Beloved Reader,
I’m all set with a pattern to make a scarf out of this yarn. I’ll be using 6mm needles. There was some confusion, as “10.5” needles were recommended, but I found out that referred to the US measurement, which means 6mm. This is a useful page on Shiela Dixon’s site: http://handknitter.co.uk/
Tara Swiger, who made this yarn, also has on her site pages with ideas of what to make with each type of yarn she spins. http://www.blondechickenboutique.com/index.php/what-can-i-do-with-hemp-laceweight/ In a few years, once I have gone through all the yarn I have in stock, I’m hoping to get a ton of yarn from her through wholesale.
My client, “A”, who was looking at this yarn and thinking of commissioning me to make a scarf asked me, “Is it illegal in _____ [whatever country or state] to have a scarf made of hemp if marijuana is illegal in that country?”
I have no idea, but a little checking around (please don’t quote me) seems to say that it would depend on whether the statute forbids the parts of the one strain that makes you high illegal, or whether they’ve made all parts of all plants that were once hemp illegal. While more hemp is exported to the United States than to any other country, the US government does not consistently distinguish between marijuana and the non-psychoactive Cannabis used for industrial and commercial purposes.
In terms of making clothing from it, hemp is eco-friendly.
Typically, hemp contains below 0.3% THC, while cultivars of Cannabis grown for marijuana can contain anywhere from 2% to over 20%.
It’s that simple.
But if governments aren’t going to bother to use their brains to differentiate between the psychoactive substance and the non-psychoactive substance, I would urge them to go back to school and stop being so intellectually lazy.
My scarf will not make you high. Well, it might when you see how soft and snuggly it gets when it’s knitted up.
*does Jedi Mind Trick to make you come back to see photos*
As always, pictures will be posted as I go along, just like the ones of the pink scarf I’m working on right now.
I’ve been looking at yarn bowls on Etsy lately…
Did I mention that purple is my favourite colour?
and would love to have one for working on this type of yarn.
It will help immensely to stop it from getting tangled. The yarn is threaded through the opening in the side of the bowl and pulled through slowly as you work with it. Handspun yarn seems to have a higher incidence of becoming tangled, but you, my dear readers know how much I love yarn made by Lyndsey, who lives not too far from me in Salford.
