Sarah Luse is inside her garage in Tahoe City, home to a design studio and makeshift shipping headquarters for her business, Fast and Luse Fiber Arts, which sells knit hats and knitting supplies locally and online. Boxes are stacked high with bundles of yarn and sheets of fabric; elsewhere sit three sewing machines, a 10-foot-long fabric-cutting table, and a yarn swift that turns messy yarn into tidy cakes.
“I say I work in fiber arts, and people immediately change the subject,” Luse says. “So sometimes it’s clearer if I just say: ‘I knit hats.’”
Luse is the kind of person who’s always knitting. A ball of yarn and a set of needles live permanently in her bag. “I don’t like to be bored or have my hands sit idle,” she says. “If I’m on an airplane, or in a waiting room, or watching TV, I’m knitting. Knitting is relaxing for me.”
The first thing you need to know about a Fast and Luse hat is that it costs $75 to $80. Yeah, that’s a lot for a hat. But the second thing you need to know is that it’s made from the finest merino wool yarn you can find and it’s hand-knit with care by Luse herself, a Tahoe resident who’s been knitting since she was a kid. She launched her own knitting business back in 2011.
Luse’s hats are one of a kind, each made with different patterns and colors. Surely, you’ve seen them around town. They have a distinctly artful look to them, with chunky, vibrantly colored yarn and oversized, statement-making poms. They’re the kind of hats you could skate ski in — merino wool is quick-drying, odor-resistant, and temperature-regulating — but you probably won’t because you’ll want to keep your hat nice and sweat-free.
“I make bulky hats and thinner hats. Hats with a fold-up brim. Hats with a removable pompom,” Luse says. “It all depends on the yarn. There’s a hat for everyone.”
In addition to selling handmade hats at local markets, fairs, and artisan shops around Tahoe/Truckee, Luse also sells yarn, knitting patterns, and other knitting supplies, as well as fabrics and quilts online.
“My grandmother taught me to knit when I was young. As a kid, I’d knit dolls and scarves,” Luse says. When she was young, Luse dreamed of becoming an artist of some kind but never imagined that knitting would be her art form. She moved to Tahoe in 2004 (working at the children’s ski school at Diamond Peak) and started knitting hats for friends or as gifts for her nieces and nephews. Later, as a preschool teacher, she once knit a wool hat for every child in her class.
“I’d get the cheapest yarn I could back then,” she says. “But eventually I found that nicer yarn makes a big difference.” Nowadays, she only uses a high-quality merino wool yarn, sourced from wholesale dealers in Canada and South America, that’s soft, sustainably harvested, and antimicrobial. (Translation: Not the itchy wool hat you wore as a child.)
By 2011, Luse started selling hats at Riverside Studios in Truckee, which still carries them. She also sells hats at Chickadee Art Collective in Kings Beach, Alpenglow Sports in Tahoe City, and Waterman’s Landing in Carnelian Bay, as well as online at her Etsy shop.
The name Fast and Luse stems from her last name, of course, but it’s also a reference to living freely, being daring and carefree, and charting your own course. “Be yourself, do what you want, who cares what anyone else thinks?” the artist says, noting, with a laugh, that the name does not refer to her knitting style. “I don’t tolerate mistakes in my knitting. If I make a mistake, I’ll take the whole hat apart and start again.”
Luse’s business is small and boutique, but it’s doing well. She supports herself in Tahoe as an artisan and maker, which allows her time to enjoy all that the area has to offer. Plus, her timing in making handmade goods couldn’t have been better: “Knitting is having a moment,” she says, speaking to the fact that more people are buying local and handmade, and a sort of maker’s movement is underway. “It’s not just something a grandmother does anymore.”
Accessing knitting instructions has never been easier. “When I was growing up, you had to go to the library to get a book of knitting patterns,” Luse says. “Now, people share knitting patterns on social media. Or, you can find millions of patterns on Ravelry.”
So, if you’ve always counted yourself out as a knitter, maybe now is the time to rewrite that narrative. Luse has all the supplies and patterns you need to get started. “It takes a little time and effort,” she says, “but anyone can knit. You just need a little patience. Everyone’s a maker if you give yourself the time.”
You can find Fast and Luse hats locally at the aforementioned stores and Luse’s yarn and knitting supplies online at fastandluse.com. Also keep your eyes out for specialized red, white, and blue Fast and Luse hats being worn by a group of fans at the 2026 Olympics.
