Sunday 2 March 2014

Fighting with fluff



Several years ago Mr FF bought me two lovely boxes of soft wool and angora, tiny 10g balls of violet and lemon wrapped in tissue paper, he found them in a charity shop and I was delighted.  

They sat on the shelf until I started decluttering in earnest
I thought each box would make a cowl and sourced a few likely lace patterns, finally going for this which seemed simple yet effective and would convert to knitting in the round, I do expect a big return for not a lot of effort.  So I have been battling with these fluffy clouds of marshmallow that disintegrate in my hands, its like knitting with over cooked spaghetti.  I have cast on several times, often the yarn just falls apart before I even get enough stitches on the needle to knit a round.   If I do manage a few rows and things go wrong with the pattern pulling back isn't an option as that weakens the wool even more. It does feel beautifully soft but I am covered in fluff, on my trousers, up my nose, it's everywhere.  Mr FF complains that he keeps finding pieces of abandoned knitting about the house.   I've read a few posts on Ravelry and while there are collectors of this now discontinued (I wonder why) vintage fibre, many people have made the same complaint, I'm surprised there are any completed items.
I like to finish what I start but Mr FF has given me his blessing to get rid of his present and I think this time I am beaten.    I completed three rows at my latest attempt, lost a switch somewhere, had several breakages was mad as hell, for my sanity I must let go.

9 comments:

  1. So what will you do with it - put the remaining balls in a charity shop for the next unsuspecting knitter to go whoopee lol
    Cathy

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  2. eBay? If there is a collector of useless yarn out there, they may be chuffed to find this little addition.

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  3. How frustrating, I can just feel how annoyed I would be at that. Perhaps use them to stuff a small cushion?

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  4. Ha ha! Definitely need to let go!!! Ros

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  5. Now there's a challenge, knitting with soggy pasta!

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  6. Oh dear! How frustrating, especially after it looked like a real gem of a find. I have heard that putting the yarn in the freezer helps to detangle the fibre and makes it easier to unpick. It works for mohair anyway!!

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  7. Sounds dreadful, Jenny - don't blame you!

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  8. Just catching up (I seem to be permanently behind in blog-reading these days!). Could you perhaps use it along with a stronger yarn (although I have to admit that I would simply give up!)

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  9. Carrying a strand of dk or even fingering yarn along with the fluff might help make it easier to use.
    :)

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