Do all cowgirls wear cashmere?

                                            Today I found this card.

It is the size and weight of a playing card, but the back is  blank and it was alone at the bottom of a tattered box in the basement of an old farmhouse.

I wonder where it came from and how old it might be.  At any rate, it got me thinking.

Does this gal wear cashmere ?   And why wouldn't she? It's warm, light, soft and oh, so elegant.

It got me thinking about where cashmere comes from- it is not from sheep as most think... but from some smart and very special goats.  (of course, just like those who wear cashmere...)

Lesley of Devon Fibres ( http://devonfinefibres.wordpress.com) says: "Cashmere goats are a type, not a breed. All goats apart from Angoras, produce two layers of coat. The top coat is stiff guard hair and the undercoat, which grows seasonally during the late summer and autumn and moults in the spring, is much finer and in SOME goats, may be fine enough to be called cashmere."


I know little or nothing about goats but here is what Devon Fibres says that their goats are:

“Hill sheep with brains! - Intelligence personified and incredibly proud and aloof. They will not give their allegiance/trust lightly to you and the flock always comes first.  ... Tough and independent but not in the slightest bit aggressive. "

Just like I view cowgirls who appreciate and wear cashmere.

Snow and music...

Another snowstorm and we are all shovelling out - the flakes are big, soft and very silent.  I opened the door to let the puppy out and my neighbour was shovelling snow.... with the most beautiful classical music playing - loud -

                                                             I love this neighbourhood...

I just stood in the cold doorway and let it all wash over me... the crystal clean whiteness, the flakes drifting by and the music wafting over it all.  How very lovely and one of those memories that is hardwired into my soul's brain.

It takes "Silent Night" to a whole other level.

I love that.

Cashmere for Lucy

Sometimes favourite sweaters just wear out.  Sad but true.  There were a few  my daughter and I just had to give up, so we washed them a few times in hot water and dried them in a hot dryer... to felt them.

Then, I made a pattern for a puppy sweater and lined it with a piece from an old fleece blanket.  Both are so soft that once I made the sweater,  she will not lift her paws for me to take it off.... wears it all day in the house, even though it is cozy here.

This is the cashmere side:

 And this is the former blanket side......

I will re-design the pattern because this one was meant for a coat and velcro tabs but because it is all so very soft, I can easily pull it on over her head so will not need tabs.

She LOVES this "sweater"... now for another....

Did Dale Evans wear cashmere?

Dale Evans was the first cowgirl I "knew"... knowing on television was as close as I got.

She was a writer and a singer-songwriter and she was not afraid to stand up for what she believed.

She was quoted saying this:

"Cowgirl' is an attitude really. A pioneer spirit, a special American brand of courage.
The cowgirl faces life head-on, lives by her own lights, and makes no excuses
Cowgirls take stands; they speak up.
They defend things they hold dear."

I like that in a person.  Perhaps if more of our leaders faced life head-on, making no excuses for their beliefs or what they stand (up) for, we would have governments that were accountable, and responsible.

Perhaps if world leaders held their countries "dear" instead of their own agendas, we would have more peace, more tolerance and we could get on with loving, learning and living... and, wearing more cashmere, of course.

And Dale Evans in cashmere? why not?

Hole-y Cashmere....

Today I wore one of my favourite grey cashmere turtlenecks to a meeting.  Of course, clothing tends to shift under jackets and scarves.... so, in an attempt to adjust  mine, I tugged at the side of the waist and dang, put my finger right through it.

Not that it was the end of the world, no one saw, but alas, it just added another hole... also hidden by my jacket - too hot to leave on, but a hole-y sweater was not really appropriate, cashmere, or not.

Now it lies on the laundry basket, awaiting its  fate along with the 6 others that will be made into puppy sweaters or the lining of a doggy bed... sigh.

Then again, it just means I can  go hunting again, right? Isn't that what cowgirls do?

This hunt will involve my favourite second hand store - I never mind spending money there- it all comes back to our community... how great is that?

It's time to take stock - how many grey or black sweaters does one cowgirl need?

Cashmere for our "puppies":

Sadly,  my daughter and I have worn out many fine cashmere sweaters.  Today we found some patterns to turn old sweaters into doggie sweaters.  Our two are no longer "puppies but because they are so sweet, we still call them puppies and as such they deserve the best.... so cashmere it is.

How cozy. Our little one loves to make a sort of nest in her soft fuzzy blankets...wait till she gets the cashmere sweater !

So, we are in the  process of "felting" those hole-y sweaters which means washing them in hot water 2 or 3 times and then drying them on hot.  It makes the knitted stitches tighter and actually ends up like a very soft felt.

We are going to cut out the pattern and will let you know how it works over the next few weeks.

Here they are, cuddling up on a recent road trip.

Cashmere is fine, strong, light, and soft.... cowgirls are too.

Cashmere cowgirls are a little bit city and a little bit country.  We like wearing our cashmere sweaters with jeans.... our pearls with our loungewear and we go on tour to visit a neighbour in our fancy pyjama pants, cashmere sweaters, fresh baked brownies and a rose from our garden.

It's pairing our real and down-to-earth selves with our city-slicker selves... and it works.

It's about enjoying the casual and the elegant in the same breath.  It's about reading those sensual novels while having the classics open on the same bedside table.  Perhaps it's also about combining the mundane with the magnificent.

I used to joke with my friend about how I would jump into my Mercedes wearing my blue jeans and a white shirt.... that sort of understated elegance... what I didn't realize that when I got my Mercedes, I did  just that, but without deliberation... it was who I was, not who I was going to pretend to be.

My car became my mode of transport, not a symbol of who I was... it was a luxury car, but it was  my car and it was what I drove.. not who I had become.  Funny, huh?

And I bought lots of cashmere sweater at the second-hand store... because my house was freezing and the heat was expensive... and cashmere was the warmest and cheapest... who knew?  None of my friends... just me.

I revelled in my fortuitous discoveries... lots of cashmere for few dollars.. and I layered them.. who layers 3 cashmere sweaters? I did.  I loved that I found them, wore them, mended them and stayed warm in them.

Even when I could afford new ones, I still haunted the second hand stores for them.  In our town, the money goes to the shelters and those who cannot afford food let alone cashmere... so it was win-win... and when I am tired of mine, new or not-so new, I pass them on, hoping that someone else will snuggle into their divine luxury.

And when the holes are too big and too many, I wash them, shrink them and make sweaters for my dogs.  How heavenly they are as warm as I am.