| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| stseraphina |
Posted - 12/30/2007 : 1:24:11 PM
I make sure no one is looking then hold it up to my nose (not touching, don't worry) and smell it quite thoroughly. Not only will I be touching it and seeing it for hours and hours, I'll also have to smell it. Some yarns/dyes have a distinctive smell - I had better like it, or I won't buy the yarn. NO WEIRD-SMELLS!
I have a pair of dp knitting needles made out of some strange plastic - brand name is Swallow. I don't like them because...they have a smell. tried to donate them to my college daughter who has just discovered knitting - she took one sniff and said, "weird smell." Guess some quirks are genetic.
Kris
"You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd." Flannery O'Connor |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Caityrosey |
Posted - 05/01/2012 : 07:04:49 AM
Now that you mention it, I think I do have a ritual:
Step 1: I spot something that interests me.
Step 2: Reach a hand into the bin and lightly stroke it. To I get a tingle?
Step 3: Then I pluck up a likely looking hank and cradle it in both hands, feeling the yarn on my palms and stroking it gently with the tips of my fingers. I examine the color closely. Does it look as attractive in the light as it did in the bin?
Step 4: I examine the band to verify the fiber content and weight of the yarn. I'm pretty good at gauging weight on site, but I'm always second guessing myself and have to check and double check this at least three times before I buy anything.
Step 5: By now, the warmth of my hands as lent a little warmth to the yarn. I don't purposefully set out to sniff the yarn, but this is the point at which I would begin to be able to smell anything "interesting."
Step 6: Decision time.I stand or squat in front of the bin, staring at the yarn. I pace the store, returning to the yarn at the end of each circuit. I pretend I don't really want to buy the yarn.
Step 7: I buy the yarn.
Caitlin Doran |
| emmyc |
Posted - 04/11/2012 : 04:40:41 AM
Deb when I read your post I made noises myself. I recall the same thing when I first went into Webs and immediately lost my sister in law and didn't find her for almost an hour!
My small of group of knitting buddies and I fieldtripped to a new LYS. I think we kept track of each other by listening for noises( gasp!, ooh!, ahh! OMG this is soft!). It was like how pods of whales keep track of each other and communicate. Knitting herd noises.
emmyc
winchester ma |
| robinstephanie |
Posted - 04/10/2012 : 08:56:08 AM
lol, Deborah, enjoyed your story! Imagining it in my head and it seems very funny/wonderful.
Robinsteph
Different is good. ~Matthew Hoover |
| CherylA |
Posted - 04/09/2012 : 08:17:34 AM
Have used Addi Turbo Lace needles for past 2 years to knit socks, and they do not emit any smell. So they seem to indeed have solved the odor problem. |
| Deborah Tomasello |
Posted - 04/03/2012 : 04:15:25 AM
Wow! From reading the above posts, I realize I am missing an entire sensory experience by NOT smelling wool. I smell everything, but it hasn't occurred to me to sniff wool. I will tell you something I've noticed when yarn shopping, which I find amusing:
Recently, my bestest knitting buddy and I made a trek to WEBS. It was a fantastic trip. When we walked in the door, I heard orgasmic gasps coming from here and there. I commented to Jeanette, who was not only not listening to me, but was off down an isle on her own orgasmic journey. We shopped for a couple hours and, even though I didn't "sniff," I "listened. When i go next time 9and I WILL go next time!), I will find a way to note the sounds at WEBS. What a great palce! Like a Disneyland for knitters. |
| kemer |
Posted - 04/01/2012 : 1:30:43 PM
Well, I guess I'm not as weird as I thought for I too smell my yarns when I pick them up.
Kemer,
Keep Christ In Christmas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14548372@N02 |
| Irish Red |
Posted - 03/10/2012 : 11:04:08 AM
Oh good, I thought my habit was weird and sort of embarassing. But it makes perfect sense to me. I am very sensitive to smells and can't really contemplate enjoying knitting for hours with a yarn of which I hated the odor.
As a further expansion on this theme, I had a weird experience a few years ago. I bought a pair of Addi Lace needles and could not abide the brassy smell. I wrote to Skacel and they told me (while not acknowledging a problem or offering recompense), that they had made adjustments in the newer version and they (supposedly) have no odor. Turned me off so bad, I gave them away. Fortunately, the bulk of my needle collection are Addi Turbos and Addi Clicks, but sometimes, I would like that sharper point. Has anyone else had a problem with the smell of Addi Lace needles?
The Industrious Bee |
| donnawatk |
Posted - 12/29/2011 : 07:02:12 AM
Jan, My kids say I have a nose like a beagle. I was at work once and smell gas. No body here smell it I went out side and the city gas company had broke a line. Now if I say I smell something people get up and check it out. Donna |
| Grand-moogi |
Posted - 12/23/2011 : 06:26:12 AM
Ummmmm......yarn smells?
