alpaca ascot

Last year I was gifted with two skeins of hand spun alpaca from England. I love the earthy, oily feel of handspun yarn; and the slight unevenness and the occasional straw bits.



Playing around with the yarn told me that garter stitch was its friend. Naturally, I made a scarf. This is the first incarnation of what I later modified as the Huckleberry Ascot.



As you can see, this one has grand eyelets forming daisies across the length of the fabric. I like the daisy motif but ultimately I think the scarf is better without them. It's more refined.



The sunset hour is my favorite time of day.

Kusha Kusha felted

This morning, and by morning I mean noon, I soaked the scarf in hot soapy water. After a bit of rubbing and rinsing, I rolled the scarf in a towel and inspected the wad of wet wool. Not a pretty sight. As promised, my fingers pulled on the fabric and after much prodding the lump started looking like a scarf again. It was dry within an hour. And, I love it! What you can’t tell from the last photo was the way the scarf actually draped on me. When I put it around my neck the scarf limply rolled in on itself. Now that it’s been felted it has much more body, lays flatter showing off its wiry nature, and has a kind of deconstructed texture that I love. Also, it shrank about ten inches in length.


Thanks again Janet for such a thoughtful gift.

Kusha Kusha knitted

It's hard to resist playing with this scarf. The fabric is so fun to pull and pinch. My hands are obsessed with stretching the end part made of stainless steel/silk; I hope it's strong enough to stand it. I've decided to go ahead and complete the pattern’s directions and felt the scarf, which just means more play time for me.

Kusha Kusha

I received the nicest gift a few days ago from Janet, a scarf kit from Habu. I love it. The color and texture are perfect for my mood. One strand of merino wool and one strand of a stainless steel/silk mix are knit together, the feel is soft with a subtle, almost sticky body and in the grey color it has a chain mail effect. I think I messed up the pattern a bit since I cast on with both yarns and maybe should have only used the stainless steel/silk yarn to begin with. After the knitting is done the scarf is to be slightly felted with warm water and soap. I have mixed feelings about felting hand knitting so we'll see if I complete the final step.
I hope to finish it in a couple of days. It looks great with my faded denim skirt.