The Knitting Fiend

I performed a burn test to discover the fiber content of the mystery yarn I will use to knit my shrug. My theory is the mystery yarn is either cotton or silk. At first, I intended a small test. I planned to burn the mystery yarn and a piece of cotton and compare the odors. If I had any silk in my stash, I would have burned that too.

I got carried away.¹ Here’s what happened.

My first step was to prepare for the burn test. I reasoned, “Fire is dangerous; better be careful.”

I decided to perform the test on my paver patio, rather than on my carpet. I planned to burn my samples in fireproof Corning-ware lasagna dish. I equipped myself with my Oveglove, figuring I could use it to stamp out any runway fires. To be even more cautious, I filled a bucket with water which I planned to throw on any major conflagrations.

Unfortunately, I did not think about my footwear.²

I was now ready to begin tests. Naturally, I first tested the flammability of matches. I lowered my hands into the Pyrex pan and lit a match; it lit. However, even though today is one of those horribly muggy, seemly windless summer days, the match was immediately extinguished by a gust of wind. I repeated this test with a second match. I found that I could keep the match burning if I held it very near the bottom surface of the lasagna pan; otherwise, small gusts of wind extinguished it.

This result was good from a safety stand point, but inconvenient otherwise.

Having perfected my match lighting technique, I was ready to test the samples. I decided to test the cotton first for two reasons. I wanted to calibrate my sense of smell. If the mystery yarn smelled like burning cotton, I’d figure, then it’s cotton.

I also thought testing cotton first was more prudent. Knitlist lore tell us cotton is a fire-resistant compared to many synthetics. Since I don’t know what the fiber content of the mystery yarn, I thought it might burst into flames uncontrollably.

I plopped the cotton yarn in the Corning-ware container, lit a match and held the cotton in the flame. I was able to light the cotton with my first match; it sustained a flame sufficiently long to permit me to pick up the camera and take a picture. If you squint, you can see the small red flame in the photo to the left. The flame self-extinguished quickly, and I was not able to take a second photo of the flame.

I examined the residue; it looked ash-like. The odor was similar to burning paper. (For all I knew, I was smelling the matches.)

Next, I tested the mystery yarn. I used 7 matches before I was able to set the fiber on fire. It did eventually light but self extinguished fairly quickly.

The residue was ash-like, and it smelled “icky”. Acrid may be a better word. It did not smell at all like burning paper, but also didn’t smell exactly like burning hair or wool. However, it smelled more like burning wool than paper.

I suspect may be silk. (That said, I don’t have any rayon around to compare. So, for all I know, it is rayon.)

This is when I got carried away. I was having fun, so I decided to set more stuff on fire.

I plucked two hairs from my head. When I held a match to the hair, it seemed to melt rather than burn. I think the hair was probably burning, but the filaments are so thin, they just shrivel up.

Odor: Ick! Sort of acrid. Residue: Ash. Did not sustain a flame.

I was getting too into this. I ran in the house and got some wool.

Wool was much easier to set on fire than the mystery fiber. It only took one match and it even sustained a flame.

This contradicts knitlist lore! So, when I saw this, I began to count “one-one-hundred” and made it to three. I decided to retest and get a photo to prove my observation.

However, later samples did not sustain a flame after I removed the match; instead, they just smoldered for a while. I’d say wool burns about as well as cigarettes; both continue to smolder but don’t sustain a flame when left to rest in an ashtray. Of course, you wouldn’t want to drop a smoldering cigarette in a waste basket full of paper; I suggest you don’t drop a smouldering wool pot holder in there either.

By the way, burning wool smells much worse than cigarettes; it’s rank and acrid. The residue was like ash.

That’s acrylic.

Knitlist lore has it that acrylic is a bad choice for pot-holders because it catches on fire. Evidently, one should use wool or cotton instead. ( I disagree. If one is careless, one should use an Oveglove.)

I’d say this photo is proof that if you are going to be careless and drop your pot holders into open flames, you should avoid acrylic. As you can see to the left, it does catch on fire brilliantly! Wow!

That said, I found it harder to set acrylic aflame than cotton. I failed with my first and second matches, and had to use three. Of course, once it got going it went, “Voom!“

The residue is similar to hard melted plastic. I have no idea what it smells like. By now, I had burned so many things I had lost all sense of smell. Everything in the area smelled like burnt wool.

That’s it. That’s the test.

Well, not quite. Remember I said I got carried away? I tried to set the OveGlove aflam. It would not sustain a flame even when I held the match next to it until the match burnt out. I tried again. The flame did scorch the oveglove, but the glove didn’t burn or catch fire in any way.

I can say, “Ovegloves: Safer than wool, cotton, mystery fiber and acrylic.”

I went on such a digression, I almost forgot to report the actual conclusions of the test. Here it is:

The mystery yarn is not cotton, wool, human hair or acrylic. So, since it looks like silk, I’m saying it is silk.

---

1. I met a Welshman on my return flight from Sarasota. During the conversation, I mentioned I once had a job that involved making telephone equipment explode. He observed, “That’s one of the differences between American and British engineers. You all like to set things on fire and make them explode.” I could only say two things: That’s a stereotype. The stereotype is true.

2. I didn’t even think of about my footwear until I looked at the photos. I am revolted with my lack of safety awareness. Wear real shoes!