loch nessie

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Nessie by Julia Zahle, available free - thank you Julia!
Yarn: Noro Yuzen (56 percent wool, 34 per cent silk, 10 per cent mohair) in shade 3; 3.4 skeins.
Needles: 4.5mm.
Start to finish: 17th to 22nd of May, 2011. Yes, a quick knit. I wanted to know how much yarn I would have left for another project so had to knit this up quick smart.
Stash/recycle content: Sadly, none.
Comments: I knit this exactly as the pattern directed, omitting the bobbles and leaving the yarnovers open on the increase row (instead of knitting into the back loop and closing the eyelets up).

Verdict: I like this, it's a fun knit and I love the Yuzen yarn and watching the colour changes come about and seeing what colour ends up next to another. The shaping is all done with short rows so you get ever changing colour sequences. I Particularly like the centre part of the shawl, where it is widest, and the way that the flat section segues into the ruffle. I wasn't so keen upon finishing it about the way that the tails curled but after a wash and block these have relaxed a bit.

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).