As promised, here are the pictures of the International Shawl now that it's off the blocking pins. To re-cap-
Yarn: Black Bunny Fibers superfine alpaca lace weight yarn custom dyed in a semi-solid teal color. Needles US 0 needles
Center pattern: "Chrysantheme" German Niebling pattern but in a Japanese knitting book, "Knitted Lace Designs OF The ‘Modern’ Mode" Book 2 by Naoko Ichida. (up to row 53)This book comes with a stitch key in English.
Border:I placed stitch markers in the corners and selected one stitch as a center corner stitch. I increased on the plain knit row on either side of this stitch to make the corners. As my stitches in the corners increased, I extended the patterns to fill in those spaces. No system. Just eye-balled it.
First set of leaves in the border : Estonian leaf pattern, page 49, chart # 114 from the book "Pitsilised Koekirjad" by Leili Reimann (as many times as you want to make the border as deep as you want with the understanding that there is one more border pattern to go) Stitch key in English available on the internet.
Second border pattern : Shetland Lace pattern, Madeira and Diamond Chart on page 90 of "Heirloom Knitting" by Sharon Miller (as much as you want until you like how it looks)
Edging: Danish edge pattern from a doily page 74 "Rosa" pattern from "Knitted Lace" by Sonja Esbensen and Anna Rasmussen. Unlike some edges, this one is knit directly on the needles with a crochet cast-off at the end to finish.
Pretty. I'm having a hard time giving it away but it's packed now and I'm off to the post office tomorrow. I have one more skein of this color yarn and I'm going to knit myself something I will keep this time! Just a few shots of what I've been spinning. The brightly colored ball of yarn is the Wensleydale fiber that I got from Black Bunny Fibers in colorway "Waltz". Looks like a Hawaiian snow cone. I'll have to think really hard what to do with this one. Below is the Polworth I got from "A Verb For Keeping Warm" in the colorway "Butterfly Wings". Once again not sure what to do with it but sometimes the best inspiration comes with things you've spun for yourself. Short post. Must Knit!
46 comments:
oh my goodness. That is so beautiful! I can't believe you have packed it off! You're more Woman than I am I think!
simply mah-valous, darling! really. superb.
i'm looking for hard lace patterns (free), got links?
xo chris
As usual, jaw-dropping gorgeous stuff. Just a note, in Hawaii we call snow cones shaved ice. :-D
It turned out absolutely gorgeous. I like the colour of the yarn too.
How amazingly beautiful. And how generous! And I love that shawl pin! And the colour! And you're a genius! And...
Stunning shawl and such a gorgeous colour.
It's utterly exquisite! I can see why you are finding it difficult to give away...I don't think I could bear to part with it. It was a wonderful concept and I am thrilled that you actually finished it--you proved that mixing lace designs can produce an exciting and unique design. Billions of kudos, handclappings, and wolf whistles :)
Absolutely gorgeous!!! I'm a new reader to your blog so I must go look in your archives to see what other beautiful lace work you have created!
Gasp! That shawl is pure perfection!
Sooooooo pretty. What a lovely gift!
I can't believe you are parting with it! You are very generous...it is totally gorgeous.
Oh my! I think this is just about the prettiest shawl I've ever seen. I don't know how you will part with it! The spinning is gorgeous too!
Wow! The shawl is stunning! You really sent it away?? Wow!
Your spinning is so fine. Have you said that before?
Lovely! I really have to start mine. Thing is I am totally in love with Princess at this time.
WOW. That is amazing and so pretty, you should get extra pats on the back for sending it off!
Absolutely breathtaking! Wish I could see it and feel it in person. It looks soooo soft! What a terrific design job, too. Congratulations.
Whimper. Drool. Whimper.
Oh, please write it up! I'll buy the pattern!!!!! And so will everyone else!!
Dear Stephanie,
Thank you! I seldom ever wear a shawl so I'm better off sending to someone who will wear and enjoy it, not to mention she deserves a hand knit shawl :-)
Dear vtknitboy,
Glad you like it :-) There are not really that many sites for difficult lace that are free. I imagine you already know about Yarn Over. I'll have to give it some thought.
Dear Opal,
That right! Shave Ice! That's really what it looks like to me. You are too kind about the shawl. I love how it came out as well and I know my co-worker is going to wear it to her daughters wedding :-)
Dear uhltje,
I love the color as well. I looked at all the skeins she had already sold on her site until I saw that color and then she made it up for me. I was very happy with the results and the alpaca was wonderful to knit with.
