What to make with these?

#1

Opinions wanted!

Okay, so, I really would like to make something for my partner, who can’t stand any amount of wool against his skin. He isn’t allergic, but it just makes his skin crawl, no matter how soft or how little wool is in the fibre.

So yesterday I bought one ball each of a few different fibres, to try making something small with them so he can try them on or at least try them made up on his skin to see if they irritate his skin.

These are what I got:

Blue Sky Alpaca Silk (50% Alpaca, 50% silk) in dark grey, 146 yds/133 meters
3 ply, rec. size needles: 3-5 US/3.25-3.75 mm
"Polished sheen, sumptuous handle and elegant drape all wrapped up in a blend of nature’s most inspiring fibers."

GGH Safari (78% linen, 22% nylon) in lavender grey, 140 meters
3 ply, rec. size needles: 3.5-4.5 mm
Linen over nylon core, from a blog: “no bloom at all and is very tightly wrapped, the end result looks less like fabric and more like cord knotted together into patterns”

freedom Sincere (100% organic cotton) in light blue, 115 meters
DK weight, rec. size needles: 6 US/4 mm
"perfect for summer knits, baby and sensitive skins"

Rowan Fine Milk Cotton (70% cotton, 30% milk protein), in light grey, 164 yards/150 meters
lightweight, rec. size needles: 2 US/2.25 mm
"beautifully soft cotton based", “a great choice for babies because it is ph balanced so kind to their skin”

So…what do you think i should make out of them that would use up each single skein? They don’t have to be for a man, they can be for me or someone else… ruffled cuffs? fingerless glovelets? I’m trying to find something more interesting than a small narrow scarf! :slight_smile:

I’m actually quite looking forward to knitting up these test pieces. Should be fun. I’m off to Knitty to see if there’s anything there…but any opinions of something more original than a scarf would be warmly welcomed!

ETA: I forgot – it has to be something that he can wear long enough to figure out if the fibre irritates his skin, so no socks or size specific anything, and it has to touch skin!

#2

I’m not allergic to wool, but I’m very sensitive to it and so far I haven’t found anything I can wear for any length of time. I know from experience (and friends in the same boat) that the neck/shoulders/chest area is the most sensitive. If you really want him to test something it should be something he can wear on his neck like a scarf type thing.

You really don’t have much of each yarn so it’ll be hard to make a whole scarf, but maybe a scarflet or neck warmer would work. I don’t speak metric so you’ll have to figure it out, but here’s a site that gives approximate yardage needed for various things.
http://www.fiber2yarn.com/info/how_much_yarn.htm

And here’s a few patterns for small items that might work.


http://www.knittingsoftware.com/pinteractivepatterns/demo.htm
http://people.delphiforums.com/knit_chat/knitchat/patterns/bowscarf.htm
http://daniellelandes.com/blog/?p=267

#3

I’ll check those out right now!

I was thinking maybe this necklace for the linen.

This search on The Oregonian’s knitting blog also got me quite a few ideas!

#4

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/03/crochet_flower_necklace.html
Some just posted this -I think it’s cute. (I’ve love to see your man wear this for a while!!)

Lots of jewlery ideas here: http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/jewelry.php

#5

LOL – yes indeedy, some of those would definitely be a bit of a hardsell…“look, only for an hour, okay?!” :roflhard:

I rather like this whole “one skein” or less thing…bit of a challenge!

I’ve also discovered that, to my massive surprise, 2.5mm needles aren’t hard to use at all. I was afraid they would be…

I do like that flower necklace!