Suffering to be beautiful

For awhile now I’ve wanted to get my hands on a skein on Kauni Effektgarn 8/2, and I was finally able to track down a place that sells it online (Knit Purl, if you’re interested).

From the outside it doesn’t look like much.

When you look inside the skein, it gets a little more interesting.

But it’s what it does when it knits up that makes this yarn really special. Unlike most variegated yarns that would mix the colors up, Kauni does this:

Long bursts of one color that slowly unfurl into a rainbow. Beautiful, but with a flaw.

Before I was a knitter, I avoided wool. I thought it was all horribly scratchy. When I pictured 100% wool, Kauni is exactly what I imagined. It is extremely course, and every once in a while you even come across a dark hair or little slivers of wood. If this yarn wasn’t so pretty I’d throw it in the garbage. Maybe I’m spoiled.

I’ve seen people make entire sweaters out of this yarn. Couldn’t do it. I’m making the Swallowtail Shawl out of mine, using size 2 needles. Kauni is fingering weight, by the way.