Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Synthetic yarn knitted *with* wool?

I have a question, as I am new to this group and to the charity as well.

I knit my first vest from a pattern recommended on the A4A site, using all wool. But, I had a bit of extra synthetic yarn, the kind that would make a fuzzy scarf, clearly not wool. So, I used it along with the wool for a couple stripes, using knitting with both strands.

Is this acceptable?

3 comments:

Elizabeth D said...

Here's the official A4A policy statement on fiber content, from the A4A blog: http://www.afghansforafghans.org/aboutfibers.html -- everyone should review this, if you've never seen it or haven't read it recently.

If the fuzzy yarn didn't take the wool content to less than 75%, it's probably OK. If, for instance, it's a thin strand of fuzzy yarn with a thick strand of wool, that's good; if the mixture is more 50/50, that takes the wool content down too low. It's cold, and wool is warmer! We're sending garments in anticipation of next winter. The average daily temperature in winter in Kabul is -15 to -20 degrees Celsius (°C) (-4 to +5 Fahrenheit), so you want your garment to be as warm as possible.

I usually stick to all wool -- partly because I know it's warm (used to live in Maine) but also because I worry that, if the power goes off -- as it often does -- and an open flame is being used for cooking or heat, a synthetic fiber might be dangerous. High on my phobia list. . .

Elizabeth D said...

oops -- quick correction to my previous comment. It should read "the average daily temperature in JANUARY"

Christine from Maryland said...

Thanks for the help!

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