looking for advice

[theliterator]

Hi again! Lurker still... though less of one since this is my second post?

The thing is, I've recently moved to the arctic and I think I need warm... things. I kind of want a balaclava, actually, and I'm probably going to end up making one, but I was wondering if anyone had advice regarding what sort of yarn I ought to use? (I'm open to the idea of a scarf, but I don't like how hard it is to keep them in place. Maybe a neck gaiter type thing?)

I'm a casual knitter, but I just found out my tuition for fall semester is paid, so I have an unlimited budget (I've bought a new coat and fur-lined cap and everything first, the balaclava idea is secondary, promise!) and I don't have a pattern either but I figure I can find something in my book of random patterns the person who taught me gave me or online if I had too, I was mostly at a loss on fiber, given how I mostly just stick with cheap acrylics (or more expensive acrylics) given the casual nature of my knitting.

Also, I live in a dorm, so something that requires minimal post-knitting care would be nice. Warmth though, would be good. I hear it gets cold here.

So any advice before I give up and throw the internet out the window would be awesome. (There was a muskox one at the store, but it is scratchy in its warmth which is not an ideal balaclava, in my opinion.)

ETA: according to wikipedia muskox yarn is qiviut, but i think the stuff they're selling at dundas hasn't been seperated from the guardhairs like what you can buy elsewhere. i'll consider picking something like that up in qanaaq or having someone else do it for me, but it seems prohibitively expensive otherwise.

Comments

[jumpuphigh]

I want to add that if you make scarves longer than most patterns I've seen, they become much more freezing-weather friendly. I knitted my cousin in Juneau a 6+ foot scarf and it wasn't too long. Normally, my scarves are shorter than that so I felt a little weird when he opened it up but he thought the length was perfect.

[sholio]

Oh, yes, long scarves, definitely. :) (Heh, my husband still has a scarf that I knitted for him 15 years ago when we were in college that has got to be 8 feet long - I looked at it when I was done and made this face - D: - thinking I should've stopped a couple feet earlier, but he still uses it, even though I've knitted him shorter scarves since. *g*)

[jumpuphigh]

I am now feeling inspired to knit super-long scarves. Go figure.