The Knaughty Knitter: Just interesting....

I got a newsletter from Plymouth yarns today talking about some of their new yarns - more on that later. They were talking about the micron count on their new superwash merino and I went searching for information on micron counts of various animals. This lead me some interesting places.

Micron counts measure the courseness of a fiber. So human hair might be 40-80 microns, cashmere runs 17-18 microns, alpacas might be 19-23. Alpaca rated "baby" averages 21-22 microns and cost almost twice as much as other grades of alpaca. Course alpaca can itch, fine is soft and silky. The finest fiber, vicuna, runs around 12-13 microns.

Wool varies greatly. The new superwash wool is around 20.5. The smaller the number the finer the fiber. But some things I looked at indicated that wool might seem less fine simply because the scales on the wool are bigger. This gives the wool fibers a bulkiness that alpaca doesn't have.

One study found nearly a third of people claimed to be allergic to wool. When standard allergy tests were done, most of these folks actually weren't allergic, just reacting to the prickle factor of some wools. Course hairs stick out and stimulates pain receptors, causing redness, irritation and itching. Further study indicated that any fiber with a micron count over 30 tended to cause this reaction, even synthetic ones. Any fiber, including wool, with a micron count of 21 or less, didn't cause a problem.

Of course micron count isn't the only way to judge a fiber. There's crimp, breathability, luster & more.

Oh and back to Plymouth...They have some interesting yarns coming, including a new hemp yarn, some baby yarns and the Superwash Merino. They are the new distributor for Lana Gatto yarns from Italy too. By the way if you were wondering about Superwash - it is a process of treating the fiber to cover the wool scales (which stick together when you felt something) so that the wool won't shrink. I'm not a big fan of superwash wools for much other than socks. Though I understand the need for it so I may just have to break down and get some.....

Only three more days until the Olympics.....I am madly trying to finish another UFO (the Goddess Mystery Shawl). I ended it early and am 1/4 through the edging.