Yarn Review – Manos Lace
Product Name: Manos Lace
Company: Manos del Uruguay
Fiber Content: 70% Baby Alpaca, 25% Silk, 5% Cashmere
Per Skein: Approx 439 yards, 400 meters per 1.75oz/50g skein
Gauge: 32 stitches = 4 in/10cm on #2US/2.75mm needle
Care: Handwash & Dry Flat
I recently received a skein of Manos Lace from Fairmount Fibers, the US distributors of Manos del Uruguay Yarns. Manos Lace is Manos del Uruguay’s luxurious, high quality lace yarn perfect for knitting shawls and scarves. It is possibly the softest and silkiest yarn that I’ve ever handled.
While the label recommended knitting with a Size 2 US (2.75) needle, I decided that I wanted to knit a beautiful lacy shawl with my sample so I used Size 7 US (4.5mm) needles. I decided that such sumptuous yarn should be knit into something special. I chose the colorway, Gelsey, (L2349) which is a very soft, semisolid, blue/gray/green color. Gorgeous! Look at all of the lovely Manos Lace colorways here.
I designed a simple, Estonian based shawl to knit with this gorgeous yarn. (Pattern to be released soon!) It is a crescent shaped shawl which is created through the use of short rows. I found it very easy to work with this yarn in both the lace and the stockinette sections. I did not need to use sharper, lace needles to work with this yarn; regular knitting needles worked very easily. Knit 2 togethers and passing slipped stitches over were completed without any difficulties.
A little sidebar: The yarn is durable as well as luxurious. Along the way, I caught my 6 month old puppy grabbing my WIP off the coffee table (an extraordinary feat for a 4lb, 8 inch tall Maltese puppy!) and running away with it. All that happened was a few stitches falling off the needles, no fraying, no splitting of the yarn. I have since learned my lesson and put my projects up higher or farther back on a table. Wylie is much too interested in my knitting!
At 439 yards, I had more than enough yarn to knit this shawl which is approximately 58 inches wide by 17 inches tall. A perfect size for a shawl. The shawl blocked beautifully from the points on the lace trim to the stunning definition of the lace stitches and the stockinette stitch.
This lovely shawl is both lightweight and silky soft and warm and the same time. Perfect for both a special event – think weddings, proms and graduations AND also for a cool summer evening or to dress up your outfit anytime of year. And this luxury comes at an affordable price…available at under $20 (US) per skein at all of the online stores that I checked out! Here’s a list from Ravelry where you can find Manos Lace online.
A fact about Manos Del Uruguay yarns which I did not previously know. The Manos Cooperatives were formed in 1968 and provide women in Uruguay a means to help support their family. You can find out about the Manos Cooperatives here and here.
Disclosure: Fairmount Fibers sent iknit2purl2 (1) skein of Manos del Uruguay’s Manos Lace FREE for review. iknit2purl2 was not compensated for the preceding review and all opinions in the above review are those of the blog author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of Fairmount Fibers or Manos del Uruguay.