Thursday, February 01, 2007

At Long Last.....


.......not just the Edwardian Lace Stole, but a photo in which I am smiling!! At long last. Indeed.


First - I know, I'm wearing that skirt again. It's my comfy skirt and I wear it all the time. And yes, with handknitted socks and clogs. So, that's out of the way.

Here is the Edwardian Lace Stole, from Heirloom Lace. It really is divine, though how useful it will be, I'm not sure. But is that the point of knitting - to make useful things? Not wholly, I think. But that's another story.

I could have knitted this stole in a month or so. Each repeat didn't take long at all - there are twenty-eight, so even if I'd knitted one a day, it would only have been a month. But six......... As I mentioned before, I just got bored with it. If it had been a sweater that I was looking forward to wearing, maybe I'd have hurried along a bit. The pattern was easy, though I had to get my head round the provisional cast-on and picking up the stitches from it, in order to knit the second half. It wasn't that this was difficult, it was more making sure I understood the directions. I have to say, whenever I had any kind of query, Sharon Miller at Heirloom was wonderful at helping out.


The really horrid bit of lace knitting is the blocking. How do people make it look so easy? I mean, they show a photo of their blocking in progress, and it all looks so perfect and even. I tell you, my attempt looked nothing like that. The edges weren't even - honestly, it was NOT a regular rectangle, as it tapered towards one end. I could not seem to manipulate the yarn to do exactly what I wanted. Maybe I was trying to stretch it too much width-ways to start off with and the yarn just had no more left to give when I reached the other end. I couldn't get the bloomin ends to match, and the pins had a life of their own: they kept popping out all over the place. And I'm impatient. Having washed the stole and throttled the life out of it, and then wrapped it in a towel and jumped on it a few times, it was pretty dry when I started pinning it out. So, after pinning for AGES, I gave it a quick blast with my most scary hairdrier and promptly unpinned it and tossed it over my shoulders. Bob's your uncle. Next time I am not attempting to block a lace ANYTHING without special, special wires.

I have another lace shawl to knit, in the KSH again. It's the Dove Shawl, and I've had the pattern since September. Will post a photo of it soon, though I think some of you may have come across it already. I'm fully expecting to take a long time knitting it, as I find the rows and rows of the same pattern repeats quite monotonous.

Thanks for the suggestions for Charlie's hat. I ordered some Twilley's in Ocean as soon as Jo mentioned it. Thanks
Jo. And thanks Frankie, I looked at the Colinette after the event and like the look of it, so will try that out soon.

Friendsheep, the reason I'm so on track with my ufos, is that I don't have any new yarn to start anything else with. I've even had the KSH for the Dove Shawl since September!

28 comments:

  1. Oh it's gorgeous, looks really good. I wouldn't mind a dark coloured shawl but not sure I can cope with knitting in the dark colour, I would probably be forever dropping stitches and losing them forever. It looks so lovely, cosy and elegant.

    What colour is your Dove shawl going to be?

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  2. It is breathtaking! You must have done a good job on the blocking even with the pins conspiring against you because it looks perfect.

    I'm sure that it will be more useful than you think. Besides even if it isn't you can have it thrown casually over a chair when people come round, so that they can all be flabbergasted at your creative talent!

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  3. Oh, I love that smile!

    (Oh, the shawl rawks, too!)

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  4. wow! its awesome! fantastic. it looks Soooooo hard to do.
    just fab!

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  5. Oh how gorgeous - it really is breathtaking. I need to read back -is it KSH?

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  6. Thanks Carol. I think I only implied that it was KSH! I hadn't realised I'd forgotten to put in those details. How silly. Yes, it took almost three balls....

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  7. It's no wonder you're smiling, it's a beauty. And it works so well with comfy skirt,socks and clogs! No, the point of knitting is not to make useful things - not for me anyway. I'm just 'driven'. Bet it will be useful though.
    I don't reckon impatience helps with the blocking, lol, but wires should help. Keep smiling, it suits you! :D

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  8. That shawl is divine!

    i have a lace shawl that has beenn sitting around for a year that I need to buckle down and finish. I'm on the edging but I keep getting distracted.

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  9. The shawl is beautiful!
    I have the same problems with blocking, especialy when it's a big shawl. I think a blocking board with squares on it would be a solution, but... I don't have one. I block on my bed and I really must buy more pins, as my latest blocking experience showed. ^^

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  10. Great shawl Alice! Blocking anything scares me so 'good on you' for giving it a go. I wonder if I have a red shawl in me? The idea keeps creeping back....

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  11. S'loverly. I think I want a black lace shawl...

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  12. Oh that is SO gorgeous and it looks stunning on you, no wonder you are smiling; you clever girl you :)
    Had to laugh at your blocking tale and totally with you, I think I must get some wires also

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  13. The shawl is so beautiful - and what a great smile!

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  14. Wow, this is just gorgeous and I can't believe it took months and not years, so delicate.

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  15. The shawl looks fabulous, especially combined with your skirt and smile. I thought black lace would look good, and you've confirmed it. I've got to finish that sweater and get on to something more interesting :-)

    ps. Blocking wires make it easier to get things straight (if they're capable of being straight), but I found inserting them into the lace an absolute time-eating pain. Better than pins, I guess, but even so.

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  16. Wow that's is fantastic! I know what you mean about blocking - worse than seaming!

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  17. Beautiful! And I love the smily photos, you look great :-)

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  18. It's a beautiful heirloom shawl, I know what you mean about knitting being useful, look forward to see the hat taking shape, Neo keeps asking for a hat, but it will be Summer again before I get my act together!

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  19. That is truly gorgeous, you must be incredibly proud!

    And clogs are always a good thing, no matter what you wear them with ;)

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  20. What can I add that others have not said before me? Truely love the shawl - I think a black one would have done my eyes in! I afree about provisional cast ons - if their crochet, arghh - can put me off an entire project for ages until I feel capable enought to fumble a few chains, but if I could do a shawl as lovely as that it would be worth it - so jealous!!

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  21. It's divine! It looks wonderful! And I think it will be so useful to ward off the chill on those early spring days. Wear it proudly!

    I have the lace blocking wires from Knitpicks. Someone recommended them to me and I've found them to be much better than using a zillion pins. It does take a little while to thread the lace through, but not as long as the pins, because the wire tends to keep things straight. A ruler comes with the kit so you can use it to measure and make sure things are straight. I'm not sure if they'll ship to the UK, but there must be a shop that sells something similar. And I *can't wait* to see this Dove shawl. Photos please!

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  22. Alice, stop knitting for a moment, I'm tagging you with a meme: list 5 books that played an important role in your childhood and explain why. Then tag 5 people to do this. *^v^*

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  23. You clever clever person. It's really lovely - a true heirloom.

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  24. Alice, it's gorgeous! I want to steal it from you (or make one for myself). I've been waiting to see this one for ages!

    When I block, I usually don't stretch it as far as it can go until I have eight or sixteen points pinned out and it is all even. I've never used wires, but I definitely want some. I hope next time you enjoy blocking your shawl - I love it, but then I am very weird sometimes. I can't wait to see the next ones. :)

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  25. ps. It was very nice to see you smiling, too. You should do that more often in your photos. :-D

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  26. So gorgeous! I have never knit lace because it looks so terrifying, but your shawl is so lovely I might have to brave it.

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