This artisanal yarn is spun in Italy from the finest mulberry silk, then hand-painted in Ontario. Featuring wonderful drape, incredible softness and a gorgeous sheen, Silky Mulberry is available in a variety of intense colourways. I absolutely fell in love with this yarn when I saw it the first time. I bought a single skein and determined to make it stretch as far as I could. I had no idea what I would make when I bought it, I just knew I had to own it. I think when you're first starting out learning how to knit, it's important to allow yourself to be inspired by texture, colour and shape. If you prevent yourself from reaching for the beautiful stuff just because you're still learning, you will stifle both your desire to learn and your creativity, both of which leads to motivation death.
Anyway, I scoured Ravelry for hours before settling on a gorgeous lace shrug pattern - Hart. While not free, it's not too pricey, and the pattern is clear and easy to understand, even for someone as new to lace knitting as I was when I began this project. And the result is just stunning. It's something I can be proud to wear, and that feels good when I do wear it. The colours are just beautiful and the shape is perfect. Essentially with this pattern, you lace knit a wide scarf and then sew up the edges part way to create sleeves. So easy!
And the best part? It only took half a skein - maybe even less. I still have a bunch left over, and plan to make a long, narrow neck scarf in the lace pattern to wear with the shrug when dressed up. There's absolutely no reason to balk at the price of a luxury yarn like this, even when you're a beginner knitter - all it does is inspire you to be more creative about how to use the yarn, and to work harder at improving your skill. And that's nothing to turn your nose up at.
View the project page on Ravelry.
There are also plenty of other one-skein projects perfectly suited for this yarn. Take a look on Ravelry.