Dear Soo,
I love the shawl pin too. It's rather large and flashy but I get a little tired of small pins and I'm not light weight. Glad you like the shawl. It was a terrific experiment :-)
Dear Amanda,
Thank you! I was really fortunate with the colorway. It doesn't always turn out looking like the color on your computer monitor but in this case it was even more beautiful. I wish I could capture the semi-solid nature of the yarn better in distance shots but you will have to take my word for the fact that it's even prettier than the pictures :-)
Dear Susan,
Thank you again for including me in this endeavor! I would never have thought this up on my own :-) I don't think I could have gone wrong with all the input from you, yorksett and missalicefaye. It really is pretty darned nice. Hope you are feeling better. I will keep trying to bring the eye candy :-)
Dear Joansie,
Welcome! Hope you have fun looking at all the pictures :-)
Dear Rosa,
Not really perfect. Take my word for it. But still, a man on horseback.... Thanks for the praise :-)
Dear Romi,
Thank you :-) I thought of giving her one of your shawl pins to go with the shawl but I really could not part with one. I told her if she wants a pin I will get her one. Just not one of MINE.LOL
Dear badcatdesigns,
Thank you. I like this shawl a lot but the most fun is the actual knitting of it and I can still knit some more lace :-)
Dear Cath,
Thank you. No one in my family is really into the lace so giving it away to people who would really like it is my usual MO. I do keep a lot of the Nieblings though. Just not this one. I'm glad you think the spinning is improving. I've been doing it a lot more lately so I think I'm getting better at it too.
Dear Jason,
Yep. I really did give it. I give most of them away actually (gotta stop doing that!) My spinning is pretty thin but I'm hoping I can get it a little thinner still and have a sturdy enough lace weight to knit with. Practice, practice, practice :-) Your spinning is coming along very nicely I've noticed!
Dear Laritza,
Can't blame you for working on the Princess. I have to really focus my attention every time I knit more of that darned edging. For some reason it just won't get memorized in my head! I'm heading back towards that project as I start finishing off more of my UFO's. It's high on the list! We only have so much time. We can only knit those things where we "feel the love" LOL. Besides. I will love looking at your progress on the Princess :-)
Dear Shell,
Thank you for extra pats! I think it must have been more difficult than I first thought because that package sat in the car and drove back and forth for almost a week with me before I actually get it sent off. Must have been a subconscious desire to keep it!
Dear stringplay,
Thanks! It really is very soft yarn (still have one full skein) since it's alpaca. No felting issue either! I can't take credit for the design. It was made up by the four of us.fleegle, missalicefaye and yorksett and me. It's very interesting and kind of funny that we each had all 4 of the books needed to make this shawl. Not everyone does but you wouldn't know it from looking at us LOL.
Dear Lisa,
Now now dear. It's OK. I've been knitting for a long time now. Glad you like it :-)
Dear Ruth,
Glad you like the shawl :-) I'm afraid I don't write patterns, I just knit the stuff.
That's so lovely! You did nice work on it.
wow. everything about your shawl is sooo beautiful--the lovely spinning,the color of the yarn, the inspired pattern combination... fabulous work!
A feast for the eyes - and it must be heaven to wear. Zowie.
Dear domesticshorthair,
Thank you! I enjoyed knitting it.
Dear missalicefaye,
Thanks! It really did come out nicely for something made up of so many different types of lace.
Dear Franklin,
I'm glad you like it :-) I hope the woman I gave it to will enjoy it.
could have sworn I'd left a comment...
The shawl is stunning and I@m not surprised you found it hard to give away, think I would too...
The spinning as always is inspirational and though not my usual taste I think the Butterfly wings colourway is simply beautiful....
Dear littleberry,
Always nice to hear from you :-) There have been a few shawls/stoles it's been difficult to give away but I try to remind myself I can make more and this way someone will actually wear them. I'm not usually into pastels either but it was a great opportunity to spin from locks.It's a challenge to figure out what to do with the yarn though. I think when I go to ply, that I'm going to add a little white to the second bobbin to lighten it all up a bit. I don't have any white polworth, but I might use some of the Cormo.
What a beautiful shawl.
Dear kerry,
Thank you! It turned out much nicer than I had imagined so I got lucky.
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