I knit a hug into every stitch |
| Susannahknits |
Posted - 12/22/2011 : 07:15:02 AM
I buy nearly all my yarn online, so I get to indulge my little habit in the comfort of home. I've discovered that I'm a yarn sniffer too. I absolutely love the smell of wool, and I breathe it in like perfume...bliss!
Since I mainly use wool and other natural yarns, I didn't think anything of this little habit until I ordered some 100% acrylic yarn. As usual, once I unpacked the skeins, I raised one to my nose and started to inhale a nice, deep breath ....and recoiled in horror. It stank! It stank so much it just about cleared my sinuses. I've been airing it for weeks now, and it STILL stinks!
I know that not all synthetic yarns smell like this, and I have no idea why this one does, but if it doesn't shape up soon, I'm going to have to give it away to the local thrift store. Perhaps one of their customers with a diminished - or different - sense of smell will enjoy working with this pretty, but very odiferous, yarn.
Susannah |
| lella |
Posted - 04/27/2011 : 11:53:18 AM
Lol! Love it! When I was young, and living in farm country, one of my friends brought over her 4H lamb just after she had groomed it out for a show. I buried my face in that Merino wool on the Hoof and just loved it. I fluffed up the place again and we laughed. We both loved that smell of freshly groomed Lamb.
Lella
Zippiknits
The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.
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| robinstephanie |
Posted - 04/23/2011 : 10:27:20 AM
So yesterday I'm organizing my knitting basket, moving this here and putting this yarn with that yarn, and every minute or two I grab this giant soft skein of woolly boucle that's just soaked in lanolin and smash it up against my face and take a few great, deep breaths. Sort sort sort. Grab smash breathe. Sort sort sort.
Cracked myself up when I realized what I was doing.
Robinsteph
Different is good. ~Matthew Hoover |
| lella |
Posted - 02/19/2011 : 3:35:34 PM
I take a sniff of most yarn and don't need to get it close to my nose, either. Sometimes when I'm gifted yarn without a band, I will breathe into it and then smell it. Wool has a nice odor, other yarns hardly smell at all. My mother had to use pure lanolin on her hands because they got so dry from her extensive gardening. I love the smell of lanolin. Very earthy.
Lella
Zippiknits
The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.
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| Janadanu |
Posted - 02/19/2011 : 08:59:48 AM
I don't like weird smelling yarn either.
I just knit my first cowl, using a merino/alpaca blend.
It smelled fine whilst dry, but to my horror, upon blocking, it gave off a distinct odour of wet sheep!
I can only imagine what a drenched alpaca would smell like, in the wild.
When it dried the smell dissipated.
I'm averse to getting caught in the rain if I'm wearing it, though. |
| hillstreetmama |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 2:28:33 PM
I have a sensitive nose - years ago, a friend would always try to stop me from smelling things, saying, "You're not a dog!" I, too, sniff yarn. Some have a synthetic smell that I don't like. One of my least favorites, though, was a yarn that's been around for decades that has quite a bit of the lanolin still in it. Nope, didn't like that smell at all.
Jan
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| mathiemom |
Posted - 05/08/2010 : 3:23:28 PM
I love to sniff yarn for a slightly different reason: I love the smell of most yarns. I wouldn't like a chemical smell and could never tolerate smoke - ugh!, but I adore the natural fragrance of wool, cotton, silk, etc. I swoon at the scent of lanolin. It's all part of the experience for me.
Wendy |
| amanda23 |
Posted - 02/10/2008 : 3:06:41 PM
I haven't come across a yarn that has smelled bad (unless it's wet wool) - the only smell that would bother me is if the yarn smelled of smoke, and I'd hope a LYS wouldn't be smoky!
-Amanda
my blog:
http://mollywaffles.blogspot.com/ |
| Knitlin |
Posted - 02/10/2008 : 2:58:14 PM
I smell my yarn before buying it for a different reason. I bought some from a store that was in the Bargain bin, and when I got it home, it smelled like cigerette smoke. I could barely stand using it.
So from then on, I have always smelled the yarn before I bought it.
Knitlin
knitlin |
| mercab2002 |
Posted - 01/27/2008 : 07:19:11 AM
hi
Being a relatively new knitter (after a 25 year hiatus), I have discovered that I am a yarn sniffer too! I first touch, then squeeze then run my fingers along a strand rub it on my cheek and then sniff. For me the sniff test is very important because if I can smell it, it's hard to work with. I'm probably missing out on some great yarns, so if there's a stinky one out there that's worth it let me know.
Mae
If you want something to change; change something. |
| knittingrunner |
Posted - 01/24/2008 : 4:27:44 PM
My husband can't stand the scent of knit silk...woven is okay. Washing doesn't seem to help.
I can't stand any wool that smells musty. Fortunately that scent does tend to wash out.
Runner who knits: knitter who runs |
