A few winters ago, I acquired a hand spun, hand woven scarf made by Natalie.  As I was driving to work one morning, I heard a loud slapping and thumping noise that sounded as if it were on the passenger side of the car.  We had just had a major snowfall the night before and the highways were a mess.  Assuming it was all the ice, salt, and snow hitting my car, I proceeded on my way.  Upon reaching my destination, over 10 miles later, I parked the car and went around to the passenger side to unload.  To my horror, there was my alpaca scarf.  It had just been drug down the highway through all that mess and was caked in salt, cinders, and snow.  Apparently I had caught it in the door as I loaded my car that morning.  Surely it must be ruined.  I placed it in a plastic bag until I could try to salvage it that evening.  How was I going to tell Natalie I ruined the scarf?

That evening I rinsed it out, gently hand washed it, and laid it flat to dry, and hoped for the best.  To my amazement, the scarf showed very little signs of wear.  The tassels are not as perfect, but every part of the scarf is intact.  By looking at the scarf (pictured) , you would never believe what happened.  to this day I wear the scarf, and tell everyone I know the story.