Saturday, April 05, 2008

Dolce far Niente: The Voracious Manos Edition

This is what happens when you see pretty yarn and can't put the accursed thing down:

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Pattern: Dolce far Niente (by me)
Yarn: approx. 2.5 hanks of brown Manos wool
.5 hank of orange Manos wool

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This project was inspired by a D&G sweater from Fall 2006. I didn't do it justice! (I will most likely be doing another version, in a much lighter gauge, with more intricate fair isle.

This was the softest Manos I've ever played with. Two issues arose, stemming from the yarn itself:
1 - the brown Manos was spun with what is an obvious slubby texture. Throughout the body of the garment it blends in decently. But woe to the cast-off edge on the neckline. It bumps in and out rather unpleasently.
2 - less significantly, the orange Manos was bleeding dye on to my hands.
Overall I remain a Manos devotee, though perhaps will be more vigilant in my purchasing in the future (re: slub factor).

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I do realize that it's April. I do realize that Spring is on the verge of flouncing in and warming up the world. But when a knitter's got an itch, it's real hard not to scratch! I churned this puppy out in about one week.

Why, you may wonder, did I introduce it as accursed?
In most cases when I knit, I'm extremely stubborn, and thus go out of my way to either
avoid making any large/noticeable mistakes
or
learn to live with it (the much more frequent route).
I hate frogging, and I possibly hate tinking even more.
For this project, I had to do both those, about 3 times over.

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Gladly, the finished project has come out satisfactory.
I do have one wonder: do you prefer it with a dark shirt beneath, or a lighter one (thus emphasizing the shortness of the sweater by contrast)?
I think, after being christened Dolce far Niente, the project decided simple, it would not be.
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10 comments:

none said...

Darker. Nice job by the way. Just stumbled upon your blog. I like!

soknitpicky said...

I'm always so impressed by your creativity *and* productivity, It looks great!

Kai said...

It's gorgeous! And I'd go for the draker shirt underneath. :)

Unraveling Sophia said...

I like the dark shirt under! Beautiful as usual.

May I ask how many stitches you have on the neckline? I want a neckline like that, but don't want to have to cast on a million times trying to figure out the right number of stitches! Your's is the same size as mine would be...
Thanks!

Fel said...

I'd use the dark shirt. :)

Teresa said...

Thanks everyone!
sophia: I got a gauge of 4 sts/1 inch, and the neckline was approx. 124 sts. (I say approx cause I counted after I'd cast off.)

Cali said...

The darker shirt under is best. Love the sweater! Could be used as a early spring morning cover up.. so you are being springy!

Beautiful!

YowlYY said...

unanimous voting for the dark shirt underneath...it is just more stylish! You're incredibly productive with your needles... do pray tell, where do you find the time to do all the knitting??

Susan said...

Your too funny! You have amazing creative skills for sure.

Hilary said...

Another fabulous design! I think it works very well with both dark and light undershirts, but I'm leaning towards the dark.