new on the sticks

A good start on brother's alpaca muffler. The yarn is 100% prime undyed alpaca, silken and featherweight but a little sheddy.

This pic doesn't show the sinewy cables well, but they are actually quite lovely in person. I've wanted to knit this pattern for awhile (from Tricoter's menswear book) because I remember the shop sample being one of the loveliest things I'd ever fondled. Now I'm wondering--was it really that beautiful? Because while I like this quite well, I'm not besotted.

Maybe because I had several false starts on this one--tried the pattern multiple times but couldn't get anywhere near gauge or width with the needles they suggested, even though this yarn is the same gauge as what was recommended. Then tried the balloons scarf from Scarf Style but found the pattern didn't show up well in this yarn (the shop example where I bought the yarn was the balloon scarf but in a lighter gray). Finally had to modify the number of stitches, and stupidly didn't multiply right for the cables, but decided I could live with the result. This is very, very easy knitting, and it's humming right along, so it should be ready for brother's arrival at Thanksgiving.