Chptr 19: In Which Our Hero Embodies a Quote by Cicero: "The countenance is the portrait of the soul, and the eyes mark its intentions."

Chester in a scarf knitted with Colinette Enigma and Colinette Isis yarns held together. Both are rayon-based yarns, so they have a great sheen and slipperiness to them. The texture of the Enigma is super-slidey - this was the yarn I HAD TO HAVE once I saw it at Aylin's Woolgatherers (LYS - just inside Beltway in Falls Church) - the way this skein of yarn took the colors of the Toscana colorway (#61) was magical. Soft, kind of faded in the greens and reds, but vibrant in the yellows and blues.

But, Gentle Reader, Enigma is enigmatic (at best) to knit with. This is the song that knitting with it brings to mind: hit me. I think Colinette has discontinued it - can't find it nowhere on their site. They put out a great pattern book of it (hit me), that a few online vendors seem to have, and it seems you can still get the yarn in bulk, and it takes color soooooo wonderfully, but the knitting with it is not a lot of fun. Especially if you drop a stitch. Fugetaboutit - you're screwed.

But, the book seems to be available on Amazon, too, so here's a link: Colinette Yarns - Enigma

The other yarn is Isis: I don't think it's going anywhere away - lovely pattern booklet. Although a rayon yarn as well, it has texture (think rayon chenille) and it's much easier to hold. When you drop a stitch in this, there is a chance it will kinda stick around long enough to rescue your work. I used Isis in the Cream Tea colorway (#144).

I used semi-huge wooden needles - there is no way I would knit with either of these yarns with metal or class or acrylic or even plastic. Knitting with 100% rayon, at least the way I knit with my yarn held very loosely, requires some texture on the needles to hold the yarn.

OK. I'd LOVE to hear about any knitting any reader does with Enigma - it's so beautiful, and I'm tempted to try and get some and make just one thing, but so many other yarns call as well - happy clicking, happy OCTOBER!


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