Full of sweaters...

I have two sweaters on needles currently.  One for me, one for my husband.  The husband sweater was originally going to be a surprise (Facebook and Twitter peeps, this was the secret sweater), but I gave up so he knows about it now.  The me sweater is out of the yarn I got in exchange for the rabbit angora sweater I made, then realized I was allergic to.

The husband sweater has been in the works for quite some time now.  I started the me sweater about two weeks ago.

Guess which one looks like it's going to be finished first.  XD

Allergies Blow

So, my last pregnancy completely changed my immune system.  Things that I am now quite violently allergic to now that I wasn't until the minute my sweet baby was born include such diverse items as avocados, pistachios, and rabbit angora.

The big problem with this (other than no more quacamole) is that while I was pregnant I made myself a most lovely sweater with a rabbit angora yarn, which you can see at right.  Doris freaking Chan even commented on my Ravelry project page.  I was able to wear it maybe six times before I had the baby.  Afterwards, I kind of figured it was just too hot to wear it.  Rabbit angora is after all one of the warmest fibers.  But even in the depths of Colorado winter, while I still loved the sweater, it made me want to tear the skin off of my arms.

I have fortunately been able to trade my lovely sweater for yarn to make a new sweater (thanks, Sarah!).  I wonder, sometimes, which of us came out ahead on that one... but not very often, because I'm busy trying to decide which pattern to make with the pretty, pretty yarn.

The swatches, they LIE!

Just about every garment pattern out there says in no uncertain terms that you really, REALLY ought to swatch, to make sure that your FO turns out the right size.  This is all well and good.  I highly recommend swatching, for what it's worth.  But the problem is, sometimes swatches lie.  When I was pregnant with my youngest, I made myself a lovely cardigan.  One of those open front ones, so my belly could stick out the front while I was pregnant, and once I was done I could still wear it if I wanted to.  It came out just a teeny bit on the small side, but that was ok, because I swatched and knew it would grow a little bit when I washed it.  And grow it did.  The first FIVE times I washed it.  Now it is too big.  This is something of a moot point really, as it has angora in it and I seem to have developed a post pregnancy angora allergy... but maybe I could have worn it over a long sleeve shirt!  It is PRETTY!  So I suppose the point of this post is to whine.  The problem is probably that the extra weight of an entire wet sweater can sometimes stretch yarn further than it would have without the extra pull.  But it still makes me sad for my pretty blue too big sweater.

Thoughts on fiber: Alpaca

Yup, I got tired of coming up with cute titles for these.  Blame the children... they have been throwing up on me all weekend, and I am exhausted!

Alpaca is currently a very popular fiber.  This is understandable, as alpaca is (generally speaking) delightful to work with.  It is soft and smooth.  If you like natural colors, alpaca can be your friend, as the beasties come in about fifteen kajillion different colors.

The downside of alpaca is it has absolutely no memory.  Seriously, look at South American fashions from back in the day... see any ribbing?  Cables?  Nope, not a chance.  Ribbing done in alpaca just sort of sags out of shape, and doesn't do any of the things ribbing is supposed to do, except maybe look cute.  Even for lace, many knitters complain that 100% alpaca is too saggy to properly show the pattern.  Of course, this isn't necessarily a BAD thing... you just have to figure out how to use it.  One of the easiest ways is to just mix your alpaca with a nice, springy wool, like merino.  That makes you loose some of the unique alpaca qualities though.  My advice is simply to choose your patterns very carefully.  Crochet edgings can lend your work support.  Make something that's supposed to be soft and drapey, and it will work just fine!

The other big deal with alpaca is that it is supposedly hypoallergenic.  This is true, but not the way most people think it is.  Hypoallergenic simply means that something is less likely to cause an allergic reaction than similar substances, not that it's impossible to be allergic to it.  Believe me, you can be allergic to alpaca!  It is simply less common than wool allergies.  In addition, alpaca contains no lanolin, which eliminates lanolin allergies entirely.  So if you're allergic to wool, it is certainly worth a try.  But don't pin all your hopes and dreams on it.