Calendar Scarf

Ack. It's snowing again. Not a lot, but I'll have to go shovel again. I'm getting tired of shoveling snow. Despite the fact that it's only an inch or so, rather than a foot, I'm still tired of it. I've been shoveling snow off and on since Christmas!

I thought I might update my progress on the 2009 Calendar Scarf. I'm really enjoying it. I like the simple lace patterns, and I love the beautiful yarns.

From the bottom (on the right), there's two shades of handspun guanaco, which is just heavenly stuff. I couldn't believe how soft it is! Above that is yak down, which is nice, but not heavenly. I'm interested to see if it blooms once it's washed. Next is alpaca/silk from Elann, which is very soft, if a bit splitty.

Above that is qiviut, which I'm of two minds about. It's wonderfully soft and when I had the scarf spread over my lap I could tell how very warm it is. My first impulse was "wow, I'd love to have a sweater made of this!" but it has such a halo already that I wonder if it might not pill badly. Nevertheless, it's a beautiful fiber and I think I will continue to treat myself to small amounts of it for hats and scarves and things as often as I can. I've seen qiviut dyed, but I love its natural soft taupey color. Can you imagine a delicious blanket to wrap a baby in? And then the baby spits up on the blanket... Okay, maybe not. But it's still a nice idea.

Above the qiviut is a cashmere/merino mix, and then the alpaca/silk again. Next will be buffalo down, and I'm very interested in working with it, since it's so outrageously expensive. I don't see how the wow factor in it can be any higher than the qiviut or guanaco. Then comes a cream-colored 60% cashmere/40% merino blend, which I hope will work since it's a bit heavier than any of the other yarns I'm using. Then it all starts repeating, though not necessarily in the same order.

I'm enjoying this scarf as much as I did the 2008 version. I think I like the single-colored scarf better, but this is a great way to use these little bits of luxury yarns I've collected over the years.