My self designed, alpaca stole is complete. The free pattern can be downloaded here Hestia Alpaca Stole

This stole is knit with 100% Alpaca yarn, purchased from Fibre Friends on Vancouver Island, in Canada. They can be reached at: Fibre Friends@shaw.ca . The colour is a rich, undyed, natural dark brown . This island farm produces the softest, most luxurious alpaca yarns I’ve ever encountered. Even as I cast off the last stitch of this stole I was wondering what I could knit next with their yarn… it’s so amazing to work with.

The pattern is a simple 4 row repeat throughout. I made mine on the narrower side: 46 cm.(18″) wide and 203 cm. (80″) long, allowing plenty of length for draping. You could easily make it wider by adding stitiches in multiples of 6, working 3 sts at the beginning and end of each row in garter stitch, for the border.

It could also be knit in a number of different yarns. The yarn I used is sportweight, with a tension of 26 sts to 10 cm (4″).

Please feel free to leave a comment or to contact me if you have any questions about the pattern.

Sweet Dreams Pillow \Free Pattern

The pattern for this soft, scented, Sweet Dreams pillow is available, for free, in the patterns section of this blog.

I used a soft Merino blend yarn and sprinkled dried lavender in the lining for an aromatherapy bonus. It knit up quickly and will make a great gift for someone on my Christmas list.

Pudd’n is the name my mom called me for as long as I can remember. (My given name is Barb.) In fact, the last words she spoke to me were “I love you Pudd’n”, before her untimely death 25 years ago, at just 51 years of age. She had nicknames for all 5 of her children and they were for her use alone. No one else has ever called me Pudd’n.

The name has lain resting in my memory for 25 years and I have now decided to resurrect it as my ‘label’.

Look for more of my original pillow patterns in the future, under the name of Pudd’n's Pillows, on this site.