I can’t believe that it’s finally time to introduce Diadem! I’ve seen so many projects in this glorious yarn around the office lately that it feels like old news, but now I’ll be able to oggle all of your projects on Ravelry! I literally can’t wait to see what creations feature this yarn over the next few months. For now, I’ll content myself to petting the wonderful fabric of the Diving In {recipe} shawl that I made and gifted to my mother for her birthday. The luminous skeins of Diamond and Moonstone were the first colors I spotted when the shipment of Diadem arrived in the office and I made a quick grab for one of each in the middle of the mad dash for yarn. For weeks afterward we all had piles of silky hanks on our desks as we searched for the “perfect pattern” to test this new yarn.
I settled on Mam’zelle Flo’s Diving in {recipe} shawl pattern because I was guaranteed to use every last bit of yardage and I’d be able to get a good idea of the color transitions in each colorway. There are long, rich repeats of three colors in each hank with Diamond as the most subtle colorway – shifting from shimmering white to a soft cream which contrasted nicely with Moonstone’s cold grey and shots of pale blue.
I can’t get over just how much drape there is in this fabric. This yarn was a little tricky to work with because that luscious combination of Mulberry Silk and Baby Alpaca makes for a slippery yarn that wants to slither right off your needles the minute your back is turned. I used wooden Harmony needles to help minimize dropped stitches and by the end of the week I was cringing at the roughness of any other yarn I tried to pick up while I was working on this project. Diadem temporarily ruined me for other yarn! I’ve been contemplating a Rikke Hat project in Sapphire or Azurite, anything to show off those FANTASTIC blues!
