Dr Who Scarf

[jan_andrea]

Okay, the universe wants me to make David a Dr. Who scarf.

I was reading my Google Reader feeds and clicked on a pattern for a neat looking scarf. While I was checking it out, David glanced over and said, "Oh! Could you make me a Dr. Who scarf

Comments

[apis_mellifera]

Are you *sure* it's wool in general that makes you itch and not just coarse wool? There is a ton of variety out there in terms of wool and there are definite differences between them--I would have said that wool made me itch before I started knitting and learned more about the fiber and the different breeds of sheep.

That said, Knitpicks.com has a decent line of cotton blend yarns that may be suitable--I'm thinking specifically of Shine Sport which is $2.50 for 110 yards so, if they have the colors you want, you could get enough for around your target price. If they do not, they do have a cream yarn that you could over-dye with fiber reactive dyes to be the right colors--heck, you might even want to check Etsy for folks who do custom dye jobs and see what they charge if you don't want to faff about with that yourself.

[jan_andrea]

Unfortunately, it's all wools -- I even handled some alpaca and it made me itch :( Seems to be the proteins or something, I don't know. It's heartbreaking, though; even cashmere is out of the question :P

Thanks for the link! I'll check them out :D

[webhill]

Jan, alpaca do not have wool. Only sheep have wool. I can absolutely understand that you might find all animal fibers bothersome, and hey for all I know you have multiple fiber allergies -- but I am just commenting on your use of the term "wool" to describe alpaca fiber. it's not actually correct. Cashmere is also not a type of wool.

Now, if you are at all inclined to double check and see if you are truly wool-intolerant vs "just" scratchy-wool intolerant, you might consider snuggling some Malabrigo wool just to see. If not, don't bother :)

All of that said...my husband hates wool, but LOVES the llama-silk blend I just made him a hat from. And that said, that stuff was mucho dinero, so it won't help you.

Hmmm. how about a nice cotton??

[jan_andrea]

Thanks for the clarification :) Animal fibers it is. I spent a good 30 minutes at my LYS fingering various animal-based yarns and they all made my fingers tingle, not in a good way. Alas!

Llama/silk sounds lovely, though...

Too Lazy To HTML Code

[artemis_rich]

Caron Simply Soft is cheap and actually quite lovely considering it's a generic acrylic yarn. I've knitted some costume shawls from this that need to be hard wearing and machine washable and I find this yarn fits the bill perfectly. Not to mention the fact that the yarn is quite soft. (This is coming from a yarn snob, BTW). http://www.caron.com/color_cards/cc_simplysoft.html... )

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[jan_andrea]

Thank you for all the links! I will definitely check them out. I figure, for the size, I'll just cast on and knit a couple of rows and rip out if it's not right; I'm so not a gauge knitter :lol:

Thanks again!

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[artemis_rich]

It's not like you have to worry about gauge with a scarf, anyway!

And my dirty little secret is that I hate to swatch. So I don't. But because I've been knitting since I was about six, I know how my stitches are compared to most folks. I can look at a pattern and just by seeing the yarn recommended, needle size and cast on amount I can tell from there whether I'll be on their gauge or need to go up or down a needle size.

I'm a renegade!

I never tell this to newbies by the way.

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[ankoku_jin]

I second the recommendation for Simply Soft - it comes in quite a large array of colors (though you may have to order some of them online), it's soft as anything and it can be machine washed/dried. However, it's more delicate than wool or that red heart stuff, so I still tend to go with hand washing and line drying to prevent excessive pilling. It will also want to split when you knit it (in my experience) but it feels lovely on the hands. :)

You may also check out Little Knits or Smileys Yarns for good deals on quality yarns.

[bafleyanne]

I like the Naturally Caron "Country" yarn. It is very soft. It's 75% microfiber acrylic and 25% wool, I am sensitive to wool and it doesn't make me itch at all. On the down side though, the color choices are somewhat limited for it. naturallycaron.com if you want to check it out.

[jan_andrea]

Thanks! Unfortunately, any wool at all makes me itch (I do the occasional wool-blend Didymos wrap conversion and I always hate those -- have to scrub my hands afterwards) but I appreciate the suggestion :D

[rudbekia]

Stay away from chenille, it will only break your heart. Soft, yes, but not hand-knitting friendly. Others have already suggested what I would have, as far as yarns types to seek out.

http://community.livejournal.com/crafty_tardis/tag/the+scarf is just the place for this question.

[jan_andrea]

OMG! That's a riot! I will certainly ask them shortly :D

How did you find them, out of curiosity?

[rudbekia]

That community comes up from time to time in the knitting community, when the topic of Dr. Who scarves come up. And I know allllll about Dr. Who scarves, as my mother knit one for my brother back in the '80s.