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	julesnoctambule 2009-02-12 09:31 pm UTC (link)
	I don't know; go into any knitting community and say 'Acrylic is great!' or state the knitting style you prefer and people will go foamingly batshit before you can blink. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sistercoyote 2009-02-12 09:36 pm UTC (link)
	You and I must hang out at different knitting communities, because I haven't seen much acrylic vs. wool vs. God's Magic Pubic Hairs wank lately, and I've never seen much of a battle between English vs. Continental vs. Combined. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	julesnoctambule 2009-02-12 10:22 pm UTC (link)
	So we must. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sistercoyote 2009-02-12 11:34 pm UTC (link)
	Kind of a shame, actually. I kind of miss acrylic vs. wool grudgewank, and can only imagine that knitting style wank is epic. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

julesnoctambule
2009-02-13 01:22 am UTC (link)

My new favourite is 'WHAT?? YOU MEAN YOU DON'T LIKE NORO? ARGHFRHASHOHSDSKDHSA!!!1' All I have to do is pick it up and I start to break out in a rash, and that stuff is everywhere.

Ooh, and my other favourite is men knitting! My husband knits (more than I do, really), and some women act like men who knit are out to poach their Sacryd Wommynz Ayrts. Except for the ones who run our yarn store; they know he's a sucker for the latest sock yarns!

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	beachlass 2009-02-13 03:17 am UTC (link)
	The thing about Noro is that we're convinced that there is a man in Japan who makes sure that each marvelous, fabulous colourway has a colour in it that you will hate. That you didn't see when you bought the skeins. For my friend, it means all her Noro has surprise!Pink. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	waitwut 2009-02-13 04:31 am UTC (link)
	That's pretty awesome and... probably pretty true. And you can always tell that the surprise!color is the one they tied in with all the knots! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	julesnoctambule 2009-02-13 07:25 pm UTC (link)
	I've heard that about Noro, which add to my feeling that my allergy is a boon! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	beachlass 2009-02-13 07:37 pm UTC (link)
	When I finished up my Noro shawl, the fashion police aka my teenage daughter opined that it was really nice, but why did I knit it in such ugly colours? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

julesnoctambule
2009-02-13 09:19 pm UTC (link)

Just what you want to hear after all that work, of course! I secretly like the occasional touch of lurid pinks or acid greens, but I know better to randomly throw them into the dyepot. There was a sunset last night that had just a hint of lurid pink against the buttercup yellow, bottle green and clear cornflower blue of the sky and now I'm itching to dye some yarn like that.

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	frequentmouse 2009-02-13 06:15 pm UTC (link)
	My maternal grandfather knit all the socks for his family of twelve children; I knew a lot of old logger-types who were fiendish sock-knitters. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	julesnoctambule 2009-02-13 07:18 pm UTC (link)
	Sailors and soldiers have often been keen knitters, from what I've heard. My husband has such a hard time finding decent patterns for mens' items designed for men who knit these days that he's considering writing a few of his own! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	poisonyoulove 2009-02-13 12:58 am UTC (link)
	I don't think I've ever seen knitting style wank. But the acrylic-bashing keeps me out of most of the comms, since that's the only yarn I can afford, and I don't need to be told my work is only suitable for lining a dog bed . . . someday, I shall acquire some of God's Pubic Hair and KNIT A DOG BED OUT OF IT! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

julesnoctambule
2009-02-13 01:18 am UTC (link)

I'm allergic to wool (with the exception of cashmere, o joy); I can handle it enough to spin, knit and crochet it, but wearing it is out of the question. I don't feel in the least bit guilty about wearing synthetic fibers because I'd rather be rash-free than an itchy fiber snob! There are some fine synthetics out there and some shitty natural fibers, but some people don't want to believe that. My personal pet hate is everyone's god, Noro yarn. That's one of the few wools that will kickstart a reaction if I so much as touch it, but you'd think I kick puppies the way some people act when they find out I don't like it!

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	poisonyoulove 2009-02-13 01:26 am UTC (link)
	That's the thing I don't get. I've seen people say that acrylic hurts their fingers to work with, but I've touched wool in stores, and it's mostly scratchy. Much less pleasant to touch than my Caron Simply Soft! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

julesnoctambule
2009-02-13 01:32 am UTC (link)

Some wools are very soft once you get them going even if they feel a little rough in the skein; others are just awful no matter what! I find that acrylics tend to snag a little on my skin while rayon glides and nylon feels a little sticky sometimes. Caron has some nice yarns, but the Dread Red Heart Super Saver makes me itch just to look at it in the skein! I have an afghan my grandmother made of acrylic, probably. . .hmm. . .30 years ago or so, and over time it's worn to a cotton-like softness. I'm glad she didn't use wool, because I love to snuggle down underneath it!

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	waitwut 2009-02-13 04:33 am UTC (link)
	What do you use for rayon yarns? I can't wear 98% of wool because it makes me itch (no Noro rash, for better or worse) and acrylic is... actually usually the same. (I wear a LOT of cotton) blah blah talking about myself. Thanks for any recs you give?! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sailorcoruscant 2009-02-13 04:47 am UTC (link)
	Jumping in to talk about myself and offer some recs... :) Last year I discovered the joys of tencel/acrylic blends for my doctor who scarf. Very soft, and it was priced between wool and acrylic too, so not that bad on my student budget. My favourite non-wool to knit with was the handmaiden sea silk, but that was a gift from a mother who loves me. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	waitwut 2009-02-13 04:50 am UTC (link)
	I do have two, I think, skeins of the handmaiden sea silk (in different colors, of course). I'm keeping them for now simply to pet. Thanks for the recs!! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sailorcoruscant 2009-02-13 04:54 am UTC (link)
	I love the smell of the seasilk when it's new. :) And the colours are great. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	julesnoctambule 2009-02-13 07:24 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, damn. . .if I hadn't been asked, I could remember! I think I got it at elann.com but I'm not sure; I have a terrible time with brand names of items. All I know is that my husband is going to knit me a cardigan! I've had a lot of luck with bamboo blends, too, which is a rayon-like fiber, and I have a purchased soy silk cardigan I adore. (Reply to this)(Parent)

chibikaijuu
2009-02-13 04:31 pm UTC (link)

Acrylic makes me twitch and it really does feel much worse than... anything. And it doesn't breath at all. There are a ton of other synthetic and non-wool natural fibers out there to be used. Nice wool isn't scratchy, but if the fibers are too short it can be, or it can just feel that way if you react to the lanolin (there are only some wools that I can wear next to my skin, but my skin's Sensitive Button is also totally unpredictable. Sometimes I can wear anything, and sometimes all I have to do is roll over in bed and I have a rash.)

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napalmnacey
2009-02-18 06:13 am UTC (link)

HAH! These people don't know history. Back when the Spice trading was starting with the east Asian countries, they tried to trade stuff for wool. And they were like, "WTF?! GTFO! We have silk! What the fuck would we want that shitty stuff for?"

I have never, ever been able to wear a real wool jumper. I just start itching like a bitch. If it makes me cheap and nasty to wear synthetic fibres, then cheap and nasty be I.

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	julesnoctambule 2009-02-18 05:35 pm UTC (link)
	I'd rather be cheap than covered in hives! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	sorchar 2009-02-13 04:07 am UTC (link)
	Me, I'm all about texture and durability. If it's soft and fuzzy like kittens and it's durable, I don't care if it's wool or acrylic or troll hair. I'm wondering if a lot of those people haven't looked at acrylic since the days when it was ALL squeaky, scratchy, and horribly colored. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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