I had some chunkier weight Malabrigo at home and started working on a Traveling Bivalves mobius cowl and ran out of the yarn for the project. So Sunday, I drove to the nearest LYS (which isn't to say much, we've got slim pickin's here in southern Westchester) ISO either the same color (it's a variegated) or a color that would go with it, but it had to be Malabrigo.
So I get to the LYS only to be told by the owner she doesn't carry Malabrigo, because "it's so similar to Manos del Uruguay" that it doesn't pay to keep both in stock. So out of desperation, I bought two skeins, hoping that my gut was wrong.
Let's just say I should listen to my gut more often. But I was desperate! I'm sure any other knitter or crocheter would have fallen prey to the wiles of the Manos.
There are only three things Manos shares with Malabrigo:
1. It's wool;
2. It's single ply;
3. It's from South America.
Right there, that's it. That's all they have in common. Plus with the chunky-to-thin type of spin on the Manos, it's inconsistent to the Malabrigo I was using. So what to do? Use it up! Get it out of mah house, that's what!
Don't get me wrong. It's perfectly good yarn. But it's no Malabrigo, and there's no way I could have mixed the two yarns without it being visible.
Hence: Traveling Bivalves!
I very rarely follow patterns, as I like to trouble shoot and figure things out for myself, even resorting to counting stitches:) But I was so glad to learn about Traveling Bivalves from a friend who was wearing one at Rhinebeck a few weeks back.
Within 24 hours of getting the Manos, I finished up the first cowl tonight, and already started the second one:) They'll be holiday gifts for friends, and if you're seeing this now, act surprised when you get it!
This is how far I got as of 9:30 a.m. today.
And this is as of 9:30 tonight. Done. :)This project really satisfies the "immediate satisfaction junkie"
in me:)
I highly recommend this pattern for anyone;
from a seasoned intermediate/expert down to
a novice starting out.
Other than twisting the foundation chain before joining,
it's nothing more than clusters of 2DC 1CH 2DC.
Relatively mindless crochet, pure enjoyment:)
3 comments:
I remember the discussion of manos vs. malabrigo a few days ago. I really like the cowl. I bet it's uber soft and warm.
I love the color of this, it's in the "Mermaid" colorway; however, it is done in Manos, and imho, I don't think it's soft to be up against one's skin.
Beautiful project, like the blanket too.
i loved your color election too.
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