Allergic to wool

There's a new book out called No Sheep for You with patterns for nonwool yarns. There's also a section which discusses how different fibers behave the way they do, and how to pick the right one for whatever you're doing.

Knitpicks.com has a new yarn that's a cotton/linen blend which is fairly inexpensive.

sue

ooh, that book looks so lovely, although seems i can't get it here yet.

can't find the cotton/linen blend on knitpicks, but they have decentprices so i'll be bookmarking that :) Thanks! Lynda

It's called CotLin and is a new one, but in searching for the link on the board I read it on, they did take it down. One person commented that they'd sold half their stock and will put it back up the end of the month. It will run about $2.50 per skein. I forgot to mention that elann.com has quite a few inexpensive cotton and linen yarns, possibly some hemp.

sue

snipped-for-privacy@nospam.gmail.com spun a FINE 'yarn':

Not saying you're not, but 90 % of people who THINK they're allergic to wool AREN'T, it's the soap, the dye, etc, but that's another thread another time. How about ALPACA? How about Cashmere? I see that our Suzee has already responded, so I'll jump back out. Hugs, and WELCOME, post again! Noreen

--

---> avast! AV: Outbound message clean.> Virus Database (VPS): 000722-3, 03/08/2007> Tested: 3/8/2007 4:00:36 PM> avast! - (c) 1988-2006 Noreen, I'm 100% sure I'm allergic, it comes up on a patch test. I will tell you that MOST medical professionals must believe the same thing you do because they always ask me about allergies and i always tell them wool and they don't write it down, but rather look at me as though i didn't understand the question--- which leads to nurses in maternity wards trying to insist i treat my breasts with LANOLIN..... ugh! Thank God i knew better than to put THAT .. THERE! And fyi, many people who have sensitivities to soap are actually reacting to lanolin (wool oil) in the product.

I'm not sure about the other wools like alpaca and Cashmere, i'm afraid of wool so i just stay away. alpaca is from goats, yes? goats and sheep are both in one class of animal (sub-class of ruminant quad.. can't remember atm) so i'm not sure if i can touch that.. and what's cashmere from? is angora from bunnies? I'm not allergic to bunnies! :D (there's an angora sheep for angora, though, isn't there?)

Sue, I've checked out elann before, but will keep checking, thanks for the info!

cheers, L.

Sheep or goats, but don't know if they produce lanolin. Cashmere is from certain goats I think, and may not contain lanonlin either.

You're welcome. WEBS, yarn.com, is another source. I keep remembering these one at a time, darnit.

sue

No, alpaca yarn is from the animal the alpaca. Alpacas are really cute. Go here for a bunch of pictures:

in that group is the llama. They're part of the group calledcamelids. I think the yarn that comes from sheep is the only one calledwool. Alpacas actually have hair, not wool. According to Wikipedia, theirfleece contains NO lanolin, making them almost hypoallergenic. I find somewools bother my skin, but have never had a problem with alpaca.> goats and sheep are both in one class of animal (sub-class of ruminant> quad.. can't remember atm) so i'm not sure if i can touch that.. and> what's cashmere from? Cashmere is from goats.

Yes, I think so.

(there's an angora sheep for angora, though, isn't there?)

Have no idea. I thought the angora was strictly from rabbits.

Elann is a wonderful place (grin). I just bought some Rowan Tapestry yarn from them yesterday at a very good price. Here in Canada it sells for $9.95/ball. I got it for $6.31/ball.

