Natural vs. Not

Over the years I have become a huge fiber snob. If it isn't wool from some cute or not so cute animal or plant derived I don't want to even look at it. There was a time I was completely against wool. I was young and foolish and didn't understand the finer points wool offers. Still, every once in a while I venture into the world of plastic yarn with the catchall name of acrylic be it nylon, microfiber, what have you. The one microfiber yarn I tolerated I can no longer find. Figures. I used it for children's wear. Not because children normally detest wool due to its tendency to be too scratchy but because wool needs to be cleaned differently than petroleum based yarn. New parents, or whoever may be doing the laundry, may not appreciate or have the time to hand wash or after machine washing, lay the tiny item flat to air dry. Easier to toss the item into the washer and dryer and be done with it. But as I said, once in a while I go astray.

This size 4 pullover is made from a nylon/acrylic blend. Made by a well known label I will not name because they have many fine fiber lines and I don't want to cast dispersion for one failure. The color on purchase was a  screaming lime green. Just right for active little boys and girls or 50+ year old women who have way too much lime green in their wardrobe. Everything went well until I gave it a soak using a mild soap and warm water.

 Notice the discoloration? Somehow turquoise showed up in the soaking bath leaving the yarn blotchy and uneven. This knitter is not happy. I have been duped by the Acrylic Demon again. I try to keep an open mind and give plastic yarn a chance but this annoys the BAJEEVEES out of me.

To calm myself and get back to my world of happy thoughts, sunshine and daisies I start a new project. Well, first I grabbed an Opa Opa IPA to get in the zone. Then I hit the stash for a tried and true wool that would not fail me.

 I pulled out the piece of scrap paper I call a pattern from my last aran to make another, changing the center panel from a celtic braid to a saxon braid or vice versa, I can't remember. Doesn't matter to me but it may bother the originator of the stitch design, my apologies. I snagged both from Nicky Epstein's Knitting on the Edge.

This puts me behind in my list of knitting projects now that I have to redo the tiny tot sweater with a yarn that will make both myself and the intended caretaker happy and stress-less. Washable wools are fine but I still prefer them to be air dried so I must put on my thinking cap and come up with a solution. Meanwhile, I'll knit and purl and twist 6RC or 6LC while the Patriots, Red Sox or whatever BBC series I've borrowed from the library entertains me. Sufficient time will need to pass before I take in hand another acrylic based yarn, no matter who manufactured it.