Well, here we are! Another month of Yarnbox excitement! :D I’m sad to say that this will be my last Yarnbox for a while. I’ve got so much yarn around here, and my budget is a little cranky. So I’ll be living vicariously through the other members of the Yarnbox Ravelry group! It’ll still be fun. Plus, I’ll be sharing my FO’s made with past Yarnboxes, so I’ll still be involved in the group.
Ahem, I’d like your attention. Not that I didn’t already have it. I mean, you’re reading this, right? Right. So if you’re a Yarnbox member, haven’t received your box for this month, and don’t want the surprise spoiled, don’t click to read more. All the photos are after the read more button below. You’ve been warned!
Okay, so this month’s yarn is something I have never seen in real life — I don’t think… The fiber is yak! Well, mostly. There’s also some bamboo in there. It’s soooo soft and squishy and pretty! I’m trying to decide if I’m going to leave it natural or dye it. I’ll wait until I decide on a project before I cross that bridge!
As a side note about yak: I was concerned about allergies, so I looked into it. I was very pleased to find out that it’s a hypoallergenic fiber! So no allergies for me! Oh, and guess what else I found out — alpaca is hypoallergenic too. For years I’ve thought I was allergic, but I read that it is a very rare and special person who is allergic to alpaca. If you are one of those people, I want to know!
Anyway, now for the photos. :)
Opening the box…
Look at what was inside! I looooove Soak…just saying.
Two lovely, squishy skeins — Bijou Spun Lhasa Wilderness
I like their logo…
See how fluffy the yarn is? Mmmm.
A lot of fiber could be considered hypo-allergenic; what people are actually more often allergic to are the body oils associated with the animal, like lanolin or dander.
Right, I’m thinking that’s what I’ve had problems with, not the fibers themselves. I had a rashy reaction once to some coarse handspun a friend knitted me gloves with, but I haven’t had problems with more processed yarns.
Oh, and I read that fibers (wool, mohair, alpaca, and even acrylic) don’t cause itching as long as they’re below 22 microns. Over 22 is when the prickly stuff starts… It’s all so fascinating! I wish I had learned about this stuff years ago.
Yes in regards to the pricklies! I have super sensitive skin, so for even Merino yarns I have to grind my teeth through it until I get used to the sweater. I wonder if soaking the gloves in a woolwash would make any difference.
I’ve got kinda sensitive skin too (like weeks of itchy bumps if I come into contact with pine sap or certain grasses) but I’ve been okay with superwash merino. Does that make a difference for you?
In this case, I’m not sure it would help much with the gloves because even if it removed the lanolin, it’s such course fiber that it would still itch.
I have some sort of allergy to one of the bushes I used to have in my front yard, it had….green things. I’m terrible at plants. Superwash is generally softer because of the removal of scales, so I’m sure it makes a difference for me!
How about other fibers, like alpaca? Have you noticed any problems with the oils in it? The reason I thought I was allergic was because one time after knitting with alpaca, I wiped my eye with my fingertip and my eye started itching.
I think that’s a valid reason to believe an allergy! I’ve never actually dealt with raw alpaca besides for fondling it, so I don’t have a ton of data for that. I’ve spun processed alpaca and knit with machine processed alpaca with no ill results. I am probably allergic to mohair as I get an itchy feeling while knitting with it that is unusual. My mom claims she’s allergic to cashmere, which I find unfortunate.
Beautiful! Yak. Must look out for this here in my favorite yarn shop…
It really is nice. Are you not getting this month’s Yarnbox?