Sylvester's Sulka Scarf

I've finished the Scarf in Mirasol's Sulka, the fairtraded merino/ alpaca/ silk. Sylvester thinks he should have it but it's going to be a Christmas present for someone else. I did something stupid when I was making the slit, so I had lots of ends to weave in, but they're done now and I'm happy with it.

This is beautiful stuff to knit with, and more robust than it looks. John Lewis seem to be the only stockist in the U.K. so far.

Creamy Scarf

I bought a couple of balls of Mirasol's Sulka and it's heavenly. I had meant to buy the baby alpaca, which is called Miski, but when I examined them in John Lewis I chose the Sulka instead. It's 60% merino wool, 20% alpaca and 20% silk. This colour is called Snow White, and it absolutely isn't; similarly, the cream in the Miski baby alpaca is called Snow Drop. They are both soft, creamy, natural colours, not stark whites. Much more flattering to the complexion. Click on this picture: I promise, you will want to lick the screen.

I had seen a scarf somewhere which combined a creamy natural yarn with a very pale lumpy yarn in creams and gold and greys, so my plan was to reproduce this in a simple yet sophisticated scarf, which I should give as a Christmas present - unless I found it irresistible in which case I would keep it. I couldn't find a lumpy yarn in a pale enough shade (there is a Noro Kureyon, 211, but I wanted a softer yarn to match the Sulka) so I got a ball of Noro Silk Garden in 47.

I cast on and worked garter stitch on 6mm needles. I ripped, and cast on and worked garter stitch on 7mm needles. I peered at Brooklyn Tweed. I ripped, and cast on fewer stitches and worked garter stitch on 8mm needles, and added in the Silk Garden. I ripped, and cast on again and did the same except that I did the Silk Garden in a different stitch. I peered at Brooklyn Tweed again. I ripped, and cast on and did 1x1 rib. I ripped.

This yarn looks impossibly fragile. It's soft, buttery, shimmery, looks and feels like angel's breath. But I can testify to how tough it is. You can knit the first few inches of a scarf and rip it back eight (8) times, and it still looks beautiful and still knits like a dream. Sometimes it's useful to know that sort of thing. I now have 21 stitches on 8mm needles, in moss stitch, and it's going to be all cream, no pale lumpy porridge colours in any kind of stitch. I'll have to buy another ball. It will be quite short and I'll knit a slit in the second end, so that the first can be pulled through it. It will probably still be a present, although it is so soft that I think once I've wrapped it round my neck, it might not come off until Spring. Somebody will be getting a pair of mittens in Silk Garden 47 as a present.

John Lewis is selling this at £4.95 for 50g/55 yards. I don't think that's expensive for a luxury yarn, and especially not for a fair-traded one which helps children to go to school. At the risk of sounding smug, I hope I shall be giving more than one Mirasol scarf this Christmas.