The thud of a dud

She may be pretty, but that's one pricey itch.

Pretty, ain't she? Well, looks can be deceiving. This FO is a complete dud. C'mon, let me show you why.

Winged chevron
Since I only had the one skein of Manos, I figured a My-so-called neckwarmer would be a nice way to show it off. Makes sense, right? Well, about two inches in, I discovered how freakin' DENSE that stitch pattern is (like me after a few beers). As lovely as it looked (like me after a few beers), I don't really fancy wearing a potholder around my neck, so into the frog pond it went.

Instead, I winged up a little chevron pattern and threw in a slipped-stitch edge a'la the Backyard Leaves Scarf. Knitted happily along to the end, where at the last minute, I decided to do an i-cord bindoff. As a final touch, I picked up stitches at the cast-on end and knitted on an attached i-cord to match.

When all was said and done, I had - literally - about an inch of yarn left. I even had to spit-splice that little bit that holds the tag onto the skein to make it to the end! I've never cut it that close before! So, I, uh, guess I was about due. But I loved how the colorway knitted up, and the chevron really made the most of it.

Rough around the edges...
So why is this a dud? First, let's take the i-cords and slipped-stitch edging. Those may have been an error in judgment. Okay, not may have been. They were. The i-cords are much too bulky for something this short and the edges didn't give as much as they could have while blocking. Luckily, the length ended up just fine for a neckwarmer. But, in retrospect, a nice, simple garter all around would have been a much better choice for bulk, blocking, and aesthetics.

...And everywhere else, too
But the real dudder here is the yarn. I was really excited to try my first Manos, having heard from many people how fabulous it is. Now that I have, I'm left wondering what all the fuss is about. Don't get me wrong, the colors are amazing, really rich and beautiful. This one knitted up like a gorgeous sunset sky over the mountains. And it hardly bled at all in the soak.

But holy crap is this stuff scratchy! It was not enjoyable to knit with and felt rather rough flowing through the hands. I hoped that would subside after a nice soak in the Euc, but nope. No dice. It's still super scratchy and very uncomfortable against the skin. I could barely keep it on long enough to snap a few pics (which is why you only get the two)! I didn't even bother adding buttons, because there's no way in hell I'll be able to wear it (that's a hairpin hoochie jigger holding it closed in the pic). Such a bummer. :(

That's a wrap
I might give the pattern another go with a different yarn, because I really do like how the chevron part knitted up and the size worked out perfectly for a neckwarmer. But this, this I'm not sure what to do with. I have no desire to knit with the yarn again, so frogging isn't much of an option. Maybe I'll just felt it and use it as a hotpad or something. *sigh* A hotpad out of Manos. Great. If nothing else, I'm sure that's a first!

Cheapascot
Pattern: weezawinged
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay 100% Wool in #106 (1 skein)
Needles: Addis in size 9, 24"