animal allergies. It was just too beautiful to stop, though.
It wasn’t too awfully expensive. I’ve certainly seen worse. $16/180 yds. Took three skeins for the shawl I made, about $45.
It was amazingly strokeable, though.
Troy in NJ
Hmm… Deja-vu
Are you malfunctioning NJTroy?
Fleece Artist Peter Rabbit is hand dyed and you get 50grams, 250 yards for $19. It’s 70% angora. It has a lot of fluff, but I think the nylon and wool content help keep the shedding in check. Don’t get me wrong, though, it does shed.
http://www.knitty-noddy.com/component/page,shop.yarn_flypage/product_id,1818/category_id,/option,com_phpshop/
I decided to go with angora for my mother’s scarf (from the post of What to do? Scarf yarn choices), but didn’t want to use my Peter Rabbit. It seemed like such a waste of my subtle color shifts, carrying it along with that bling yarn. So I got some Louisa Harding Kimono yarn, which is also 70% angora, off of Ebay for a good price.
http://www.knittingfever.com/knitpatterns.asp?manu=Louisa+Harding&yarn=Kimono+Angora&prodid=4519&prodtype=yarn&detail=no
I’ve read that if you have lots of fly-away fibers that are getting into your eyes and nose, you can put the yarn in the freezer beforehand and it helps. I haven’t tried it, though.
I felt the same sensation, only not as extreme, when knitting with Lamb’s Pride Brown Sheep. I chalk it up to the mohair. I have severe allergies to cats and dogs, but most wool doesn’t seem to affect me. Maybe you’ve found your achilles heel.
Better off, I’d say, at $50 a skein!