Is it possible to be allergic to ugly knitting?

Two years ago I knit a Faux-fur Halter for myself that I must say was rather cute. My friends were having a going-away party for someone, and I wore it with low-rise jeans and high heels. I was a big hit. (I'll post a picture of it sometime - right now I've got wet hair and dog-hair covered yoga pants on, so it wouldn't look right.) I forgot what yarn I used, but it was mainly purple with flecks of pink, blue and green in it. A friend of mine has wanted me to make one for her, and she finally went out and bought some yarn for it last month. Hers, unfortunately, is turning out butt-ugly. Not just any old butt, but dog-butt-ugly. It's white, brown, and gold, and I really hate it. I started it yesterday and got about halfway through with it until I had to put it down because it was making me so mad. Here's a pic:



I'm a very good friend to keep knitting this, aren't I? I think that if I get it done this week, I may enter it in the Halloween contest at You Knit What?

Fast forward to 11pm: as I lay in bed, coughing and thinking about the sleeves of my USM (I'll tell you about them later), I realized that my hands were really itchy. When I got up and went to the bathroom, I looked at them and realized that they were really red. I tried to ignore them and proceeded to lay in bed, coughing and thinking about USM sleeves. This morning they are still itchy and now are swollen. I can't even get my wedding ring on. See?



I've been trying to figure out what could've caused this, and the only thing I can come up with is that ugly novelty yarn in that dog-butt-ugly top. My feet are a little red and splotchy too, but nothing like my hands. I've never had this happen before. I'm going to not touch the top until my hands calm down, then I'll work on it and see if the same thing happens. If so, I will have caught the culprit red-handed! Maybe it'll give me an excuse not to finish this. If I do finish it, she better a)love it, b)wear it every chance she gets, and c)wear it even if it has the same effect on her boobs. (Having your boobs swell may sound appealing to some, but she definitely doesn't need that - she's rather well-endowed, 34D to be exact.)

Okay, onto the USM sleeves: when I got so mad at the top, I decided to start sewing in my sleeves. I got one in, and it was too long. Poo! It looked like it was going to fit perfectly, but I guess I was wrong. So what I'm going to have to do is frog it back and make it about 2 inches shorter. What a bummer. I thought I was going to have a FO this weekend.