Something I mentioned in passing in my first post on the Black Cat Sweater is that the yarn, Drops Air, sheds wildly. I took the project on a few train journeys and felt quite self conscious about the amount of fluff left on the seats. I even started to wonder if I was causing a health hazard to anyone with a wool allergy.
I wear a lot of black and there are some items of clothing that are going to need gone over with a whole roll of sticky tape. It’s interesting to see, actually – the yarn is orange but the strands on my clothes (especially my winter coat, which may never be the same again) are purely red or yellow. I hope my fellow passengers also found this interesting because they will certainly have gone home with wool on them.
After finishing the sweater, I hung it outside overnight in the freezing weather. Drops Air contains both still and alpaca, and I’ve read that freezing natural fibres stops them shedding (and itching). I gave it a good shake before and after, too, then washed with Soak and spun dry. I would say that, after all this, the fabric is softer and wearable next to my skin, and sheds less.
Not none… but less. I’m still finding clothes with yellow and red fuzz on but it’s not as prolific as when I was knitting!
