Wow, I feel honored to contribute to the Anzula Blog! What a pleasure to work with Anzula Breeze in Emerald and the Artem Shawl by Steve Rousseau. Yarn and pattern work very well together, a beautiful combination. I'm very happy with the result.

Some time ago, I came across Steve Rousseau Designs. Lots of beautiful, rectangular shawl patterns to choose from. It is because I used to work as a mechanical engineer drawer and my love and attraction for geometry, sure enough I had to bookmark it under "what's knitting" and keep an eye on the "Artem" pattern.

While I was finishing up a cardigan, already pondering on a possible next knitting project, I got this idea to spoil my mother-in-law with a knitted gift. Knowing her, I knew it had to be a turquoise/emerald color. With this clear idea, I went to my local yarn store, here in Ithaca NY, but I couldn't find the right color, nor the suggested yarn.

Lots of SRDesigns use Shibui Knits pebble, a silk, merino, cashmere yarn. And I wasn't sure about the merino. Although soft, my mother in law thinks it's itchy. Many thoughts about this gift and online yarn research continued over the next few days.

She is an elderly woman who loves "elegant" but doesn't want it to be ruined. I'm afraid it would lie dormant, nicely wrapped in silk paper, ever hopeful that it will one day fulfill its destiny.

I've read somewhere that making a hand-knit gift is an emotional experience. So is online yarn shopping! I can't touch the yarn, and the colors are more often miles away from reality and I miss talking to the yarn experts! But I did find Fancy Tiger Craft in Denver, sells online with a nicely organized website. This is where I discovered Anzula Breeze the first time.

It was love at first sight! Honestly, the more I knit, I could swear some yarns scream "pick me, pick me!" I had some very fantastic results in the past. Being silk and linen, Breeze is heavenly soft, drapes beautifully, is elegant with a slightly rustic touch, very nice stitch definition and the subtle variation in tone adds unexpected depth.

I used About 1 1/2 balls of Breeze, US needle size 3 to match the gauge. The shawl finished measurements after wet blocking, 24 inches by 74 inches.

The Artem pattern is easy to follow, once established, it becomes quite intuitive. But still, don't binge watch your favorite show, I had to unravel a couple of rows!

Wet blocking such a large piece was a bit intimidating at first. a) where do I block it? and b) I don't even have that many pins. At the end I did not have to use any pins! Other than stretching a bit and even the lines, Anzula Breeze holds the stitches very well.

I'm very, very happy! In fact so happy, that I ordered some more Anzula Breeze to combine with a Isabell Kraemer sweater pattern. I'll keep you posted!

Isabella Zorman