2009 CalendarScarf

I was feeling like I needed a break from the aran sweater I'm working on, and I had so much fun making the 2008 Calendar Scarf, that I really wanted to start the 2009 Calendar Scarf. Problem--I didn't have enough yarn, and I'm still pretty much on a "yarn diet," trying to use only yarn from my stash for new projects.

I was looking at pictures of 2007 and 2008 calendar scarves people have posted on Ravelry, and saw a couple that were multi-colored. That made me think that I have a number of exotic yarns in small amounts--sometimes as little as 40 yards--why not use those to make the 2009 scarf?

So I collected them all and added up the amounts, and I think I have enough. The picture shows handspun guanaco and yak on the needles (the guanacao in the Day 1 pattern; the yak is the dark brown), one of 2 small balls of buffalo down (top left), a skein of camel-hair yarn (top center), a ball of cashmere/wool (top right), a ball of qiviut (on the right), and a ball of cream-colored cashmere/wool (beneath).

The guanaco is simply heavenly. It is unbelievably soft and light, like knitting with a strand of cloud. I have 3 tiny balls of handspun from Plum Crazy Llama Ranch on ebay. I see there's both yarn and fiber available from a place in England called Heathylee, which has its own herd. Forty British pounds per 210 yard ball--I think at the current exchange rate, that's $64 US. If only I had a few more cat-sitting jobs!

Fiber is great, isn't it? Here I am, swooning over this incredible rare fiber, but at the same time, I'm just as in love with the Lopi wool sweater I have on--I love its lightness, water resistance, and warmth--and giddy about my red cashmere/merino scarf. I'm looking forward to working with the other exotic fibers in this scarf.

The yak, btw, is quite nice. It's soft and has quite a bit of body. I'm curious whether it will fluff out once it's washed. I'm using it doubled, and having a bit of twinge about it--I'd like to see it as a lace-weight shawlette (I think I only have about 300 yards). But I keep telling myself I'm much more likely to use it in this scarf than if I sit around waiting for the perfect pattern to show up. And I want to use all these lovely yarns, rather than sit around admiring the idea of having it. Right? Well, I keep telling myself that!