I think I chose the wrong yarn for the project. Lana Borgesesia Cashwool is a lovely yarn and I'd use it for other projects, but this one needs a heavier laceweight. (Who knew there were different weights of laceweights!?) My finished stole is 15.5 inches wide rather than the 19 the pattern targets. The length of the stole is fine just shy of 70 inches. I added 4 extra 32 row repeats to make sure it would be long enough. (The pattern helpfully advises which charts to repeat in order to make the stole longer and maintain the balance of the basket weave and blossom sections.)
I used 2.75mm needles (pattern was 3.25 or 3.5 I think).
Finished measurements:
14.5 x 55ish inches pre blocking
15.5 x 68ish inches post blocking
Having said all of that about the yarn, was a pleasure to knit with and blocked beautifully- so I'd use the yarn again - just not for this!
I blocked the stole using my new blocking wires. They are a huge improvement over pins and easier than using beading wire. The big advantage they have over beading wire or thread is that the blocking wires are great for really stretching the piece. I'm not convinced that advantage is worth the cost of the blocking wires - so I'll reserve judgement for now.
I'm still obsessed with knitting lace and have a few more projects lined up! Some yarn and a pattern arrived for one yesterday that I'm tempted to begin - but I want to make some amendments to the pattern so I'll have to give it a bit more 'thinking time' before I cast on. In the meantime I'm working on an aran weight shawl and of course a pair of socks!
4 comments:
That's stunning. It really is pretty, I'm dying to do it now :p but must wait yet. I love the fact that it's not symmetrical, and I'm quite anal about symmetry usually! Was it the blossom bit that was boring? Could you have done that first and headed towards the basketweave? (sorry lots of questions!)
Vik x
Thanks Vik!
It was the blossom bit that was dull. You could reverse the charts I guess and reverse the shapings (so the decrease stitches slope the right way).
It's a nice pattern to knit (despite the dull bits)(and that might just be me) -- look forward to seeing yours later this year!
Thanks for the comment! You should definitely give dyeing a go - it's really exciting (well I think so!)!
I used the koolaid at first - I had a mishap with the blue (I didn't mix it and got a bright blue pool in a white skein), so then tried the green (in depseration), and it went really really bright lime green.
So then I tried food colouring which was more successful, as I found the colour mixed better with the water (as opposed to mixing the powder in and hoping it's even).
Are you going to try dyeing then? :)
Very very lovely! If I am going to make this again, I would definitely use a very very pale pink like yours.
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