January 15, 2010
allergy woes
i have been experiencing more and more allergy reactions to fiber over the last several months. first i thought it was everything but i found that the allergy is actually more specific. how specific? i'm still trying to figure it out.
gaia shoulder hug (a reversible triangle shawl by anne carroll gilmour) in noro silk garden sock yarn (40% lamb's wool, 25% silk, 25% nylon, 10% kid mohair) -- got this far (a few hours on the weekend) and ended up with hives on both hands, face and neck which lasted for two days.
aestlight shawl (a traditional shetland shawl by gudrun johnston) in windy valley muskox (majestic blend: 80% merino wool, 15% qiviut, 5% silk) -- shawl is nearly complete (i ran out of yarn, which is another story) and have had no reaction thus far to knitting this fiber.
superfine alpaca (11.5 oz) - attempted to spin this last night and this morning -- no more than 5 minutes last night with no discernible reaction. then, sat and spun for 5 minutes this morning and left hand (drafting hand) turned red, bumpy and ITCHY. itching spread to neck and face. i stopped immediately and boxed up the fiber, marking it with a note about the allergic reaction so that i don't stupidly pick it up again. i'm still waiting for the reaction to subside and it's been at least 20 minutes since i stopped spinning.
wahhhh!
a
