Hi y'all. I have a jute kit that I got around 8 years ago and it's my favorite rope. I do far less rope than I used to -- it's not uncommon that I actively tie a lot for a couple months, then put it away for 6 months or even a year, etc. I picked it up the other day in hopes of getting back into it, had a lovely time tying (myself), and afterwards realized parts of my hands where the rope touched were red and itchy. It wasn't severe, or raised, and it went away in a couple hours, although there were a couple parts that were a bit red for the next day.

What the heck happened? I can think of a couple possibilities:

• I developed an allergy (hope not, but I did have my first bout with COVID this year and that can do unpredictable things)
• The rope is very dry, old, hasn't been conditioned been years and maybe was micro-splintering into my skin?

Any ideas? I feel like I should fully condition it again and see if that helps anything, but otherwise I'm kinda at a loss. Thanks y'all!