Good luck in your search. Shelagh

snipped-for-privacy@nospam.gmail.com spun a FINE 'yarn':

Alpaca is from a Llama related camelid. :D Noreen

hm. :/

yes, you're right, bunnies. :) I keep buns, maybe i'll have to switch breeds and get a wheel! :D

thanks from Montreal! where are ya, Shelagh? :)

" snipped-for-privacy@nospam.gmail.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@h3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

ok. you're allergic to *lanolin*, not wool. that makes more sense. however, *most* people who claim to be allergic to wool are really allergic to the chemicals used in processing or dyes, not wool itsself. and, fyi, most soaps don't contain lanolin. too expensive. most "soaps" on the market nowadays are detergents. what *i* react to in soap/detergent is artificial dyes & scents.

no. alpaca is from alpacas, which are related to llamas, guanaco & camels. no lanolin. they don't actually produce wool. they produce hair.

yeah, but goats don't produce lanolin either. just because they are ruminants doesn't mean anything as far as hair. ruminant is simply the digestive process they use.

cashmere is from cashmere goats. mohair is from Angora goats. neither cashmere or mohair contains lanolin. there's no such thing as an angora sheep. angora rabbits produce angora fiber. other non-lanolin containing natural fibers would include musk ox quivet & yak, camel, llama, even dog. however, there are a whole slew of new plant based knitting fibers hitting the market now. you might want to also look at bamboo, corn, soy, etc. fiber. soy *has* to be better for knitting than eating (in that it couldn't possibly be worse...) lee

enigma spun a FINE 'yarn':

Lee, when I read your post, all I could think of was Bill Murray in that one military movie (can't recall the name) where he has his 'men' say:

"that's the fact, Jack!"

Noreen

At least three of the first ten Google hits I got for [goats lanolin] address this, and all say that goats don't produce lanolin.

"Goats have neither the layer of body fat nor lanolin-laden wool that sheep have. So, goats sometimes need shelter from cold rains and chilling winds."

"The grease in a goat fleece in not lanolin."

"Sheep skins are softer [than goat or calf skins] because they have got natural lanolin."

According to

and information on a couple of other Wikipedia pages, Angora wool comes from Angora rabbits, and mohair is what comes from Angora goats.

It was $5.35US, and I hear they're out of it already....

sue

" snipped-for-privacy@nospam.gmail.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@h3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

no, it's not. it's pretty annoying if you have Angora goats, too, trying to explain that they produce mohair, not angora :) Angora rabbits aren't *from* the Angora region either, so i have no idea why they get the angora lable & the goats don't. horribly unfair to the goats. i don't have Angora goats anymore, thank heavens! i still want a Pygora though... (pygmy Angora cross) i do have llamas, 2 of which (Perl & Cisco, half siblings) have fiber to rival alpaca!

the rabbits are pretty yummy too...

well, dog hair yarn is technically illegal in the US, but you can sometimes get it from handspinners. i suspect that there isn't really any commercial dog yarn anywhere. quivet & yak are *expensive* (but oh, so soft! & fantastic insulating properties). i also want yaks... qiviut (i spelled it wrong) here:

a deep breath & sit down first though.peaceofyarn.com offers yak fiber for spinning, but all the yarn i found was 50% merino (wool). i'll keep looking llama & alpaca should be fairly easy to find. i tend to use my llamas for felting. the yarn has poor memory & can get baggy, but it's very warm. alpaca is frequently blended with silk & that is wonderful stuff!

bamboo:

try: 's another Yarn Market page. that particular one is for varigated colors corn yarn, 'A-MAIZing' brand.here's South West Trading Company's site. they make/distribute the soy, corn & bamboo yarns. the site has patterns & such too.

really? i have it all over. the goats don't eat it (good thing actually. it'd poison them) & it's a perennial that spreads by both roots & seeds. it's rather hard to get rid of just by hand pulling, but i mostly just try to keep it in check. it's the only food source for Monarch butterfly caterpillers & Tufted moth caterpillers lee

VP

Why is it illegal? I live in Sweden and have been known to felt hair from my collie using my Babylock Embellisher machine. So far no one has threatened to send me up the river to the Big House. :-)

Erin

Erin spun a FINE 'yarn':

I THINK selling dog hair as fibre in the US is what's illegal. Many of us DO spin doghair for ourselves and friends..... JM2C, Noreen