Yarn Review: Noro Sekku

In short, I hate it.

In long:

I noticed on Ravelry that Noro had launched some new yarn lines, many of which do not include mohair (which I can't knit with because my skin is sensitive), and was interested in trying them out. I've used several of Noro's products before, and, apart from my tragic mohair sensitivity, had always been satisfied. I picked up a couple of skeins of Color 08 of Sekku at Yarn Paradise a few weeks ago, intending to use it for a scarf. I wound up sorely disappointed for the following reasons:

1. The colors are kind of "eh." While they still have the vibrancy and quirkiness associated with Noro, the transitions are awkward and jarring. Pee yellow, snot green, and poo brown should not be stacked on top of one another, especially not when scab red is involved (I hereby move we change the name of Color 08 to "Bodily Fluids"). The light gray was a much better neutral, and made the shift between the aforementioned colors and the teal, turquoise, and dark blue in the rest of the skein a little more natural. I found myself having to remove most of the brown in order to make the colors look decent together. While this critique is primarily directed at the specific colorway I purchased, I noticed that several other colorways had similar issues.
2. While the "rustic," uneven spin of Noro works well for yarns that are fingering weight or heavier, it's a really bad idea in laceweight. Both the super-thin and the underspun bits of the yarn break if you look at them sideways. I wound up having to hold two strands together, which meant I had to abandon my original project idea. 
3. It is really sticky and loves to fold in on itself and tangle into impossible-to-undo knots. This also makes frogging difficult. 

While I think the scarf I'm making out of it will ultimately turn out nicely, I hate feeling like I'm knitting with eggshells. It also took forever to extract the fugly colors from the ball. 

Verdict: 2.0 stars. Next time, I'm getting a ball of the sock yarn instead.