yū|zen knitting

I don't think that I have ever really fallen in love with a yarn before. Sure, I've knit with stuff that I've liked and planned to go back to but never before have I had the desire to stash as much of something as possible, just for the sake of having it there, should I ever have the whim to make something from it.

The fact that the yarn has been discontinued undoubtedly plays a part in this urge. I'm talking about Noro Yuzen by the way, 56 per cent wool, 34 per cent silk and 10 per cent mohair. It's what I knit the Olearia cardigan from and am currently knitting a bias garter stitch stole (I'm calling it Vionnet) and Nessie from.

I love the texture of this yarn - a bit rustic - and the colour saturation is just wonderful. I'm not one particularly for shiny so silk-blend yarns often don't appeal but in the Yuzen I think that it is a raw silk and it takes the colour particularly well. And it looks great in garter stitch. If there is any knitting wisdom that I may ever pass down it is to knit self-striping and variegated yarns in garter stitch.

My only reservation about it is that it seems to be a bit rough on the hands; my fingers are a bit dry and chafed. Hard to tell whether it's the weather or the yarn. Nevertheless, I want to get my hands on as much of this as possible and in as many of the colourways as possible. I see a whole lot of garter stitch in my future (and hand cream).

water lilies

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Olearia by Georgie Hallam.
Size: six years.
Yarn: Noro Yuzen (56 per cent wool, 34 per cent silk, 10 per cent mohair) in colourway 3; 5 skeins.
Needles: 3.75, 4 and 4.5mm.
Start to finish: 16 to 28 February 2011 - that's stellar performance for me and explains why I blinked and missed mentioning it before! This was just so easy and a joy to knit, I even managed to read in the plain stocking stitch portions which was very satisfying.
Stash/recycle content: Yes, this yarn was in my stash. I bought it last September I think at Little Knits here in Seattle with the intention of knitting something for miss bear. I loved the yarn so much though and the resulting fabric that I just want to stock up on more of it for something for me.

Comments: This a great design because there are so many different ways that you can knit it: as a shrug, as a cardigan, all ruched or partly ruched, cap or short or long sleeves, a gathered cuff or a garter stitch cuff. Fabulous! I did elbow-length ruched sleeves on a long cardigan, working in stocking stitch after the basic bodice was completed.

A few modifications: I worked a Vogue single-row buttonhole across two stitches instead of doing a yo k2tog which I don't like at all. I also worked less ruching in that, instead of knitting kfb in each stitch on the increase row, I kfb on only every other stitch (and decreased accordingly). I did this because I think that the yarn that I used has a bit less drape than those suggested and I didn't want it to look corrugated.

This was the first time I have used Noro Yuzen (in fact, when I bought it was the first time I encountered it). I'm not sure if it is the cold here at the moment or the rustic texture of the yarn (or a combination thereof) but my fingers got really chafed knitting this garment. All worth it though because I love the texture, the colourway (reminds me of water lilies), the colour transitions. I want to make something out of it for for myself (and it has been discontinued, so must grab it while I can).

This was also my first knitted top-down garment (I think). The rows get quite long quite soon but all of a sudden you are up to the armholes. It was also a great choice for using up as much of the yarn on hand that I could (I used five of my six balls).

Finally, the buttons. I spent ages deliberating over the buttons at Nancy's Sewing Basket. There were so many choices but I was aware that this was a rather sophisticated yarn choice for a four-year old and that I needed to keep it whimsical. Finally, I looked at the children's buttons and there they were - irregularly shaped resin buttons in three perfect colours.

Verdict: Love love love - the design, the yarn, the finished product. I am so happy with this and my daughter looks adorable in it. I perhaps didn't do such a great job with the buttonholes, they're a bit fiddly to get the button through, but I'm hopeful that a couple of times opened and closed will loosen them up. The buttonhole band may also need to be stabilised at some point with a ribbon lining, I'll keep an eye on it.

I'm not much of one for knitting a pattern over and over again, but if I were to, this would be it. I would love to make a completely ruched shrug and experiment with the different long sleeves. The design is sized up to an eight so there may be time yet.